Faunal impact on vegetation structure and ecosystem function in mangrove forests: A review

Cannicci, Stefano; Burrows, Damien; Fratini, Sara; Smith, Thomas J.; Offenberg, Joachim; Dahdouh‐Guebas, Farid

doi:10.1016/j.aquabot.2008.01.009

Cited by 394 publications

(277 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…Moreover, from an ecological point of view, the steady increase in crab biomass observed at the peri-urban sites did not indicate that the systems were healthier. Alterations of this nature in biomass of a crucial ecosystem component can lead to unsustainable alterations in ecosystem function (Duke et al, 2007;Cannicci et al, 2008), eventually causing a collapse of the system itself. In view of the ecological differences we found among mangrove assemblages and the low tolerance shown by some key taxa, we recommend that further studies be undertaken on wastewater impacts on mangrove benthos to further elucidate the potential of natural mangrove forests and wetland systems for sewage treatment.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their ecological function in coastal protection was demonstrated in the 2004 tsunami when mangroves in good ecological condition proved effective in this regard (Dahdouh-Guebas et al, 2005;Kathiresan and Rajendran, 2005). Last but not least, mangroves host a unique set of associated fauna, such as semi-terrestrial and tree-dwelling brachyuran crabs (Fratini et al, 2005;Cannicci et al, 2008) and insects , and, within soft-sediment habitats, they provide a unique hard-sediment substratum needed for a unique and diverse assemblage of benthos (Farnsworth and Ellison, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of urban wastewater on crab and mollusc assemblages in equatorial and subtropical mangroves of East Africa

Cannicci

Bartolini

Dahdouh‐Guebas

et al. 2009

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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102

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a b s t r a c tMangrove forests are known to accomplish crucial ecosystem functions and services. They are nursery areas for fish, prawns and crabs, which provide coastal communities with a variety of food, timber and chemicals, and protect coasts from catastrophic events, such as tsunamis. Recently, a novel ecological service has been proposed for mangrove systems, namely natural wastewater treatment wetlands. This hypothesis was based on experimental data collected mainly in Chinese mangrove systems, which proved that mangrove soils were efficient in absorbing nutrients. Moreover, sewage loading seemed harmless to both plants and benthic communities in these systems. However, before promoting the use of natural mangroves as pollution buffers, or constructed mangrove wetlands as sewage treatment facilities, more data are needed on their overall tolerance to organic loading. Differences in macrobenthos patterns were thus investigated between peri-urban mangroves and sites not affected by sewage disposal in East Africa. We assessed differences in epifaunal assemblages, comprising crabs and molluscs, employing multivariate ACI unbalanced analyses to compare peri-urban mangrove swamps with those characteristic of non-urban mangroves with similar ecological traits. The sampling design was spatially nested, replicates being assessed at equatorial (southern Kenya) and subtropical (southern Mozambique) sites. The results manifested a consistent increase in crab biomass at the peri-urban sites in both Kenya and Mozambique. Moreover, the peri-urban systems were richer than the non-urban mangroves, both in terms of fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) which feed on benthic microalgae and bacteria, and sesarmids, such as Perisesarma guttatum and Neosarmatium meinerti, which feed on both substratum and leaf litter. The abundance of gastropods, in contrast, decreased significantly, especially in Kenya, mainly due to the disappearance of the mud whelk Terebralia palustris. The results thus indicate that, in East African mangrove systems, domestic wastewater has detectable effects on crabs and molluscs, suggesting their usefulness as bioindicators of its effects in mangroves. Transformed benthic patterns at the peri-urban sites indicated the need for further study of the actual potential of natural mangrove forests to absorb pollution in sewage treatment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of urban wastewater on crab and mollusc assemblages in equatorial and subtropical mangroves of East Africa

Cannicci

Bartolini

Dahdouh‐Guebas

et al. 2009

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

Self Cite

102

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“…This species is a grazer and a facultative detritivore, and given its high density and biomass (range: 16-100 ind./m 2 ; 11.9-74.3 g/m 2 ; [40]), it seems to be responsible for the rapid processing of black mangrove (A. germinans) leaflitter (A. Taborda and J. F. Blanco in preparation). Gastropods in the Caribbean and elsewhere have been pointed as key detritivores and sediment grazers, even outweighing the role of crabs [80][81][82]. Available assessments on the impacts of mangrove deforestation on benthos report that vegetation provides support and physical habitat that may reduce predation and desiccation (Asia: [83,84]; Africa: [85,86]; Australia: [87]).…”

