Mangroves, the woody plants, mainly grow in tropical or subtropical intertidal estuaries. In order to adapt to the environment of intertidal estuaries, mangroves develop the special characteristics of ¡§aerial roots¡¨, ¡§prop roots¡¨, ¡§viviparous seeds¡¨, and simpler plant groups. In Taiwan, mangroves mostly grow in the west coast, from Danshui to Pingdong. Mangrove forests, which have long be called as ¡§sea forest¡¨, are the unique ecological landscapes. This study aims to investigate the main mangrove forests areas in the Tainan City and Tainan County and their cultivating situations. The investigation areas include the mouths of the main rivers, coastal areas, salt fields, fishponds, and coastal marshes. The dominant components of Taiwan¡¦s mangroves are Avicennia marina¡]Forsk.¡^Vierh¡]Vierbenaceae¡^, Kandelia obovata Sheue,Liu¡®Yong¡ARhizophora stylosa Griff¡]Rhizophoraceae¡^and Lumnitzera racemosa Willd¡]Combretaceae¡^. Besides, there are 90 associated plants of the mangroves, which belong to 30 families and 76 genera. After investigating, it reveals that Avicennia marina is the more superior specie; Lumnitzera racemosa and Rhizophora stylosa mostly exist in Tainan City, while their cultivating groups can only be found in Shuangchun District in Tainan County; Kandelia obovata is mainly found in Tainan County, and scattered in Sihcao and the bank of Yanshuei stream in Tainan City. Protected areas have been set up in Beimen and Cigu of Tainan County and Sihcao of Tainan City. Man-made conservation areas include Shuangchun in Tainan County and An-ping harbor area in Tainan City. The mangrove plants existing in the areas mentioned above grow well. Moreover, people in Tainan City also plant many mangroves privately. Because of diking fishponds and quickly developing cities in past few years, many mangroves have disappeared. The previous investigations about the mangroves in Southern Taiwan were focused more on Kaohsiung area than in Tainan City and County. For this reason, hopefully the results of this study can make the information of the mangrove forests in the west coast of Taiwan more complete. Three suggestions about the conservation and cultivation of mangroves are listed as follows: (a) keeping the watercourses smooth, (b) deliberately evaluating the cultivation areas, and (c) increasing the habitats in the tidal zones.

Tropical coastal resources including coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds are some of the most productive ecosystems in the World. They support a variety of goods and services that may often form the backbone of the local community. In many cases they provide the main source of food, as well as providing employment and recreation opportunities. However, coastal ecosystems are increasingly under threat from high population growth rates, rapid coastal development, over exploitation of the resources, loss of critical habitats and vulnerability to natural hazards. These tropical ecosystems are sensitive and vulnerable to damage and environmental change. Their worldwide loss has led to cause for concern and widespread calls for improved management. Integrated coastal management (ICM) is seen as the way forward in dealing with this complex mix of interests, activities and demands being placed on today's coastal zones. The definition of the coastal zone will vary between locations, ideally capturing and enabling the resolution of all major coastal issues, reaching as far inland or seaward as is required to reach the goals and objectives of the management programme. ICM encompasses the management of all aspects of the coastal zone taking a multi-disciplinary approach. It includes the management of existing economic activities, planned developments, natural resource conservation and utilisation as well as being able to deal with the different user conflicts. ICM involves the integration of different institutions and stakeholder groups at and across the local to international management levels. Even though ICM efforts are increasing, there are few examples where it is really being implemented and working effectively. In this study, three ICM case studies identified similar patterns of impediments although their scope was recognised as too narrow to make generalisations. As a result, a survey was developed to build up a broader picture of the issues blocking the development of successful ICM at several locations. The survey identified the current status of ICM in the tropics and identified the main impediments to implementing effective ICM. The survey found that few locations were actually implementing, monitoring and evaluating ICM, however a number were in the process of it. It was the step between analysis and implementation that was halting many of these efforts. Tropical coastal zones can be seen to share a number of common challenges exacerbated by poverty and conflicts between coastal users. Conflict management needs to be incorporated into the management process in a way that pays particular attention to the over-extraction of resources and destructive resource use. Although the concept of integrated coastal management (ICM) has been identified as the way to deal with the multiple objectives, interests and uses of the coastal zone, in practice it is a complex process and many countries are having difficulty in implementing ICM. The most common impediments to ICM in the tropics were identified through the survey as were their impact on implementing ICM. The extent to which ICM is achieved can be linked to the impediments, described by a series of criteria, which could be used in assessing the ability of an area to implement ICM as well as identifying priority areas for concern. The results show that although public participation is commonly accepted as a major part of ICM and is one of the main impediments, it is rarely fully realised. Gaining political support and empowering agencies with sufficient authority to enforce ICM were also identified as major impediments, without which ICM efforts may well be blocked. Decision making for integrated coastal managementin volves multiple decision makers and multiple stakeholders, often with conflicting needs and interests. Decision support systems (DSS) can be developed to improve our understanding of the inter-relationships between the natural and socioeconomic variables and hence result in improved decision making. The question is whether this decision making environment is actually too complex for the development of useful and useable decision support systems. An ICM-DSS needs to be able to involve multiple decision makers and take into consideration multiple issues. This requires different disciplines to be drawn together into an integrated modelling framework. There are many techniques available to deal with different modelling needs, the constraints of inadequate data and the multi-objective decision making environment. There are also different ways of developing decision support systems and each can play a different, but nonthe- less important role within ICM. Three coastal DSSs were evaluated in terms of their design and roles in integrated coastal management and are used to evaluate the potential to develop ICM-DSSs. One of these DSSs, CORAL, is examined in detail as a case study. The model is an example of an integrated ICM model where the final result is a score-card of criteria that measure economic, environmental, social and institutional objectives. CORAL was developed for the island of Curacao in the Caribbean and the Republic of the Maldives. The development process involved stakeholder meetings and interviews to ensure that all their interests and concerns in the coastal zone were accounted for and included in the DSS. The model development was carried out in the Netherlands and on return was presented to the stakeholder groups. A second phase of the project in Curacao allowed the model to be installed on a wide number of computers. An ICM course was established as well as individual training given to the stakeholder groups involved. However, the final use of the DSS was still limited. Lessons are drawn from the CORAL experience that may assist in the development of future DSSs such as the need to involve a key organisation in the development and enable them to continue its development and maintenance after the end of the project. In addition, flexibility, adaptability and update-ability are paramount if the system is to be used beyond educational goals. The impact of ICM on a coastal system is not always readily measured and quantified, least of all in monetary terms. Economic valuation is being increasingly applied to tropical coastal ecosystems to assess their benefits in monetary terms. From the point of view of ICM, economic valuation could give monetary values to, for example, changes in production resulting from management and hence highlights the importance of management. Likewise, it can highlight the costs of inaction by quantifying the benefits of a situation with ICM and one without ICM. This not only requires the ability to link monetary values to certain environmental situations but also to model the potential changes in goods and services provided by the ecosystem as a result of management. Past analyses in ICM have often focused on the costs of management versus economic gains while change to the environment has been measured in physical terms. Economic valuation provides a potential to compare like with like and hence bring the importance of ecosystems, such as coral reefs, to the fore. Some goods provided by these coastal ecosystems are marketed and consequently have a marketdefined value associated with them. However, these ecosystems also provide a number of non-use benefits, which are not directly marketed and as a result, certain economic techniques have been developed to deal with these issues. The contingent valuation methodology (CVM) was developed as a tool to measure non-marketed goods and services of ecosystems so they can be included into costbenefit analyses. However, it is a complex technique surrounded by much controversy.

