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Twilley, Jin Eong Ong Source: Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, Vol. 7, No. 1, Biodiversity and Function of Mangrove Ecosystems (Jan., 1998), pp. 83-94 Published by: Blackwell Publishing Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2997700 . Accessed: 24/07/2011 06:02
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INTRODUCTION
are Mangroveforests widelyrecognizedas providing to a widevariety goods and services people,including of of protection from floods,provision a variety plant of sediment and nutrient and animal products, trapping, uptake ahd transformation (FAO, 1994). Destruction of these forestscontinues,however,in spite of this understanding theirimportance.Although these of wetlands abundantalongmany are protected, shorelines but around the world, the life-sustaining stillpoorly can provide, suchas support documented benefits they to offshore fisheries, likelyto be diminishing. are The lack of a direct,easily observed relationship a and thebenefits provides between mangrove forest it (and sometimesthe lack of sufficient research to document it) may be one reason for continued exploitation, often and loss,ofthesewetlands. Another reason may be the generalitythat cloaks many discussionsof the importanceof these wetlands.In fact,not all mangroveforestsprovide all the goods * Corresponding author.
? 1998 BlackwellScienceLtd
and servicesattributed them.There are significant to in of differences thecharacteristics mangrove habitats, not only betweencontinents and regionsbut within individual standsof mangroves well.Using a simple as rationaleforclassifying givenmangrovestand may a in its value assistland-usemanagers determining likely to societyand subsequently using it more wisely. in The purpose of this paper is to develop a simple of functionalclassification mangroveforestsand to identify whichgoods and servicesare likelyto derive fromwhichkindsof forests.
INTERIOR
sink
(a)
Basin
Fri Frne
Overwash
bidirectiona flux
TIDE DOMINATED
(b)
Flooding Frequency from Tides
RIVERINE
of Salinity Floodwaters
FRINGE
tide-dominated, interior), and (river-dominated, forests typesof mangrove among threefunctional Fig. 1. (a) The relationships 1992). (b) describedfor the Neotropics(Woodroffe, dominantphysicalprocesses(in italics),and six typesof mangroveforests withinany given region typesof mangroveswamps that can be distinguished among threefunctional Proposed relationship (original).
Sediment trapping
Entiremangrove forests trapand retainsediments can in generated theuplandsby virtueof their positionin thelandscape(Lynchet al., 1989;Parkinson, DeLaune & White, 1994). Riverine forestsare likely to be in particularly important this respect,because river waters a usually sediment carry heavier load thanocean tides. Sedimentsdeposited in fringeforestscan be riverine origin,however, in having been recirculated within nearshore the waters (Wolanski, Mazda & Ridd,
1992). Basin swampsalso trapsediments, the receiving finest particles thatare carriedpast riverine fringe and forests by floods and tides. They may also trap sediments depositedby runoff fromuplands along the landwardedge of the swamp. intactavails society Simply leavingmangrove forests of the serviceof sediment because removal trapping, of the forest, particularly along the banks of fringe and riverine mangroveforests, opens up vulnerable soils to erosion and offshore sedimentdeposition. Mangroveforests also be exploited thisservice can for
when excess sedimentsgeneratedby anthropogenic activities such as road construction upland forest and clearingare prevented fromwashingout to offshore seagrass beds and coral reefs. Riverine forestsare mostimportant thisrespect, basin forests in but often performthis servicealso, as well as narrow fringe foreststhat directly abut against uplands (Nixon et to al., 1984). The abilityof mangroveforests receive sediments limited, is however, because treesare killed when lenticelson pneumatophores, prop roots, and young stemsare buried.The second largestcause of mangrove loss on the Pacific island of Pohnpei, FederatedStatesof Micronesia, overa 10-year period, was road construction, to both clearingthe road due trees bed and the death of adjacent and downstream fromexcess sedimentation (W. Raynor,The Nature Conservancy, pers. comm.). of a The prospect sea levelrisebrings newdimension It to the importance sediment of trapping. is possible of that thoughtful to manipulation sediment delivery a mangrove forest could ensurecontinued existence of the forest even in the face of rising tides. An understandingof the balance between sediment accretion and compaction as well as of potential vegetation and hydrodynamic changes due to associated climate change would also be required, however.
Ong, 1990; Wattayakorn, Wolanski& Kjerfve,1990). Measurementsof the net flux of different formsof nutrients and organic matterare required in order to understandthe role and relativeimportanceof mangrove forests biogeochemistry productivity to and of coastal waters(Boto & Wellington, 1988; RiveraMonroy et al., 1995). As observedfor salt marshes, into theremay be a net flux of inorganicnutrients mangrovesfromcoastal waters and a net exportof organic nutrientsassociated with particulate and dissolvedorganicmatter export(Twilleyet al., 1997). Even though there are still few studies of these between processes,highlighting important differences fringe, riverine, and basin mangrovesmay transcend muchof thiscomplexity.
Fringe Basin Basin Swamp* Fringe Fringe Swamp* Fringe Swamp* Average
Hong Kong Florida, USA Florida, USA New Zealand Florida, USA Florida, USA Australia Hinchinbrook, PuertoRica, USA Australia Hinchinbrook,
Lee (1989) Twilley(1985) Lugo & Snedaker(1974) (1985) Woodroffe Heald (1969) Odum & Heald (1972) Robertson(1986) Golley,Odum & Wilson(1962) Boto & Bunt (1981)
* Because fluxmeasurements both fringe the weremade at themouthof a tidalcreek,exchangerepresents combinedexportfrom the swamp. and basin mangroves and therefore entire
of litter in riverine and fringemangroves, both of make associatedwithhigher frequency inundation, exceptwherebasin zones themparticularly important, are muchlarger.
improvement Waterquality
The service of nutrientprocessinghas often been Mangrove exploitedfor water quality improvement. forests, like wetlands in general around the world, receive untreatedwastewaterof often inadvertently Nutrient sink Basin mangrove forests bothhumanand animalorigin. nutrients, usefulfortransforming may be particularly Basin mangroveforestsmay rank lower in organic particularly N, and immobilizing microbes and but frequency, matter exportbecause oflowerflooding chemicalssuch as pesticides (Clough,Boto & Attiwill, they may have higherrates of organic matterand removednitrate from effectively 1983). Denitrification nutrientaccumulation. Soil redox potential is a measureof thesoil environment a heavy wastewaterload in a Puerto Rican basin particularly important mangroveforest,for instance (Corredor & Morell, of characteristics nutrientcycles for determining of 1994). However,the full implications disposal of because of its controloveroxidationstatesof P, N, S, wastewater into mangrove forests are seldom It Mn, Fe, and manyotherelements. shouldbe lowest humanhealth, effluent should To considered. safeguard wherehydroperiods longest, are althoughthepresence in be retained an area freefromcontactwithhumans of pneumatophores and prop roots (McKee, i.e. or commonly eaten fishand shellfish, as farback Mendelssohn Hester,1988)and theabsenceofstrong & in a basin forest as possible. Although increased in ratesbetweenthe zones differences waterturnover was once consideredas productivity an ecosystem of this.Basin mangrove (Ewel et al., 1998a) maymitigate of the a usefulby-product this kind of enrichment, forests morelikelyto serveas a sinkforinorganic are changes in a habitat that can follow such dramatic in N because of the likelihoodof denitrification an but anaerobicenvironment, in factbothdenitrification changes in ecosystem function,both on-site and harmful are downstream, now regardedas potentially rates in mangroveswamps are and nitrogen fixation (Ewel, 1997). Nevertheless,when the expense of slow (e.g. Rivera-Monroy & Twilley, 1996). constructing a wastewater treatment plant is can be significant, even in a fringe Denitrification considered,wetlands are still commonlyselected as however mangroveforest, under sewage enrichment, receiving areas foreffluent. & of (Corredor Morell,1994).Formation H2S and CH4 Retrofittingmangrove forests for wastewater should be particularly common in basin mangrove treatment preferable destruction, wastewater is to and forests,but oxygen transportvia prop roots (e.g. and McKee etal., 1988)mayslowtheformation release as disposalmayevenbe considered a tool in mangrove of thesegases. treatedwastewater restoration. Directingsecondarily
? 1998 BlackwellScienceLtd, GlobalEcologyand Biogeogrolplhy Letters, 83-94 7,
Animal habitat
