Mangrove Ecosystems

Function and Management

herausgegeben von: Prof. Dr. Luiz Drude de Lacerda

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Buchreihe : Environmental Science and Engineering

Enthalten in: Professional Book Archive

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Über dieses Buch

Protection of the environment has nowadays become a major challenge and a condi tion for survival of future human generations and life on Earth in general. Yet it is still far too much of a dream or hope rather than a reality in the policy of our societies. Presently we are experiencing an unprecedented exponential growth of demography combined with a race for profit, resulting in excessive consumption particularly of en ergy, and a serious impact on the world ecosystems. Various types of pollutants and emerging new diseases not only disrupt the normal course of life, but also above this some of the atmospheric pollutants are most likely involved in the changing climate. We fear and literally shiver at the thought that the "changing climate" would ultimately disrupt the fragile thermodynamic equilibrium between the atmosphere and the oceans. Are we insensitive to these facts to the point of pushing our descendants, some genera tions ahead, into a new glacial period after a first period of warming up, at least, in northern Europe, like the one that took place 13 to 14 millennia ago? Surely the planet's nature is not prepared to be dominated by man and will go its way, whether humanity will be alive or dead.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. American Mangroves

Abstract

It is quite difficult to conclusively pinpoint the dates when mangroves first appeared and diversified in the Neotropics, thus a number of hypotheses have transpired, and the topic is still a matter of debate. These explanations can be classified into two categories: those that propose a unique centre of origin followed by radiate dispersal (through three routes), and those based on the fragmentation of a common widespread ancestral population or biota. As an alternative to those all-inclusive schemes and given the wide taxonomic variety of mangroves, ad hoc explanations should be implemented for each species, as essayed by Duke (1995) with the genus Avicennia. This author has also cautioned that the present-day co-occurrence of mangrove species should not be interpreted as a measure of common origin.

L. D. Lacerda, J. E. Conde, B. Kjerfve, R. Alvarez-León, C. Alarcón, J. Polanía

Chapter 2. Mangroves of Africa

Abstract

Mangroves are the dominant vegetation of over 70% of tropical and sub-tropical coastlines around the world (Fig. 2.1). Mangrove ecosystems are estimated to cover 150 000 km² world-wide, of which Africa has about 35 000 km² (Diop 1992, 1993). They constitute complex forests with high wood biomass and structural complexity. A significant feature of mangroves is their ability to develop morphological, physiological and reproductive adaptations, which enable them to colonise salty, waterlogged and erratic soil conditions. The mangroves are characterised by high primary production and play vital roles in the transfer of nutrients (Fig. 2.2), especially of carbon from the land to the sea, and serve either as sources or sinks in the global cycle of such substances (Lacerda and Novelli 1992). They are found in all countries along the western coast of the African continent, from Mauritania in the north, (Iles Tidra 19°50′ N) to Angola in the south (Angola estuary of the Rio Longo, 10°18′ S (Spalding et al. 1997).

E. S. Diop, C. Gordon, A. K. Semesi, A. Soumaré, N. Diallo, A. Guissé, M. Diouf, J. S. Ayivor

Chapter 3. Indo-West Pacific Mangroves

Abstract

There are biogeographical, palaeontological, biological and historical reasons why it is useful to consider the Seas from the East coast of Africa eastwards towards the western Pacific as a major geographic domain, later to be conveniently sub-divided into Regions and Sub-regions for detailed studies. Though the mangroves are the go-between for land and sea, man is a terra firma species and as such, the habit prevails to describe continents and their margins, rather than the oceans and their margins: oceanography was recognised as a distinct science only in the nineteenth century. To write on function and management of the mangroves of Asia and the Pacific, it is preferable to consider the seas that border the thousands of kilometres of coasts that form the transition between land and sea. Mangroves are a gift of the tides; sea and brackish waters disperse their seeds and propagules. They are the living place of aquatic, terrestrial and aerial flora and fauna and they would not exist without the interaction of land and sea. Mangroves form a special domain of their own: the mangrove ecosystem that thrives only in the intertidal belt. It is from this angle that we will consider the mangroves of the Indo-West Pacific.

M. Vannucci

Chapter 4. Mangrove Phenologies and the Factors Influencing Them in the Australasian Region

Abstract

Phenology is the study of seasonal cycles in plants, focusing on leafing (vegetative) or reproductive cycles, in particular. These studies, however, logically follow into longer-term cycles, which change both the magnitude of phenological events and their timing from year to year. In all cases, the effects on the reproductive cycles have a profound influence on the adaptability, survival and distribution of species.

Norman C. Duke

Chapter 5. Integrated and Adaptive Mangrove Management Framework — an Action Oriented Option for the New Millennium

Abstract

Mangrove losses have been occurring at an alarming rate despite general acceptance of the role that mangroves play in maintaining the productivity of the coastal ecosystem, and despite many concerted efforts to curb the destruction. It is generally accepted that mangrove ecosystems are highly productive, dynamic and complex. They provide four types of ecological services — (i) converting solar energy, nutrients and water through primary and secondary productivity processes and food chain interactions into fauna and flora; (ii) providing physical habitat and refuge for various fishes and non-fishes at different stages of their life cycle; (iii) storing and filtering sediment and nutrients, recycling nutrients and maintaining the quality of the aquatic system; and (iv) maintaining the biological order in the system (Hamilton and Snedaker 1984; Twilley et al. 1993; Gilbert and Janssen 1998; Costanza et al. 1997).

Padma Narsey Lal

Backmatter

Titel: Mangrove Ecosystems
herausgegeben von: Prof. Dr. Luiz Drude de Lacerda
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-662-04713-2
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07585-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04713-2

Springer Professional

Über dieses Buch

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. American Mangroves

Chapter 2. Mangroves of Africa

Chapter 3. Indo-West Pacific Mangroves

Chapter 4. Mangrove Phenologies and the Factors Influencing Them in the Australasian Region

Chapter 5. Integrated and Adaptive Mangrove Management Framework — an Action Oriented Option for the New Millennium

Backmatter