Tropical mangrove ecology: Physical and biotic factors influencing ecosystem structure and function

Abstract

Our understanding of the ecology of tropical mangals has strong practical implications for the management and conservation of these threatened ecosystems. Earlier models of tropical mangals proposed overwhelming influences by physical forces and processes such as the tidal regime or geomorphology on ecosystem structure and function. Recent findings from especially the Indo-Pacific mangals suggest also considerable influence from biotic agents and processes such as sesarmine crab feeding and bioturbation activities in shaping the ecology of tropical mangals. I argue that more research attention should be paid to the study of the interplay between physical and biotic influences in the ecology of tropical mangals. Examples in litter dynamics and community determination are given to illustrate how biotic influences may respond to changes in the physical setting of mangals. This necessitates an approach integrating the two sources of influences. Despite decades of increased research effort, answers to many fundamental questions concerning practical management issues of tropical mangals are still largely unavailable. The often-acclaimed functions and values of tropical mangals also have to be critically assessed in the light of existing and future data. It is proposed that research effort should also be targeted towards the assessment and mitigation of the predicted impacts of urgent problems faced by tropical mangals (e.g. conversion to aquaculture ponds, pollution) in order to secure their long-term conservation and wise management.

Small-scale variability in geomorphological settings influences mangrove-derived organic matter export in a tropical bay

“…According to the "environmental setting hypothesis" (Twilley, 1985), geomorphological features and hydrology are the most important abiotic factors affecting the exchange of mangrove material across ecosystem boundaries (Adame and Lovelock, 2011;Lee, 1999). In particular, the combined control of river discharge (magnitude and frequency), tidal amplitude, rainfall, and wave action is reported to influence the exchange of material across boundaries in estuarine mangrove systems.…”

How important are mangroves as a carbon source for decapod crustacean larvae in a tropical estuary?

“…The fate of organic detritus in mangrove ecosystems has been the focus of several biological and geochemical studies (see reviews in , Lee 1995, Schwamborn & Saint-Paul 1996, Lee 1999. It is generally believed that food webs in mangrove forests and adjacent aquatic ecosystems are closely linked by several interaction processes.…”

The influence of environmental parameters on fish larval distribution and abundance in the mangrove estuarine area of Marudu bay, Sabah, Malaysia

“…Some species remain in these nursery estuaries until they are sexually mature (Elliott and Hemingway, 2008). Mangrove estuaries are ecosystems described by environmental fluctuations and directly will have an important influence on the structure of the larval fish assemblages (Feller and Sitnik, 1996;Lee, 1999;Ooi and Chong, 2011). Successful recruitment and retention of fish larvae in estuaries which function as nursery areas are strategies adopted by the early life stages of many fish species (Boehlert and Mundy, 1988;Islam and Tanaka, 2006).…”