The importance of mangrove forests in maintaining crucial ecosystem functions such as nutrient filtering, supporting coral reef fisheries, and providing storm buffers has become more evident after the tsunami that ravaged parts of Asia in December 2004 (Alongi 2002; Mumby et al. 2003; UNEP-WCMC 2006). However, these vital tropical ecosystems in the coastal inter-tidal zones, covering about 181,...

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Mangrove Restoration programs Choice experiment Willingness to pay Brazil Mangrove forests are under considerable pressure in many developing countries and Brazil is not an exception to this problem. We investigate preferences for the restoration of mangrove areas in Brazil, using a choice experiment that varies the level and time of restoration. By interacting t...

Coastal saltmarsh distribution in Australia appears to be following a global trend of decline. In the estuaries of NSW, saltmarsh is often squeezed between landward encroachment of mangrove forest and urban/industrial development of foreshore land. Efforts to maintain and rehabilitate saltmarsh are complicated by an incomplete understanding of the hydraulic drivers for estuarine vegetation dist...

A number of studies have suggested that mangrove forests and their faunal components may be pre-adapted to the impact of organic waste discharge, making them possible natural wastewater treatment wetlands. However, the results from recent research are contradictory. Some studies have shown that negative effects, sometimes subtle and difficult to observe, can be detected on specific biotic compo...

Mangrove forests of Madagascar are declining, albeit at a much slower rate than the global average. The forests are declining due to conversion to other land uses and forest degradation. However, accurate and reliable information on their present distribution and their rates, causes, and consequences of change have not been available. Earlier studies used remotely sensed data to map and, in som...

Kluyveromyces aestuarii was found in sediments from 7 of 8 mangroves in Rio de Janeiro; and absent only at one site with heavy plastic bag pollution. Its presence suggests influence in other habitats from a mangrove and its absence in a mangrove suggests some non- fecal pollution or other habitat alteration.

We report the 7.3-Mbp genome sequence of Streptomyces gancidicus strain BKS 13-15, isolated from mangrove sediment samples collected from the Bhitar Kanika Mangrove Reserve Forest, Odissha, India. The draft genome of strain Streptomyces gancidicus strain BKS 13-15 consists of 7,300,479 bp with 72.6% G+C content, 6,631 protein-coding genes, and 71 RNAs.

populations in and around coastal lagoons. Curr. Biol. 15, 579–586. 10. Kairo, J.G., Dahdouh-Guebas, F., Gwada, P.O., Ochieng, C., and Koedam, N. (2002). Regeneration status of mangrove forests in Mida Creek, Kenya: a compromised or secured future? Ambio 31, 562–568. 11. Foell, J., Harrison, E., and Stirrat, R.L. (1999). Participatory approaches to natural resource management the case of coasta...

Mangrove forests are unique ecosystems that are important for human populations.