Coastal and Estuarine Studies Managing Editors' Malcolm J. Bowman Richard T. Barber Christopher N.K. Mooers John A.
Coastal and Estuarine Studies 41 A.I. Robertson and D.M. Alongi (Eds.) Tropical Mangrove Ecosystems American Geoph ysical Washington, DC
Managing Editors Malcolm J. Bowman Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York Stony Brook, N.Y. 11794, USA Richard T. Barber Duke Marine Laboratory Beaufort, N.C. 28516, USA Christopher N.K. Mooers Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory Institute for the Study of the Earth, Oceans and Space University of New Hampshire Durham, N.H. 03824-3525, USA John A. Raven Dept. of Biological Sciences, Dundee University Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland Editors Alistar I. Robertson Daniel M. Alongi Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tropical mangrove ecosystems / A.I. Robertson and D.M. Alongi (eds.). p. cm.- (Coastal and estuarine series; 41) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-87590-255-3 1. Mangrove swamp ecology. I. Robertson, A. I. (Alistar I.) II. Alongi, D. M. (Daniel M.) III. Series. QH541.5.M27T76 1992 574.5'26325 dc20 ISSN 0733-9569 ISBN 0-87590-255-3 92-44357 CIP Copyright 1992 by the American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009, U.S.A. Figures, tables, and short excerpts may be reprinted scientific books and journals if the source is properly cited. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specificlients, is granted by the American Geophysical Union for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, provided that the base fee of $1.00 per copy plus $0.10 per page is paid directly to CCC, 21 Congress Street, Salem, MA 10970. 0733-9569/87/$01. +. 10. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for creating new collective works or for resale. The reproduction of multiple copies and the use of full articles or the use of extracts, including figures and tables, for commercial purposes requires permission from AGU. Printed in the United States of
Preface Mangrove forests are a dominant feature of tropical coasts. Like their terrestrial counterparts these forests are under threat worldwide through a variety of destructive human practices. As is also the case with tropical terrestrial forests, management decisions about mangrove ecosystems are currently being made often without adequate fundamental knowledge of the processes controlling natural ecosystem function. Since the mid 1970's, the (ALMS) has had in place a research program investigating the structure and dynamics of mangrove ecosystems in tropical Australia. Early results of this research were summarized in 1982 in the book entitled Mangrove ecosystems in Australia.' structure, function and management, edited by B.F. Clough. We felt that the time was ripe for a review of work during the decade 1981-1991, and so approached all past and present AIMS mangrove research workers to contribute to this volume. With the exception of Steve Blaber and Colin Woodroffe, all authors have worked at AIMS as staff members, or visiting scientists. We thought it appropriate that since John Bunt instigated much of the early work on mangrove ecosystems in northeastern Australia, he should introduce this volume. While we are sure that this volume will serve as a useful source book for managers of mangrove wetlands, most chapters identify the often substantial gaps in our knowledge of these systems. Given the rate of loss of mangrove forests worldwide, the challenge for future workers on tropical mangrove systems will be to fill these important gaps in our knowledge, while at the same time publicizing their research results and making them available to managers (see Chapter 11, this volume). All major chapters were reviewed by one external and one AIMS scientist. We thank Marylin Ball, Betsy Jackes, Chad Pattiaratchi, Richard Pearson, Gordon Thayer, Bruce Thom, Ivan Valiela and Bill Wiebe for review of chapters. All word processing was performed by Frances Conn, Steve Clarke, Rhonda Lyons, Sue Smith and Kim Wicks. Marty Eden produced all of the final figures and Christine Cansfield-Smith produced the camera ready text and did the copy editing. We also acknowledge the scientific support sections at AIMS for their professional assistance with much of the research reviewed in this volume. Alistar Robertson and Daniel Alongi, June
Contents Preface List of Contributors ix 1 Introduction J.S. Bunt Mangrove sediments and geomorphology C. Woodroffe Mangrove hydrodynamics E. Wolanski, Y. Mazda and P. Ridd 43 Mangrove floristics and biogeography N.C. Duke 63 5 Forest structure T.J. Smith III 101 Benthic communities D.M. Alongi and A. Sasekumar 137 Plankton, epibenthos and fish communities A.I. Robertson and S.J.M. B laber 173 Primary productivity and growth of mangrove forests B.F. Clough 225 Nitrogen and phosphorus cycles D.M. Alongi, K.G. Boto and A.I. Robertson 251 10 Food chains and carbon fluxes A.I. Robertson, D.M. Alongi and K.G. Boto 293 11 Concluding remarks' research and mangrove conservation A.I. Robertson
List of Contributors Dr D.M. Alongi Dr B.F. Clough Dr S.J.M. B laber CSIRO PO Box 120 Cleveland Marine Laboratories Queensland 4163 Dr N.C. Duke Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Box 2072 Balboa REPUBLIC OF PANAMA Dr K.G. Boto Prof. Y. Mazda School of Marine Science and Technology Tokai University Orido Shimizu Shizuoka JAPAN 424 Dr J.S. Bunt 4/6 McDonald Street Potts Point N.S.W. 2011 Dr P. Ridd Department of Physics James Cook University of North Queensland Queensland 4811
x List of Contributors Dr A.I. Robertson Dr E Wolanski Dr A. Sasekumar Department of Zoology University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA Dr C. Woodroffe Department of Geography University of Wollongong PO Box 1144 Wollongong N.S.W. 2500 Dr T.J. Smith III Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Florida Department of Natural Resources 10 Shell Island Road Naples Florida 33962 U.S.A.