To determine whether spaceborne C-band SAR data could be used alone, or in conjunction with optical data, for accurately mapping mangrove forests of the Mexican Pacific, four scenes of dual-polarized ENVISAT ASAR data, at two incidence angles, were collected for the Teacapán-Agua Brava-Las Haciendas estuarine-mangrove complex. Several combinations of these ASAR data were classified to determine the most optimal arrangement for mangrove mapping. In addition, corresponding Landsat TM data were classified using the same training sites. The overall accuracy in mapping these mangroves did improve when more than one polarization mode was employed. In general, the higher incidence angle data (∼41° vs ∼23°) provided better results. In all circumstances, the optical data alone provided higher classification accuracies. When contained as one mangrove class, the highest overall accuracy achieved using the ASAR data was 54% as compared to 76% for the optical data. When considering four separate mangrove classes, representing the four conditions typical of this system (dead, poor condition, healthy, tall healthy), overall accuracies dropped to 45% and 63%, respectively. With the limited penetration of C-band into canopies, it was difficult to separate healthy and tall healthy mangrove from palm and other terrestrial forests using the ASAR data. In addition to confusion amongst the four mangrove classes, the dead mangrove stands created considerable misclassification as they were readily misidentified with water and saltpan areas in the optical data and with agricultural lands in the ASAR data procedure. Given the advantage of ASAR for identifying dead stands from open water and saltpan, these data were then used in conjunction with the optical data to reduce the misclassification of these areas.

Mangrove ecosystems are critical to Florida, providing economic resources to humans, and untold ecological resources to estuarine organisms. In Florida's estuaries, mangrove ecosystems have suffered significant losses due to natural and human disturbances; these disturbances potentially leave mangrove communities vulnerable to invasion by the opportunistic exotic, Schinus terebinthifolius (Brazilian pepper). Prior experiments have suggested that Schinus terebinthifolius is unable to survive under marine conditions and poses no long term threat to mangrove systems. However, this contradicts field observations where Schinus terebinthifolius was found growing in the intertidal zone of Mosquito Lagoon alongside three native species of mangroves, Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia germinans and Laguncularia racemosa. The purpose of my study was to evaluate competition between the invasive S. terebinthifolius and these three native species of mangroves in the coastal estuarine system along the east coast of Central Florida in Canaveral National Seashore. The effects of competition were evaluated by testing the ability of S. terebinthifolius to: 1) chemically inhibit growth of mangrove propagules, 2) invade new coastal habitats by dispersing seeds in the water, 3) alter species richness and abundance of the flora when present in a mangrove system, and 4) recruit and survive in mangrove habitat. By better understanding the invasibility and impact of Schinus terebinthifolius on mangroves, coastal resource managers will be able to develop the most effective management strategies to prevent this exotic from altering the structure and productivity of the mangrove ecosystem.

