3.MangroveEcosystems 3.1.

DistributionofMangroves
Prof.K.Kathiresan
CentreofAdvancedStudyinMarineBiology AnnamalaiUniversity

iodiversity is the basis for human existence. It is of critical importanceformeetingtheneedsoffood,healthandotherneedsof the growing human populations. Among the various biodiversity regions, the coastal marine ecosystems are known to be most productive, biologically diverse and exceedingly valuable areas. These have been estimated to cover more than double the number of species on land. Man has turned to these organisms to harness energy, food, medicine, fertilizer, fuel and many other industrial products. A vast majority of global human population is getting concentrated along the seacoasts.Itisestimatedthatabout55%oftheworldspopulationlives incoastalareas.InEastAsia,morethan70%ofthepopulationdepends oncoastalresourcesforfood,employmentandgenerationofincome.In southAsia,coastalpopulationsaresurvivingregrettablyondiminishing coastal resources. The western Pacific region suffers degradation significantly to its coastal resources due to unplanned developmental activities and probably as a result of climatic changes. Added to it, the increasing human habitation in the coastal areas of the world that is estimated to reach 6 billion by 2030 provides the inevitable need for biodiversity conservation. In most of the developing countries, priority of necessity is given to food production and socioeconomic development, which are often at the expense of biodiversity conservation(Adeel&Caroline,2002). WhytoConservetheCoastalBiodiversity? Coastalareashaveagreatervarietyofhabitatsthantheopenoceanand thesearesubjectedtovariouspressuresrelatedtodevelopmentalneeds and often overexploited. This inevitably leads to degradation of ecosystems,destructionofspecies,whichformresourcesofbiodiversity and finally leading to an overall reduction in productivity. In the mid l990s,thelevelofseafoodconsumptioninAsiaandthePacificregions exceededthatoftheworldspercapitaseafoodconsumption.Thiswas becausefishpriceswererelativelylowerthanthoseofothersourcesof animalprotein(Tanetal.,l997).Nearly50%ofcoastalmangroveswhich form,vitalnurseriesforthelifehistoriesofmanyspeciesofcommercial

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importancehavealreadybeencleared,andbecauseofsiltationandother changesnearly10%ofcoralreefshavebeendegradedbeyondrecovery. Therefore,conservationofcoastalhabitatsandtheirbiodiversityshould form a top priority in our consideration for preservation, sustainable utilization,andrestorationofecology. CoastalMangroveEcosystems Mangrove forests are among the worlds most productive ecosystems. These are often called as tidal forests, coastal woodlands or oceanic rainforests.Mangrovesarewoodyplantsthatgrowintropicalandsub tropical latitudes along the landsea interface, bays, estuaries, lagoons, backwaters,andintherivers,reachingupstreamuptothepointwhere the water still remains saline (Qasim, l998). These plants and their associated organisms (microbes, fungi, other plants and animals), constitute the mangrove forest community or mangal. The mangal anditsassociatedabioticfactorsconstitutethemangroveecosystem,as hasbeenillustratedbyfig.1(KathiresanandBingham,2001).
Abiotic factors Mangroves
Mangal

Mangrove-associated microbes, flora

& Fauna

EcoSystem Mangrove microhabitat Biological microhabitats

Fig.1.Physicalandbiologicalcomponentsofmangroveecosystems (FromKathiresan&Bingham,2001)

Living along the interface between land and sea, the mangrove ecosystemssupportgeneticallydiversegroupsofaquaticandterrestrial organisms. They include diversified habitats such as core forests, litter forestfloors,mudflats,andadjacentcoralreefsandseagrassecosystems. The contiguous water bodies consist of the rivers, bays, inter tidal creeks, channels and backwaters. The mangroves can exist under wide rangesofsalinities,tidalamplitudes,winds,andtemperatures, even in muddy and anaerobic soil conditions. The highly variable habitat

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conditionsmakethemprofuselyrichinbiodiversity.Overalongperiod of time the mangroves and their components have been studied extensively but still remain poorly understood as far as their biodiversityisconcerned. The word mangrove dates itsorigin as 1613,andit isusually considered a compound of the Portuguese word mangue and the English word grove. According to Marta Vannucci, the word mangue derives from the national language of Senegal, and it was probably adoptedbythePortuguese.The correspondingFrench words aremanglierandpaletuvier(Macnae,1968),whileaSpanishtermis manglar. The Dutch use vloedbosschen for the mangrove community and mangrove for the individual trees. German use follows the English. The word mangro is a common name for Rhizophora in Surinam (Chapman, 1976). It is believed that all these wordsoriginatedfromtheMalaysianword,manggimanggimeaning abovethesoil.ThewordisnolongerusedinMalaysia,butisusedin easternIndonesiatorefertoAvicenniaspecies. HistoryandEvolutionofMangroves Mangrovesarequiteold,possiblyarisingjustafterthefirstangiosperms (Duke,1992).However,mangroveplantsdonotexhibitveryprimitive plant characteristics. It is believed that the first appearance of mangroves as early as 80 million years ago. Avicennia and Rhizophora wereprobablythefirstgeneratoevolve,appearingneartheendofthe Cretaceousperiod(Chapman,1976). Mangroves evolved from terrestrial or fresh water plant species ratherthanmarineplants.Inthedistantpast,theselandplantsadapted tobrackishwaterandbecamethecoremangroveflora.Itisnotclear whyonlyafewmembersofmanyplantgroupsadaptedtosalinewater. It is believed that the breakup of continental land masses provided conditions, favourable for the development of mangroves in the fringe areas. Some 200 million years ago, there was only one continentknownasPangaea.Thisbrokeupinitiallyintosubcontinents like Gondwanaland that subsequently divided into South America, Africa, Antarctica, India and Australia, some 60 million years ago. About 50 million years ago, the island continent of India bore down upon Asia. When the two met, new mountains began to rise, and biological species started spreading into the new extensions, some 40 millionyearsago.Likewise,allothercontinentsdriftoverthesurface of the globe, resulted increased coastal habitats suitable for mangrove development. These geological changes and evolution of flowering