Mangrove forestssupport animal populations both areas. Some of these and in offshore within forest the life animalsspendonlypartof their cyclein mangrove forests,either during a particular stage of their et maturationor as migrants(Yainez-Arancibia al., 1988; Yainez-Arancibia,Lara-Dominguez & Day, 1993). Where mangrovesare a dominantsource of carbon, they are importantto estuarineconsumers (Rodelli et al., 1984). Crabs are among the fauna of mangroveforests characteristic invertebrate in important humanfood chains. thatare particularly on likely be highest to Densitiesof crabs are especially with mudbanks adjacent to mangroves, unvegetated theirdensities mangroves; along fringe lowernumbers however, perhaps areoften inside low forests, mangrove because of low food quality as a result of high of 1992). concentrations tannins (Alongi& Sasekumar, There, they are more common at high intertidal locationsthanat lowerzones,perhapsbecause feeding timesare longer(Mclvor & Smith,1995). as Some speciesof crabs processdetritus, described earlier,and some feed on propagules (and thereby forest structure; Smith,1987). They are affect directly in processes ecosystem clearlyimportant maintaining in mangroveforests, and many provide food, both and to mangrove directly indirectly, people. Culturing crabs (specifically Scylla serrata (Forsk.)) has been proposed, but this would have to be done without waterflowsin orderto the or clearing forest impeding maintainsuitablehabitat.Crab productionmightbe food supply,such as with increasedby augmenting kitchen scraps, but because mangrove crabs are territorial can be cannibalistic J.SmithIII, US and (T. BiologicalResourcesDivision,pers. GeologicalSurvey, comm.), this is not likely to be sustainable on a commercial scale. Juvenileshrimp (e.g. penaeid prawns) are also fauna. importantcomponents of the invertebrate Shrimp are more common in fringeand riverine inundated mangrovesas well as in more frequently
Protection fromfloods
surges, from of Protection humaninfrastructure storm touted tidalwaves,and floodsis one ofthemostwidely services providedby wetlands.This is because (1) the of boundariesof a wetlandindicatetheextent normal flooding and thereforethe zone where human shouldcease, and (2) wetlandvegetation development decreases the rate at which water passes over land, as force of floodwaters they slowingthe destructive approach the uplands. Like many other ecosystem it in services, spiteof the generalrecognition receives, (or the value of shoreline protection flood protection in general)providedby a wetlandlies in the cost that societydoes not have to pay untilthat serviceis lost (Goulder & Kennedy,1997). Mangroves develop only along low-energyor protectedcoasts, where sedimentsare retained and mangrove seedlings can become established. Only eventssuch as major stormsurges wherehighenergy forests likely and tidalwavesare episodicare mangrove In in human structures. to be important protecting are suchplaces,fringe forests believedto be mangrove but hypothesis important, thisis a difficult particularly to prove, and anecdotal evidence is not always convincing (Clough, 1993). Perhaps the most widely cited observationis Fosberg's (1971) suggestion that the loss of more than 100,000lives in Bangladeshin and tidalwave might have 1970 following hurricane a been reducedhad large areas of mangroves not been replaced by rice paddies. Other anecdotes are
Aestheticallypleasing environment
stands of mangroveforestsare Large, undisturbed attractive tourists(Hamilton & Snedaker, 1984). to
ON
can be attributed The usefulness mangroveforests of and the diversity to both the diversity among forests of goods and services thattheysupply.A synopsisof the relativeimportance fringe, of and basin riverine, mangrove forestsindicates that all three may be consideredcriticalin at least one respect(Table 1). Riverine forests,with their nutrientinflows and moderatesalinitiesare important interfaces between themoreexpansive basin forests thefresh and and salt waterinflows. Basin forests, the otherhand, with on theirmore restricted water flows,are oftenthe sites of greatest human activity. Fringemangroveforests, to water movement consistently and subject thegreatest barrier the for highsalinity, critical a protective are as rest of the forest and, occasionally, for human as structures well. Understandingthe importanceand best use of
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