Despite their importance in sustaining livelihoods for many people living along some of the world’s most populous coastlines, tropical mangrove forests aredisappearing 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 arenewable 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 bookpresents 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 mostof the world’s tropical coasts, and how their future might look in a world affected by climate change. Comprehensive analysis of the functional role of mangrove forests and their ecosystems Global synthesis of how mangrove forests are important functionally in terms of the tropical carbon cycle A multi-disciplinary approach to better understand tropical mangrove forests, especially whatthey do rather than what they are INDICE: From the contents 1. Introduction.- 2. Trees and Canopies. 2.1 Introduction. 2.2 Biomass Allocation. 2.3 Ecophysiology. 2.4 Tree Photosynthesis and Respiration. 2.5 Primary Productivity. 2.6 Life in the Canopy and Root Epibionts.- 3. Water and Sediment Dynamics. 3.1 Introduction. 3.2 Tides. 3.3 Groundwater. 3.4 Waves. 3.5 Sediment Transport and Flocculation. 3.6 Sedimentationand Accretion. 3.7 Chemical and Biological Consequences of Water and SedimentFlow.- 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. 4.7 Nekton. 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. 5.4 Microbial Processes in Forest Soils.- 6. Ecosystem Dynamics.- 7. Synthesis.
- ISBN: 978-1-4020-4270-6
- Editorial: KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 320
- Fecha Publicación: 01/02/2009
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés