Looking for the present in the past: Paleoenvironmental analyses and Social-ecological memory to explore changes in the mangroves of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta - Colombia
Lina Gutierrez-CalaAndrés C. ZúñigaCatalina GonzálezJorge SalgadoLina DiazConstanza RicaurteSamuel C. ZipperFernando Jaramillo
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<p>Compound anthropogenic pressures are driving critical mangrove degradation worldwide, threatening the wellbeing of coastal human populations historically associated with these systems. The Ramsar and Biosphere Reserve, Ci&#233;naga Grande de Santa Marta (CGSM) is located in the northern of Colombia and is the largest coastal lagoon-delta in the Caribbean. It is inhabited by stilt communities that have developed intricate livelihood and cultural relationships with the mangroves. The CGSM has experienced sustained social and ecological degradation during the last six decades, triggered by land-use change and disruption of hydrological connections. This study integrates Social-ecological Memory from fishing communities and Paleoenvironmental frameworks to develop a historical perspective of the biophysical and social dimensions of environmental change in the CGSM. Integrating X-ray fluorescence (XRF) geochemical sediment analysis, C<sup>14</sup> radiocarbon dating, and demographic inferences from archaeological evidence revealed three distinct periods over the last ~5000 years where sea-level rise and hydroclimatic variability shaped the transition between freshwater to prevailing marine conditions and modulated human occupation patterns in the area. Specifically, the period with the highest hydroclimatic variability and precipitation minima (4000 &#8211; 2500 yr BP) is consistent with the lowest human population estimates, whereas sea-level increase (~ 2000 yr BP) corresponds with a sustained increase in estimated population growth. In connection, participatory oral reconstructions conducted in the stilt-house communities of Buenavista and Nueva Venecia, offered nuanced descriptions about the spatial, temporal, and contextual aspects generating and reinforcing hypersalinization of the system, and their profound social-ecological consequences over the past several decades. The interdisciplinary approach of this study indicates that the CGSM is a highly dynamic socio-ecological system that has been changing and reconfiguring across different time scales in response to both natural and human-induced processes. Finally, it reveals the relative effects of biophysical and social drivers on driving social-ecological change on millennial to decadal time scales.</p>Keywords:
Ramsar site
Environmental change
The importance of mangroves as feeding grounds for fish and other macrozoob enthos in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere has been a subject of debate. This could partly be due to the fact that studies describing this role have been conducted in mangrove systems that differed in their settings. By using stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen, w e investigated two different settings of mangroves along the Tanzanian coast, to establish if mangrove setting influences the extent to which this habitat is utilized as a potential feeding ground by fish. The two mangrove settings were: mangrove-lined creeks which retain water during low tides and fringing man groves that drain completely during low tides. The δ 13 C signatures of most fishes from the mangrove-lined creeks were similar to those of food items from the manmangrove-lined creeks were similar to those of food items from the manwere similar to those of food items from the man grove habitat, which suggests that these fishes feed from the mangrove habitats. In contrast, the overlap in δ 13 C of some food items from the fringing mangroves with those from adjacent habitats, and the more enriched δ 13 C signatures of fishes from the fringing mangroves with respect to most typical food items from the mangrove habitat could be an indication that these fishes feed from both habitats but to a lower extent from the fringing mangroves. The results suggest that fishes feed more from the mangrove-lined creeks as compared to fringing mangroves which is probably related to differences in the degree of mangrove inundation. Th e more or less conThe more or less con tinuous access provided more time for fishes to stay and feed in the mangrove-lined creeks compared to fishes from the fringing mangroves, which have access to these mangroves only during high tide and have to migrate to adjacent habitats with the ebbing tide. Mangrove ecosystems are widely recognized as potential nursery grounds for juve
Avicennia marina
Aerial root
Rhizophora
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The importance of mangroves as feeding grounds for fish and other macrozoob-enthos in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere has been a subject of debate. This could partly be due to the fact that studies describing this role have been conducted in mangrove systems that differed in their settings. By using stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen, we investigated two different settings of mangroves along the Tanzanian coast, to establish if mangrove setting influences the extent to which this habitat is utilized as a potential feeding ground by fish. The two mangrove settings were: mangrove-lined creeks which retain water during low tides and fringing mangroves that drain completely during low tides. The δ13C signatures of most fishes from the mangrove-lined creeks were similar to those of food items from the mangrove habitat, which suggests that these fishes feed from the mangrove habitats. In contrast, the overlap in δ13C of some food items from the fringing mangroves with those from adjacent habitats, and the more enriched δ13C signatures of fishes from the fringing mangroves with respect to most typical food items from the mangrove habitat could be an indication that these fishes feed from both habitats but to a lower extent from the fringing mangroves. The results suggest that fishes feed more from the mangrove-lined creeks as compared to fringing mangroves which is probably related to differences in the degree of mangrove inundation. The more or less continuous access provided more time for fishes to stay and feed in the mangrove-lined creeks compared to fishes from the fringing mangroves, which have access to these mangroves only during high tide and have to migrate to adjacent habitats with the ebbing tide.
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Parts 1 to 6 of this series on the mosquitoes of the mangrove forests of India dealt with the mosquito species recorded in the mangroves of Bhitarkanika, Sundarbans, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Coringa, Chorao and Vikhroli, and Kundapur and Kannur. This concluding part provides an overview of the distribution of the mosquito species in different mangrove forests, including the mangroves of Muthupet in Tamilnadu and the mangroves of Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Kambhat in Gujarat, species collected as larvae, species in relation to the salinity of the larval habitats, species landing on humans for feeding in the mangroves, and the impact of habitat degradation on species diversity.
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Mangrove species are classified as true mangroves and mangrove associates. However, as for some fringe species found mainly on the landward transitional zones of mangroves, no consensus among scientists could be reached in favor of this classification and much debate arises. We hypothesized that true mangroves differ from mangrove associates physiologically and ecologically in their ability to survive in mangrove environment. To test this hypothesis, leaf structural traits and osmotic properties were used to describe variation in 33 mangrove species (17 true mangroves, 6 mangrove associates and 10 controversial species). Specific leaf area (SLA) of true mangroves as well as leaf nitrogen concentration on a leaf mass (Nmass) were lower than that of mangrove associates; leaf succulence was, in general, twice as high in true mangroves compared to mangrove associates; true mangroves accumulated 8–9 times more Na and Cl than mangrove associates and the former had K/Na ratios <0.5, but the latter had K/Na ratios >0.5. These results indicated that true mangroves differed reliably from mangrove associates in leaf traits and osmotic properties. True mangroves are true halophytes and mangrove associates are glycophytes with certain salt tolerance. Combining distribution pattern information, the 10 controversial species were reclassified.
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Three temporal Landsat TM/ETM+images such as 1989,1993 and 2001 were used to investigate the changes of mangrove in Fujian Province. Methods of expert systems were applied to classification of mangrove with distribution of mangrove with combination of various rules. SPOT images and supplementary data were also used to analyze distribution of mangrove in 2003 by handle interpretation following changing spatial resolution from 2.5m×2.5m to 30m×30m. Results showed the fluctuations for distribution of mangrove in the past 14 years. Areas of mangrove were reduced from 134.52hm2 in 1989 to 128.14hm2 in 1993,and rapidly increased to 199.20hm2 in 2001 and 213.2hm2 in 2003. Results implied that artificial mangrove increased but natural mangrove was being destroyed seriously in Fujian. Main factors influencing distribution of mangrove based on historic data and literatures were reviewed,and some advises for protecting mangrove resource were proposed.
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Mangroves are trees inhabiting the intertidal zones of tropical and subtropical coast. They are classified as true mangroves and mangrove associates. In the present study leaf samples of various age groups from five mangrove species and six mangrove associated species were selected for the estimation of chlorophyll content. True mangroves showed comparatively high amount of chlorophyll than mangrove associates and moreover in medium aged leaves chlorophyll contents were more than young and old leaves.
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Varied opinions exist as to the species composition and ecological distinction of mangrove habitats of the Indian Sundarbans. Furthermore, distinction of true or major mangroves from mangrove-associate and minor species was left unresolved by past authors. The present study thus aimed to revise a species list of true mangroves in the Indian Sundarbans delta. An indexing of adaptive morpho-physiological characters of mangroves for the tidal-saline environment was conducted. The analysis illustrated 24 species of true mangroves in Indian Sundarbans, belonging to nine families. Of these, Rhizophoraceae showed maximum richness at each of the generic and specific categories assessed. The current study has highlighted the taxonomic richness and status of true mangrove from Indian Sundarbans, resolving the long debated distinction of true from minor and associate mangroves.
Rhizophoraceae
West bengal
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Mangroves of Maharashtra are under great threat of human enchroachment. The increased pressure over the mangrove habitat degrade the mangrove area. The Raigad district is close to the Mumbai and the activities in Mumbai have the reflections over the Raigad mangroves. In the present work attempt is made to analyse the area occupied by the mangroves in the coastal area of Raigad district and the changes in the mangrove habitat over the period of time using Google Earth Pro images and ground observations. The threats to the mangroves of Raigad were also analysed, it was observed that there is slight decline in the mangrove area in last ten years, 103.80 Km 2 in 2005 to 88.09 Km 2 in 2015. But, the mangroves are under great threat and continuous urabanization will lead into the destruction of this habitat.
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The brachyuran crab diversity was studied in four stations of Pitchavaram mangroves and three stations of Vellar mangroves. A total of 38 species of brachyuran crabs was recorded in the Pitchavaram mangroves (18 species of grapsids and 8 species of ocypodids besides others), while 8 species were recorded in Vellar mangroves (5 species of grapsids and 3 species of ocypodids). The abundance of crabs also varied between the two mangrove habitats (65-82/m 2 in Pitchavaram mangroves and 27-40/m 2 in Vellar mangroves). The Pitchavaram mangrove forest has been in existence since sixteen to seventeen hundred years. In Vellar estuary, mangrove was established 13 years ago. The mangroves with vast network of roots and trunks offer a good niche for the brachyuran crabs. Due to its age and vast extent, the Pitchavaram mangrove forest has higher brachyuran crab diversity. When the mangroves were established in Vellar estuary, the mangrove-associated crabs were not present. But subsequently due to larval transport from the Pitchavaram mangroves, few species got established. Due to the above process, the remaining species may also get established. But how much time it will take? It is an interesting question worth investigating. Continuous monitoring of brachuran crab diversity may provide the answer.
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