New research led by the University of Warwick shows that forests were already growing across Doggerland, a now-submerged landmass beneath the North Sea, far earlier than scientists once believed. The findings indicate this lost landscape may have served as a welcoming refuge for plants, animals, and possibly humans long before forests became common across Britain and northern Europe. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , used sedimentary ancient DNA to uncover evidence of temperate trees such as oak, elm, and hazel more than 16,000 years ago. Researchers also detected DNA from a tree genus thought to have disappeared from the region around 400,000 years ago. In addition, the results suggest that parts of Doggerland persisted through major flooding events, including the Storegga tsunami about 8,150 years ago, with some areas remaining above water until roughly 7,000 years ago.…