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plants happened simultaneously during the long period. Thus it is suggested the mangrove species evolved and diversified due to the breakupofGondwanaland. The origin of mangroves is still under debate. It is not clear whethertheoriginandspreadofmangrovesare i. from the Malaysian peninsular and spread to a region betweenAustraliaandPapuaNewGuinea,andor

ii. between Malaysia and Northern Australia. These two theorieswerebasedonfossilsandpollen. Mangroves have a long historical link with human culture and civilization. Spirit houses are common in Asian countries especially in India, Mayanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. At the entry point of Sundarbans,Banobibitemplesarepresentforworshipbylocalpeople. This temple consists of Bano bibi for the Muslims, and vano devi for theHindusreligiouspeople.Inthethirdcentury,aHindutempletothe mangroveExcoecariaagallochawaserectedinsouthIndia(Fig.2a).The citywherethistempleisfoundbearsthenameofthemangrovespecies. In Kenya, shrines built in the mangrove forests are worshipped by the local people, whobelieve spiritsof theshrine will bringdeathtothose who cut the surrounding trees (Fig. 2b). In the Solomon Islands, the bodiesofthedeadaredisposedoffandspecialritesareperformedinthe mangrovewaters(Vannucci,1997). The Portuguese, probably the first Europeans to visit the mangrove forests of the Indian Ocean (around fourteenth century), learned the traditional Indian technique of ricefishmangrove farming, as demonstrated by letters from the Viceroys the King of Portugal. Some six centuries ago, this Indian technology was also transferred by Jesuit and Franciscan Fathers to the African countries of Angola and Mozambique (Vannucci, 1997). In the nineteenth century, the British used the practical knowledge gained over centuries by the Indians to manage mangroves at Sundarbans for commercial timber production (Vannucci,1997).

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Fig.2a. Arockcarvingof Excoecariaagallochafor worshipinaHindutemple inSouthIndia. Fig.2b.Ashrineforworship,insideamangrove forestinGaziBay,Kenya.

A creative use of mangroves is described in a traditional story from India about two countries at war. The larger country planned to invade their small neighbours during the night. The smaller nation, which has mangrove forests on its coastline, plotted to discourage its enemies by placing lighted lamps on the aerial roots of mangroves. What appeared to be a large flotilla of ships discouraged the invaders andendedthehostilities(e.g.Kathiresan&Bingham,2001). Mangroves have been studied since ancient times. Descriptions ofRhizophoratreesintheRedSeaandthePersianGulfbyNearchus(325 BC)andTheophrastus(305BC)aretheearliestknownrecords.Plutarch (70 AD) and Aboul Abass (1230) wrote about Rhizophora and its seedlings (Macnae, 1968; Chapman, 1976). Rollets (1981) bibliography of mangrove research shows only 14 references before 1600, 25 referencesfromtheseventeenthcentury,48referencesintheeighteenth century,and427inthenineteenthcentury.Incontrast,therewere4500 mangrove references between 1900 and 1975, and approximately 4466 between 1978 and 2001, illustrating the spurt of interest in mangrove research. GlobalDistribution Mangroves are distributed circumtropically, occurring in 112 countries and territories. Total global mangrove coverage is 18 million hectares anditisjustabout0.45%ofworldforests&woodland(Spalding,1997). Ofthetotalmangrovecoverage,41.4%existinSouthandSoutheastAsia (Table 1). Mangroves are largely restricted to latitudes between 30o N

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and30oS.NorthernextensionsofthislimitoccurinJapan(31o22N)and Bermuda(32o20N);southernextensionsareinNewZealand(38o03S), Australia (38o 45 S) and on the east coast of South Africa (32o59 S) (Spalding,1997). Table1.Arealcoverageofmangroveforests Region SouthandSoutheastAsia TheAmericas WestAfrica Australasia EastAfricaandMiddleEast Area(sqkm) 75,170 49,096 27,995 18,788 10,348 Percent 41.4 27.1 15.4 10.4 5.7

Mangroves have broader ranges along the warmer eastern coastlines of the Americas and Africa than along the cooler western coastlines(Fig.3).Thisdifferenceindistributionisduetothepresence ofwarmandcoldoceaniccurrents.

