Ecosystem Services and Disservices of Mangrove Forests: Insights from Historical Colonial Observations

Abstract

Ecosystem services are now strongly applied to mangrove forests, though they are not a new way of viewing mangrove-people interactions; the benefits provided by such habitats, and the negative interactions (ecosystem disservices) between mangroves and people have guided perceptions of mangroves for centuries. This study quantified the ecosystem services and disservices of mangroves as written by colonial explorers from 1823-1883 through a literature survey of 96 expedition reports and studies. Ecosystem disservices were most commonly discussed (60%), with settlers considering mangroves as reservoirs of diseases such as malaria, with wide-ranging implications, such as the global drainage of wetlands in the 19th-20th centuries. Multiple ecosystem services were discussed, especially provisioning services for export, representing colonial views of new lands as ripe for economic use. Interestingly, regulating services of mangroves such as erosion control and sediment accretion that are a focus of much contemporary research were recognized as early as 1865. This study shows that the ecosystem service paradigm has a long history in mangroves. We should not underestimate mangrove ecosystem disservices, and how contemporary perceptions of mangroves may be influenced by such historical viewpoints. Archival materials provide a rich resource to study human-environment interactions, and how they change through time.

Ecosystem disservices matter: Towards their systematic integration within ecosystem service research and policy

“…This 'EDS-biased behavior' hypothesis is supported by several studies and for different types of stakeholders. For instance, mangroves in Thailand were drained to limit diseases, despite the strong recognition of mangrove-related ES (Friess, 2016). In South-Africa, some transhumant herders' movements were driven by the will to avoid EDS (such as poisonous plants and boggy areas), rather than to seek ES (O'Farrell et al, 2007).…”

Review of the ecosystem service implications of mangrove encroachment into salt marshes

“…These services include providing nursery habitat for fisheries, filtering of nutrients and other pollutants, carbon sequestration and storage, elevation maintenance, and a variety of recreational and cultural uses. While there have been numerous efforts to identify the ecosystem services provided by mangroves (e.g., Friess, ; Lee et al., ) and salt marshes (e.g., Craft et al., ), little comparative analysis has been undertaken between these ecosystems, especially in regard to the global changes to mangrove and salt marsh dynamics.…”

“…These services include providing nursery habitat for fisheries, filtering of nutrients and other pollutants, carbon sequestration and storage, elevation maintenance, and a variety of recreational and cultural uses. While there have been numerous efforts to identify the ecosystem services provided by mangroves (e.g., Friess, 2016;Lee et al, 2014) and salt marshes (e.g., Craft et al, 2009), little comparative analysis has been undertaken between these ecosystems, especially in regard to the global changes to mangrove and salt marsh dynamics. Mangrove distribution is constrained primarily by latitude, temperature, and to a lesser extent, aridity with most species confined to tropical or subtropical regions (Duke, Ball, & Ellison, 1998;Friess et al, 2012;Saintilan, Rogers, & McKee, 2009).…”

Drivers of mangrove ecosystem service change in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh

“…The role of ecosystem services is often ignored in management decisions which may cause continued degradation and destruction of mangroves (Barbier, ). In many parts of the world, mangroves have historically been viewed negatively as muddy wastelands spreading diseases (Horowitz et al ., ; Friess, ). Many stakeholders are not aware of the true value of mangroves, and even when they are, evaluating goods and services provided by mangroves is a difficult exercise (Vo et al ., ).…”