The structural heterogeneity of an urbanised mangrove forest area in southeastern Brazil: Influence of environmental factors and anthropogenic stressors

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of the forest in an urbanised mangrove using vegetation structure and abiotic conditions to distinguish habitat heterogeneity/quality. A total of 16 points in Vitória Bay were selected in the fringe and basin forests. The variables evaluated were height and diameter of the individual trees, basal area, density, dominance, interstitial water, litter mass, grain size, organic matter and anthropogenic influences. The results indicated that the mangrove area, due to suffering intensely from various anthropogenic effects, forests with varying degrees of maturity. Areas more distant from direct human effects had a higher degree of development and environmental quality relative to points closer to urban pressures. Intermediate development levels were also observed, which indicated pulses of environmental change. Human interventions caused alterations in the development of the forest which increased the mortality rate and reduced the diameter and height of the trees. The environmental variables of salinity, organic matter, litter mass, grain size and anthropogenic stressors contributed to the structural patterns. Our data suggest that an analysis of the vegetation structure and the abiotic factors are useful indicators to evaluate habitat quality, thus providing a basis for future management.

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“…Despite this, the occurrence of the associate species in this mangrove which are basically found in fresh water zones may entail their adaptation to brackish habitats. The dominance of Rhizophora mangle in this mangrove aligns with the findings of Strauch et al 18 and Zamprogno et al 19 while working in mangroves of Bahamas Island and mangrove forest in southeastern Brazil. Elsewhere, Savory 20 and Abere & Ekeke 21 had reported Rhizophora racemosa to be the pioneer mangrove species on the shorelines of Nigeria.…”

Quantifying the influence of urban land use on mangrove biology and ecology: A meta‐analysis

“…Mangrove loss around cities has primarily been reported for Africa, Latin America and India (Benfield, Guzman, & Mair, ; Mohamed, Neukermans, Kairo, Dahdouh‐Guebas, & Koedam, ; Nagendra, Sudhira, Katti, & Schewenius, ; Nfotabong‐Atheull, Din, & Dahdouh‐Guebas, ; Nortey, Aheto, Blay, Jonah, & Asare, ; Obiefuna, Nwilo, Atagbaza, & Okolie, ; Olagoke, Mwihaki, Bosire, & Berger, ; Vaz, ; Zamprogno et al, ). This agrees with predictions of ecological vulnerability in low‐ and lower‐middle‐income regions owing to rapid urbanization and management lags (Baird, ; McGranahan, Balk, & Anderson, ; Seto et al, ; United Nations Environment Program, ).…”

“…But evidence of urban mangrove reforestation after the implementation of tighter restrictions in low‐, middle‐ and high‐income regions proposes regulatory strength as an effective agent of urban mangrove conservation (Burt, ; DasGupta & Shaw, ; Martinuzzi, Gould, Lugo, & Medina, ; Pham & Yoshino, ). Furthermore, a number of studies have reported spatial heterogeneities in mangrove changes around cities (Mohamed et al, ; Nagendra et al, ; Nfotabong‐Atheull et al, ; Vaz, ; Zamprogno et al, ), with the majority suggesting that much of the loss associated with urban mangroves is occurring at settlement edges, not in city centres.…”

The Structure and Composition of Puerto Rico’s Urban Mangroves

“…Globally, mangrove coverage in the largest cities is decreasing faster than overall rates from corresponding countries [14]. In some cases, this loss results in fragmented forests consisting of novel species assemblages and size classes [15][16][17][18]. There are cases of expanding urban mangrove coverage [19,20], although the young forests may contain less biomass [21].…”