Mangrove Wetlands

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Abstract

Mangroves refer to a unique group of forested wetlands that dominate 240 × 103 km 2 of the intertidal zone of tropical and subtropical coastal landscapes from river deltas, lagoons and estuarine settings to islands in oceanic formations (non-continental). Mangrove ecosystems support a variety of marine and estuarine food webs involving an extraordinarily large number of animal species and complex heterotrophic microorganism food web. Zonation in mangrove communities has variously been accounted for by a number of biological factors including salinity tolerance of individual species, seedling dispersal patterns resulting from different sizes of mangrove propagules, differential consumption by grapsid crabs and other consumers, and interspecific competition. Mangroves produce a variety of forest products, support the productivity of economically important estuarine dependent fisheries, and modify the water quality in warm-temperate and tropical estuarine ecosystems.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Encyclopedia of Ecology Five Volume Set

First Page

2198

Last Page

2208

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