| |
|
Brazilian mangroves
Y. Schaeffer-Novellia,
G. Cintrón-Molerob,
M.L.G. Soaresc, I. De-Rosad
aOceanographic
Institute, University of São Paulo, P.O. Box 64149,
CEP 05389-970 São Paulo SP. Brazil
bDepartment of the interior, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
Arlington, VA, USA
cDepartment of Oceanography Rio de Janeiro State University,
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
dVale
do Itajaí University, Itajaí SC, Brazil
|
Abstract
Of Brazil's 7408 km of coastline 6786 kin contain mangrove
forests, covering some 25,000 km2.
Only one coastal state, Rio Grande do Sul, lacks mangrove coverage.
Mangroves occur from the border with French Guiana, just above the
Equator (04°30'N) to well beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, reaching
28°30~S, near Laguna (Santa Catarina State).
Because the term mangrove maybe applied to various levels
of observation, specifying the proper spacio-temporal scale is important
to describe system behavior. In this paper we describe a nested
hierarchy of organization levels constituted of patches, stands,
settings, coastal segments and large marine ecosystems. Each of
these describes an organization that has evolved to facilitate energy
dissipation at its relevant scale, and can be related to a geographic
unit.
We expect that the framework presented here will be
useful for the study of mangrove ecosystem health, assessment of
ecosystem pathology, and the development of models for the management
and conservation of this resource. © 2000 Elsevier Science
Ltd and AEHMS. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Regional settings; Hierarchical study scales
|
