This book offers a new ecosystemic approach to the understanding of mangrove and salt marsh ecosystems. Brazil has one of the largest areas of mangroves in the world, where salt marshes might or might not be associated. Different landscapes comprise the extensive coastline, where mangrove and salt marsh species’ composition is discussed through the analysis of physiography, zonation, and succession processes. Both salt marsh and mangrove plants and the associated macroalgae will be characterized in their ecophysiological and phenological aspects, as well as genetic and epigenetic diversity. The chapters on microbial diversity and litterfall expose the well-known importance of these ecosystems as highly productive carbon sinks and pumps. The associated fauna of invertebrates (benthic meio and macrofaunas, especially brachyuran crabs) and vertebrates (fishes, birds, and mammals) are presented in a special section. The conservational approach encompasses issues, such as historical ecology, economic valuation, protected areas, environmental education, climate changes, and adaptive management.

This book contains papers presented at the International Workshop on Tropical Wetlands, held in Banjarmasin, Indonesia. This workshop discussed wetland mapping and characterization as well as wetland management for sustainable agriculture. This volume contains selected papers on tropical wetlands, more specifically, peatland, tidal land, and acid sulphate soils. This book presents an international overview of wetland and peatland mapping experiences from Indonesia, Congo, Brazil, Australia, and Scotland. Several innovative techniques are discussed, including integrated digital soil mapping and remote sensing techniques, as well as geodatabase processing and field surveying. This book further discussed tropical wetland management for agriculture as practiced in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The contents of this book are suitable and should be a good reference for those who are involved in research, development, and management of tropical wetland, including academics, soil scientists, environmentalists, researchers, agriculturists, students, agri-businessmen, policy makers, land managers and farmers.

Mangroves are a fascinating group of plants that occur on tropical and subtropical shorelines of all continents, where they are exposed to saltwater inundation, low oxygen levels around their roots, high light and temperature conditions, and periodic tropical storms. Despite these harsh conditions, mangroves may form luxuriant forests which are of significant economic and environmental value throughout the world - they provide coastal protection and underpin fisheries and forestry operations, as well as a range of other human activities. This book provides an up-to-date account of mangrove plants from around the world, together with silvicultural and restoration techniques, and the management requirements of these communities to ensure their sustainability and conservation. All aspects of mangroves and their conservation are critically re-examined. Those activities which threaten their ongoing survival are identified and suggestions are offered to minimise their effects on these significant plant communities.

"Human Impacts on Salt Marshes provides an excellent global synthesis of an important, underappreciated environmental problem and suggests solutions to the diverse threats affecting salt marshes."—Peter B. Moyle, University of California, Davis

This contributory volume is a comprehensive collection on the mangrove forest eco-system and its ecology, the resources and potentials of mangroves, conservation efforts, mangrove eco-system services and threats to conservation. The book is an all-inclusive compilation on the status, conservation and future of mangroves. Mangroves are a unique ecosystem providing several ecosystem services. They are formed in the inter-tidal areas of large rivers and coastal islands. Mangroves thrives due to constant interaction with the terrestrial and marine ecosystem. These are the species dynamics, varying tidal amplitudes, plant succession, changing floral pattern of the channels of the estuary, the varying sediment transportation. There was 20% decline in mangrove forest area in the last 25 years due mainly to conversion and coastal development. Lengthy recovery periods required for the degraded mangrove forests. Hence there is an urgent need to take stock of the updated information on these mangroves at global level. It is of immense value to scientific community involved in teaching, research and extension activities related to mangrove conservation.

This book presents the main drivers of benthic structure and processes in estuaries from the 8,000 km-Brazilian coast, assesses the influence of natural and human disturbance, and discusses their ecological importance and management needs. Estuaries are unique coastal ecosystems often with low biodiversity that sustain and provide essential ecological services to mankind. These ecosystems include a variety of habitats with their own sediment and fauna dynamics, all of them globally altered or threatened by human activities. Mangroves, saltmarshes, tidal flats and other confined estuarine systems are under increasing stress by overfishing and other human activities leading to habitat and species loss. Combined changes in estuarine hydromorphology and in climate pose severe threats to estuarine ecosystems at a global scale.