Mangrove Ecosystems

Protection of the environment has nowadays become a major challenge and a condi­ tion for survival of future human generations and life on Earth in general. Yet it is still far too much of a dream or hope rather than a reality in the policy of our societies. Presently we are experiencing an unprecedented exponential growth of demography combined with a race for profit, resulting in excessive consumption particularly of en­ ergy, and a serious impact on the world ecosystems. Various types of pollutants and emerging new diseases not only disrupt the normal course of life, but also above this some of the atmospheric pollutants are most likely involved in the changing climate. We fear and literally shiver at the thought that the "changing climate" would ultimately disrupt the fragile thermodynamic equilibrium between the atmosphere and the oceans. Are we insensitive to these facts to the point of pushing our descendants, some genera­ tions ahead, into a new glacial period after a first period of warming up, at least, in northern Europe, like the one that took place 13 to 14 millennia ago? Surely the planet's nature is not prepared to be dominated by man and will go its way, whether humanity will be alive or dead.

This book presents the ecology of mangroves mostly from the point of view of people who have everyday experience with these wonderful forests, rather than from those who only make a typical short visit to exotic places. It contains five chapters written by specialists of mangrove forests around the world, and most of the results and information were gathered from international cooperation research programs developed during the last decade. The first three chapters describe the origins, structure, function and management of mangrove forests in tropical America, Africa and Asia. The last two chapters present an overview of mangrove phenology and its state-of-the-art management and conservation policies. The chapters present a regional view of mangroves as a natural resource in use by a large fraction of the coastal populationss in the tropics and subtropics. The text includes extensive data on the biodiversity and physicochemical aspects of these forests, on their biogeography and ecology, and probably for the first time in a textbook on mangroves, manifold information on the uses, management techniques, silviculture and traditional and modern uses of these ecosystem products and services. Also, overviews of the major anthropogenic and natural influences that cause impacts on these ecosystems are presented.