Protected areas are used to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, protected areas can create tradeoffs spatially and temporally among ecosystem services, which can affect the welfare of dependent local communities. This study examines the effect of a protected area on the tradeoff between two extractive ecosystem services from mangrove forests: cutting mangroves (fuelwood) and h...

Surveys of stranded marine debris around Motupore Island, a small island in Bootless Bay, Papua New Guinea, revealed exceptionally high loads (up to 78.3 items m(-2)), with major concentrations in mangrove-dominated, depositional areas. The worst affected, 50-m stretch of shore was estimated to contain >37.000 items with a combined weight of 889 kg. Consistent with studies elsewhere, plastics c...

Mangrove communities comprise a group of biotic components, including plants, animals and microbial organisms, that are highly adapted to intertidal environmental conditions. However, none of these can be identified as a community in a mangrove ecosystem without the actual mangrove plants (trees and shrubs), implying that the true mangrove vegetation is the major constituent of the ecosystem. M...

Mangrove forests, important tropical coastal habitats, are in decline worldwide primarily due to removal by humans. Changes to mangrove systems can alter ecosystem properties through direct effects on abiotic factors such as temperature, light and nutrient supply or through changes in biotic factors such as primary productivity or species composition. Despite the importance of mangroves as tran...

Offshore catches of banana prawns, Penaeus merguiensis, are correlated with the extent of mangrove forests. However, recent evaluation has questioned whether the apparent relationship between juvenile penaeids and mangroves reflects specific utilisation of mangroves or just the use of shallow, organically rich, muddy habitats. We investigated this by focussing on juvenile P. merguiensis within ...

This essay addresses the conservation issues facing mangroves in the Anthropocene, defined as the era of human domination over the world. We review the laws, policies, international agreements, and local actions that address the conservation of mangrove forests in the Neotropics and relate them to the Anthropocene. Collaboration between governments, non-governmental organizations, and communiti...

Root respiration uses a significant proportion of photosynthetically fixed carbon (C) and is a globally important source of C liberated from soils. Mangroves, which are an important and productive forest resource in many tropical and subtropical countries, sustain a high ratio of root to shoot biomass which may indicate that root respiration is a particularly important component in mangrove for...

this study was carried out to clarify the feeding biology of the blood cockle ( anadara granosa ). we collected blood cockles from 8 stations in the matang mangrove estuary of malaysia in july and august 2010. the digestive tube contents of the specimens were stained with congo red and observed under a light microscope. the results showed blood cockles take in particles containing cellulose as ...

The conversion of mangrove forest to aquaculture ponds has been increasing in recent decades. One of major concerns of this habitat loss is the release of stored 'blue' carbon from mangrove soils to the atmosphere. In this study, we assessed carbon dioxide (CO₂) efflux from soil in intensive shrimp ponds in Bali, Indonesia. We measured CO₂ efflux from the floors and walls of shrimp ponds. Rates...