Mangrove forests grow along sheltered tropical and subtropical coasts of more than 100 countries and cover an area of approx. 15.000 km² today. They are highly productive systems that provide a variety of important ecosystem services including, e.g., the processing of organic matter transported in run-off waters and coastal protection against erosion and storms. Competing land use such as urbanization, coastal landfill, shipping, shrimp cultivation and timber industry has destroyed an alarming one third of the mangrove area in the last 50 years. Mangrove forests need to be conserved and replanted to maintain their numerous direct and indirect services. In this context, science to enhance our understanding of the structure and diversity of mangrove flora and fauna, of species ecological roles and interactions, matter flow and ecosystem functioning will help to improve actions for the care and sustainable use of mangrove systems.
Mangrove forests offer an enormous variety of natural resources that are used by the local people. The plants are used e.g. for their timber, for charcoal and for the construction of fishing traps. The large numbers of invertebrate and fish species associated with mangroves are important food and income sources. In different mangrove areas in South America, Asia and Australia the biology and socio-economic aspects of economic key species are studied.
Fishing boat in the mangroves of the Gulf of Kutch, India
Many crabs and gastropods play important ecological roles in mangrove forests through their feeding and/or burrowing activities. To understand the effects of potential species losses on ecosystem functionning we conduct long-term exclusion experiments with selected species in biogeographical areas with contrasting macrobenthic diversity.
The brackish-water gastropod Terebralia sp. with the common name mangrove whelk
Perisesarma eumolpe is a mangrove crab in the family Sesarmidae predominantly found in the Indo-Pacific.
Competing land use such as urbanization, coastal landfill, shipping, shrimp cultivation and timber industry has destroyed an alarming one third of the mangrove area in the last 50 years. The effect of anthropogenic as well as natural impacts (e.g. storm disturbance) on mangrove flora and fauna are studied in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Worldwide mangrove forests are replaced by shrimp ponds. Here close to Bac Lieu, Vietnam
Mangrove forests need to be conserved and replanted to maintain their numerous direct and indirect services. However, many mangroves are replanted with just one species without taking into account the biodiversity of a mixed forest. ZMT is involved in a mangrove rehabilitation project of 15,000 ha in Gujarat, India by the regional forest department, where mostly Avicennia marina is planted and monitored.
Community based mangrove plantation in Gujarat, India
Group leader
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Saint-Paul
Scientists
Dr. Karen Diele
Dr. Judith Klein
Dr. Inga Nordhaus
PhD students
Hilke Alberts Hubatsch
Alexandra Fernandes Costa
Jorge Paramo
Nathalie Püllmanns
Christoph Schmitt
Alejandra Sepúlveda Lozada
Maryam Shahraki
Milton Silva Jr.
MSc students
Janina Korting
Lotta Kluger
BSc students
Ann-Kathrin Seiz
Information about job offers at ZMT here...
Mangrove rehabilitation in the Gulf of Kutchch, India (U. Saint-Paul)
Habitat connectivity and meta-populations of coastal fish species off Brazil (U. Saint-Paul, W. Ekau)
The temporal and spatial variability of nursery habitats for fishes in mangroves of Colombia and Brazil (G. Castellano, U. Krumme, U. Saint-Paul)
Biology and ecology of the Dolphin Sotalia guianensis (Van Bénéden, 1864) along the North Brazilian coast. (A.F. Costa, U. Saint-Paul)
Deep waters fisheries in the Colombian Caribbean Sea: Exploration, evaluation and habitat condition analysis that determines abundance and spatial distribution as tools for the responsible fishing. (J. Paramo, U. Saint-Paul)
Linkage between biodiversity and mangrove ecosystem functions and services: Investigation of species-rich and species-poor systems with implications for management and restoration (K. Diele, I. Nordhaus, A. Baum, T. Jennerjahn, T. Rixen, U. Saint-Paul; PhD student N. Pülmanns)
Movement ecology of the exploited swimming crab Scylia serrata (K. Diele, I. Nordhaus, M. Wolff; PhD student Hilke Albert-Hubatsch)
Adaptive spatiotemporal orientation in the tropical Sea Hare Aplysia dactylomela on an intertidal rock platform of the Canarian Archipelago (Central-East Atlantic). (C. Schmitt, U. Saint-Paul)
Food web dynamics in estuarine ecosystems of Southern Gulf of Mexico: Evidence from stable isotopes and ecotrophic modeling. (A. Sepúlveda, U. Saint-Paul, M.M. Carranza, K.O. Winemiller, D.J. Hoeringhaus)
Mangroves as fish habitats in an arid environment along the Persian Gulf, Iran (Khamir & Khoran mangroves). (M. Shahraki, U. Saint-Paul)
Ecology and management of fishery resources in the estuary of the Paciência River, Ilha do Maranhão, Brazil. (M. Silva Jr., U. Saint-Paul)
Impact of mangrove harvesting on the amount of downed wood and the biodiversity of invertebrates on the island of Kaledupa, Indonesia (A.-K. Seiz, U. Saint-Paul)