Fig.3.Globaldistributionofmangroveswithsixgeographicregions (Duke,1992)

OldandNewWorldMangroves There are two main centres of mangroves: the Eastern hemisphere and theWesternhemisphere(Fig.3).TheEasternhemisphereisIndoWest Pacific region that includes East Africa, IndoMalesia and Australasia. The Western hemisphere is Atlantic East Pacific region that includes WestAmerica,EastAmericaandWestAfrica.TheEasternhemisphere isconsideredasaplaceoforiginformangroves,andhencetheregionis calledastheOldWorldmangrovesandtheWesternhemisphereasthe Newworldmangroves.TheEasternhemispherehasmorespeciesthan theWesternhemisphere.Thenumberofmangrovespeciesis49inthe

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formerand11inthelatter(Duke,1992).Somegeneraarespecifictothe regions. The genera like Peliciera, Conocarpus, and Laguncularia are presentonlyinthenewworld,whereasOsborniaandCamptostemonexist onlyintheoldworld. Table2.Estimatedmangrovecoverageareasofthe15countrieswiththe largestmangroveareas(afterITTO/ISME,1993). Country Indonesia Brazil Australia Nigeria Malaysia Bangladesh Myanmar Vietnam Cuba Mexico Senegal India Colombia Cameroon Madagascar ExtentofMangrovesinVariousCountries Table 2 shows the extent of mangroves in 15 countries that have significant mangrove coverage. Mangrove areas are the largest in Indonesia,Brazil,AustraliaandNigeriacontributingrespectively30,10, 8 & 7% of global coverage (ITTO/ISME, 1993). It is difficult to get accurate estimates of mangrove areas for individual countries for the followingreasons. 1. No adequate data exists for some countries primarily in westernAfricaandAsia. 2. Mangrove areas in many developing countries are fast disappearing. To cite an example, there was more than 50% lossofmangroveareaafter1960(Aksornkoae,1993). 3. There is no standard methodology followed uniformly in differentcountriestoestimatemangroveareas.Asaresult,it isdifficulttocompare. Mangroves (1000ha) 4250 1376 1150 970 641 611 570 540 530 525 440 360 358 350 327 Global percentage (%) 30 10 8 7 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2

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4. It is difficult to differentiate between terrestrial forests and mangroves in places where tall mangrove trees merge into otherforests(KjerfveandLacerda,1993). 5. Thereisalsonoclearcutdemarcationbetweentheextentsof water bodies and mangrove forest land, due to tidal water problems. 6. Above all, there is no clear cut definition for mangrove speciesandhenceotherassociatedspeciesofsaltmarshand othervegetationarealsoincludedinmanycases. References
Adeel,ZandCaroline,King(Ed.)(2002).ConservingourCoastalEnvironment: A summary of UNUs research on sustainable management of the coastal hydrosphere in the Asia Pacific region. United Nations University,Tokyo,Japan.pp.39. Aksornkoae, S. (1993). Ecology and Management of Mangrove. IUCN The WorldConservationUnion,Bangkok,Thailand.176pp. Chapman,V.J.(1976).MangroveVegetation.J.Cramer,Vaduz. Duke, N.C. (1992). In: Robertson, A.I. and Alongi, D.M. (Eds). Coastal and Estuarine studies: Tropical Mangrove Ecosystems, American GeophysicalUnion,WashingtonDC.,USA,pp.63100. ITTO/ISME,(l993).TheWorldofMangrovesPartI.Japan,pp.163. Kathiresan, K. and Bingham, B.L. (2001). Biology of mangrove and mangrove ecosystems.AdvancesinMarineBiology,40:81251. Kjerfve, B. and Lacerda, L.D. (l993). Mangroves of Brazil. In : Lacerda, L.D. (Ed.), Technical report of the project : Conservation and sustainable managementofmangroveforestsinLatinAmericaandAfricaregions Part I Latin America. International Tropical Timber Organization / InternationalSocietyforMangroveEcosystems(ITTO/ISME)Mangrove ecosystemtechnicalreportsITTOTS,13(2):245272. Macnae,W.(1968).Ageneralaccountofafaunaandfloraofmangroveswamps andforestintheIndoPacificregion.AdvancesinMarineBiology,6:73 270. Qasim, S. Z. (1998). Mangroves, In : Glimpses of the Indian Ocean, (University Press,Hyderabad),pp.123129. Rollet,B.(1981).Bibliographyonmangroveresearch16001975.UNESCO,U.K., 479pp. Spalding,M.(1997).Theglobaldistributionandstatusofmangroveecosystems. InternationalNewsletterofCoastalManagementIntercoastNetwork,Special edition,1:2021.

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Tan, X. and Zhang, Q. (1997). Mangrove beaches accretion rate and effects of relative sealevel rise on mangroves in China. Marine Science Bulletin, Haiyang,16(4):2935. Vannucci, M. (1997). Supporting appropriate mangrove management. InternationalNewsletterofCoastalManagementIntercoastNetwork,Special edition,1:13.