Section: Impacts Of Selective Logging and Mangrove Reclamation On Benmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem-Wide Impacts of Deforestation in Mangroves: The Urabá Gulf (Colombian Caribbean) Case Study

et al. 2012

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Mangroves are ecologically important and extensive in the Neotropics, but they are visibly threatened by selective logging and conversion to pastures in the Southern Caribbean. The objective of this paper was to summarize the impacts of both threats on forest structure, species composition, aboveground biomass and carbon reservoir, species introgressions, and benthic fauna populations by collating past and current data and by using an interdisciplinary approach in the Urabá Gulf (Colombia) as a case study. Mangroves in the Eastern Coast have been decimated and have produced unskewed tree-diameter (DBH) distributions due to the overexploitation of Rhizophora mangle for poles (DBH range: 7-17 cm) and of Avicennia germinans for planks and pilings (DBH > 40 cm). Selective logging increased the importance value of the light-tolerant white mangrove Laguncularia racemosa, also increasing biomass and carbon storage in this species, thus offsetting reductions in other species. Introgressions (cryptic ecological degradation) by L. racemosa and Acrostichum aureum (mangrove fern) and low densities of otherwise dominant detritivore snails (Neritina virginea) were observed in periurban basin mangroves. Finally, basin mangroves were more threatened than fringing mangroves due to their proximity to expanding pastures, villages, and a coastal city.

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“…In this respect, an enhanced research effort of conservation geneticists and molecular ecologists is urgently needed, to inform and support ecosystem-based management with measures of minimum viable areas, minimum viable population sizes, and dispersal capabilities of the species of these communities. Belt transects may include a mudfl at and a mangrove forest, with or without the mouth of a river (1,2,5,6); can connect the sea to the banks of a river (8); connect the opposite coasts of a small island (7); include a large portion of a river or a large creek (4); part of the transition from the banks of a river to the fl ooding plain, including or not the contact zone between different coastal swamps (3); the sea-land transition from mangrove forests to freshwater or peat swamps (9, 11); or wide transitions from mudfl ats to freshwater swamps and lowland forests (10). Each case would both imply different water management plans, and different ranges of multiple-use confl icts.…”

Section: Coastal Management and Ecotonal Network (Ents)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Watershed Management and ‘Ecotonal Networks’. A Holistic Approach to Coastal Management

Polgar¹

2013

MJS

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For the fi rst time in the history of our species, the opportunity of halting the expansion of our global population discloses future scenarios of stably coexisting urbanised and non-urbanised ecosystems. The need for the establishment of such scenarios is particularly urgent in tropical regions, whose higher biodiversity is being rapidly eroded by recent and explosive urbanisation and land conversion. It is here proposed that the sustainable management of networks of urbanised and non-urbanised systems, the latter ones being interconnected by transitional systems, or ecotones, is the key to manage increasingly fragmented and isolated natural systems. In a cybernetic perspective, a decrease in internal connectivity both modifi es fl uxes with the external environment and impairs negative feedbacks, thus decreasing ecosystems' resilience. In particular, conservation efforts focused on traditionally conceived ecosystems have shown to be inappropriate to effi ciently manage and protect tropical coastal systems. All these 'systems', although being anthropomorphically perceived as separate, evolved as deeply interconnected networks. The increasing loss of biocomplexity and resilience faced by such networks, is the inevitable consequence of the loss of internal connectivity determined by the loss of ecotones, due to fragmentation, degradation, and anthropogenic impact acting on the periphery of isolated natural areas. In order to sustainably manage natural isolated systems surrounded by urban, agricultural or degraded systems, appropriate management of ecological inputs and outputs, and maintenance of internal connectivity should be urgently implemented. Ecosystem-based management offers a rational perspective: (i) maximising the diversity of the managed systems within the original landscape, and (ii) creating and managing a dynamic network of ecotonal connections maintaining fl uxes of energy and matter between them (Ecotonal NeTworks, or ENTs). Being inherently more resilient, such managed networks of natural subsystems would provide more sustainable and richer economic and ecological services, allowing for a rational integration of the highly interconnected urban subsystems.

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Faunal impact on vegetation structure and ecosystem function in mangrove forests: A review

Cited by 394 publications

References 133 publications

Effects of urban wastewater on crab and mollusc assemblages in equatorial and subtropical mangroves of East Africa

Effects of urban wastewater on crab and mollusc assemblages in equatorial and subtropical mangroves of East Africa

Ecosystem-Wide Impacts of Deforestation in Mangroves: The Urabá Gulf (Colombian Caribbean) Case Study

Watershed Management and ‘Ecotonal Networks’. A Holistic Approach to Coastal Management

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