The Energetics of Mangrove Forests

ISBN-13: 9789048170937 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 216 str.

Daniel M. Alongi

Opis

Despite their importance in sustaining livelihoods for many people living along some of the world s most populous coastlines, tropical mangrove forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Occupying a crucial place between land and sea, these tidal ecosystems provide a valuable ecological and economic resource as important nursery grounds and breeding sites for many organisms, and as a renewable source of wood and traditional foods and medicines. Perhaps most importantly, they are accumulation sites for sediment, contaminants, carbon and nutrients, and offer significant protection against coastal erosion. This book presents a functional overview of mangrove forest ecosystems; how they live and grow at the edge of tropical seas, how they play a critical role along most of the world s tropical coasts, and how their future might look in a world affected by climate change. Such a process-oriented approach is necessary in order to further understand the role of these dynamic forests in ecosystem function, and as a first step towards developing adequate strategies for their conservation and sustainable use and management. The book will provide a valuable resource for researchers in mangrove ecology as well as reference for resource managers."

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"Daniel Alongi ... and colleagues at the Australian Institute of Marine Science have made substantial contribution. The bibliography alone will be of great value to all mangrove researchers. ... I would hope the libraries as well as individuals will purchase this important book, which not only addresses matters of global ecological concern but provides a model for students, whatever their own particular interest, of how to synthesize and assess a formidable and complex amount of information." (Paul Adam, Austral Ecology, Vol. 36 (5), 2011)

Spis treści

Preface.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Trees and Canopies. 2.1 Introduction. 2.2 Biomass Allocation. 2.2.1 Partitioning of Tree Components. 2.2.2 Global Patterns of Mangrove Biomass. 2.2.3 Nutrient Capital. 2.3 Ecophysiology. 2.3.1 Anoxia. 2.3.2 Salt. 2.3.3 Balancing Carbon Gain and Water Loss. 2.4 Tree Photosynthesis and Respiration. 2.4.1 Photosynthetic Rates. 2.4.2 Respiration. 2.5 Primary Productivity. 2.5.1 Methods and Their Limitations. 2.5.2 Carbon Allocation of Primary Productivity. 2.5.3 Rates and Patterns of Net Primary Productivity. 2.5.4 Nutrient Limitation and Nutrient-Use Efficiency. 2.5.5 Other Primary Producers. 2.6 Life in the Canopy and Root Epibionts.-3. Water and Sediment Dynamics. 3.1 Introduction. 3.2 Tides. 3.2.1 Flow in Relation to Geomorphology. 3.2.2 Flow in Relation to Vegetation and other Biological Structures. 3.3 Groundwater. 3.4 Waves. 3.5 Sediment Transport and Flocculation. 3.6 Sedimentation and Accretion: Short-Term versus Long-Term Dynamics. 3.7 Chemical and Biological Consequences of Water and Sediment Flow.- 4. Life in Tidal Waters. 4.1 Introduction. 4.2 Physicochemical and Biochemical Attributes. 4.3 Loops, Chains, and Hubs in the Microbial Machinery. 4.4 Phytoplankton Dynamics. 4.5 Are Mangrove Waters Net Heterotrophic or Autotrophic? 4.6 Zooplankton. 4.6.1 Factors Affecting Abundance, Composition, and Biomass. 4.6.2 Diets and Grazing Rates. 4.6.3 Secondary Production. 4.7 Nekton: Diets, Growth, and Trophic Links. 4.7.1 Penaeid Shrimps. 4.7.2 Fish. 4.8 Is There a Link between Mangroves and Fisheries Production?- 5. The Forest Floor. 5.1 Introduction. 5.2 Soil Composition and Physicochemical Attributes. 5.3 Life on the Forest Floor. 5.3.1 The Role of Crabs in Consumption of Seeds and Litter. 5.3.2 Patterns of Microbial Decomposition of Litter. 5.3.3 Crabs as Ecosystem Engineers. 5.3.4 Trophic Dynamics of Other Macrobenthos. 5.3.5 Wood Decomposition. 5.3.6 Root Decomposition. 5.4 Microbial Processes in Forest Soils. 5.4.1 Rates and Pathways of Bacterial Decomposition of Soil Organic Matter. 5.4.2 Sulfate Reduction. 5.4.3 Iron and Manganese Reduction. 5.4.4 Methane Release. 5.4.5 Nitrogen Processes and Links to Trees. 5.4.6 Aspects of Phosphorus Cycling.- 6. Ecosystem Dynamics. 6.1 Introduction. 6.2 Material Exchange: The Outwelling Concept. 6.2.1 Carbon Export to the Coastal Ocean and the Atmosphere. 6.2.2 Dissolved Nitrogen and Phosphorus Exchange. 6.3 Carbon Balance in Mangrove Ecosystems. 6.3.1 Whole-Ecosystem Balances. 6.3.2 The Mass Balance Approach. 6.4 Nitrogen Flow through Mangrove Ecosystems: The Hinchinbrook Island Study. 6.5 Mineral Cycling. 6.6 Systems Analysis: Understanding links among Various Functions of an Eosytem. 6.6.1 Network Models. 6.6.2 Ecohydrology: Linking Physics and Ecology for Management Applications. 6.7 Ecological Economics and Sustainability of Mangroves. 6.7.1 Models of Resource Economics. 6.7.2 Using Ecosystems Data to Quantify Sustainability.- 7. Synthesis. 7.1 Developing A Global View. 7.1.1 A Budget and its Implications. 7.1.2 The Contribution of Mangroves to Carbon Cycling in the Global Coastal Ocean. 7.2 The Most Important Facts regarding Mangrove Energetics. 7.3 Epilogue.- References. Index