Underwater cultural heritage is integral to marine ecosystems

Kirstin S Meyer-Kaiser; Calvin H Mires

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.014

Underwater cultural heritage is integral to marine ecosystems

Trends Ecol Evol. 2022 Oct;37(10):815-818. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.014. Epub 2022 Jul 25.

Authors

Kirstin S Meyer-Kaiser¹, Calvin H Mires²

Affiliations

¹ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, USA. Electronic address: kmeyer@whoi.edu.
² Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, USA.

PMID: 35902291
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.014

Abstract

Underwater cultural heritage (UCH) supports marine biodiversity and influences connectivity. UCH structure, colonizing organisms, and anthropogenic stressors interact to shape sites over time, but these interactions are poorly understood. Here, we express the urgent need for biology-archeology collaborations to address interdisciplinary questions. We also codify the emerging field of Maritime Heritage Ecology.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Archaeology
Biodiversity*
Ecology
Ecosystem*