Mangrove Vertical Soil Accretion and Potential Risk—Resilience Assessment of Sea-Level Rise in the Beilun Estuary and Guangxi Coastal Zone, China

Mangrove ecosystems play a critical role in climate regulation, carbon sequestration, and pollution mitigation. However, their long-term resilience to accelerating sea-level rise (SLR) under global climate change scenarios remains uncertain. Vertical soil accretion is a critical factor in determining the vulnerability of mangrove wetlands to SLR. In this study, vertical soil accretion rates in a mangrove wetland in the Beilun estuary were measured using a 210Pbex dating method. Based on recently acquired data and previously available data, we conducted the first systematic assessment of SLR risk in mangrove wetlands in the Guangxi coastal zone in the context of increasing global climate change and extreme weather. The results show that the vertical soil accretion rate of 6.72 ± 1.91 (4.22–10.54) mm/a in the Beilun estuary is slightly higher than SLR rate in the Guangxi coastal zone. Concurrently, our results indicate that mangroves with thriving root systems enhance soil accretion through biotic controls in the Beilun estuary, while significant changes in soil sources and hydrodynamic forces during the 1980s and 2000s contributed to adaptation to SLR. Additionally, by linking sedimentation dynamics with SLR projections, we reveal that current accretion rates in some mangrove areas in the Guangxi coastal zone are insufficient to offset the projected SLR by the end of 2050 and 2100. This finding offers a new perspective on the traditional assumption of inherent resilience in mangroves while revealing the adaptive capacity of mangroves in the Beilun estuary and Guangxi coastal zone under projected SLR scenarios. It underscores the need for integrated management strategies that balance sediment supply maintenance and ecological restoration, which are critical to ensuring the long-term resilience of mangrove ecosystems, in line with sustainability principles.