Os manguezais do Sistema Lagunar Cananéia-Iguape, no extremo sul do litoral do estado de São Paulo, possuem, em suas franjas mais externas, a presença da gramínea Spartina alterniflora, que exerce papel fundamental na fixação de sedimentos que poderão se tornar áreas de propagação do mangue. Pioneiras na região alagada do mangue, a Spartina segura e prepara o substrato para as plântulas de espécies de mangue se instaurarem. O mapeamento da Spartina alterniflora nas Ilhas de Cananéia e Comprida, onde estas ilhas margeiam o mesmo canal lagunar, possibilitou identificar as áreas propensas ao seu crescimento. Os pontos de baixa energia do fluxo de água do canal mostraram-se favoráveis ao surgimento de bancos de Spartina. A troca contínua de sedimentos e nutrientes existentes em um ambiente lagunar rico em manguezais, associada à grande capacidade de captação e fixação da Spartina, resultou em um estudo de conectividade entre duas ilhas. / The Cananéi-Iguape lagoon system, in the south shore of São Paulo state, has the presence of the cordgrass Spartina alterniflora on the outer side of the mangroves. The cordgrass has a fundamental role in the fixation of sediments which will be the mangrove\'s propagation areas. Pioneers in the mangrove wetlands, Spartina holds and prepare the substrate for the mangrove seedling establishment. Mapping the presence of Spartina alterniflora in the islands Ilha de Cananéia and Ilha Comprida, allowed to identify the prone areas for its growth. The points of low energy in the river were more favorable to create banks of Spartina. The continuous exchange of sediments and nutrients which exists in a mangrove lagoon system, associated with the great ability of Spartina to capture and establishment, resulted in a study of connectivity between two islands.

Um dos maiores problemas enfrentados pelas grandes cidades tem sido o gerenciamento de seus resíduos sólidos, principalmente no que tange seu descarte. Condições inadequadas de disposição desses resíduos causam inúmeros danos ao meio ambiente. Em cidades litorâneas é bastante comum a utilização dos manguezais como locais de disposição do lixo, resultando em sua degradação parcial ou mesmo total, levando muitas vezes ao desaparecimento desses ecossistemas. Durante mais de 50 anos a área de manguezal estudada neste trabalho serviu como local de descarte de resíduos provenientes das diversas atividades portuárias sendo utilizada como lixão e mesmo como aterro. Com o objetivo de estudar o comportamento geoquímico de íons de metais pesados chumbo, zinco, cobre e níquel foram analisados e estudados os atributos do solo/sedimento e as águas subterrâneas e superficiais do mar e do Rio Saboó, compartimentos próximos a área de estudos. Através de extrações parciais constatou-se que esses íons encontram-se acima dos valores de Referência de Qualidade da CETESB. O elevado teor de matéria orgânica, característico em área de manguezal, assim como a presença de minerais como illita, de elevado poder adsortivo, foram os principais responsáveis pela fixação iônica apesar das características texturais areno siltosa da área. A presença de íons de metais pesados nas águas subterrâneas e superficiais acima dos Padrões de Referência se deve ao contato do solo/sedimento com soluções com elevados valores de força iônica. Análises químicas do chorume, produto da percolação do antigo lixão, indicaram penas a presença de Pb em quantidades mais elevadas devido, principalmente, ao fenômeno de complexação com a matéria orgânica. / One of the biggest problems big cities are facing is how to manage its solid wastes, especially when we are talking about its disposal. Inadequate condition of its disposal causes many damages to environment. In coast cities are very common the use of mangroves as garbage disposal resulting in its partial or total degradation leading, many times, to ecosystems disappearances. For over 50 years the mangrove site studied in this project was the place of residual disposal from several harbor activities been used as landfill. With the aim to study the geochemistry behavior of ions of hevy metals, such as lead, zinc, copper and nickel, were analysed and studied the attributes of soil/sediment, groundwater and surface water from Saboó river, compartment close to the study field. Through partial extraction was proved that these ions were found above the values from Quality References of CETESB. High content of organic matter, characteristic in mangroves sites, just like the presence of minerals such as illite, which is very adsorptive, were the main responsible from ionic fixation despite the sandy-silty grains size characteristics of the area. The presence of ions in groundwater and superficial waters above the Reference Standarts is due to the contact of soil/sediment with solutions with high values of ionic force. Chemistry analysis of leachate, percolations product of the former landfill, indicated the presence only of Pb in high amount because of complexation phenomenon with the organic matter.

La dégradation de la mangrove de la Casamance a fortement été influencée par des contraintes physiques. Mais c’est l’étalement des villes du fait de la croissance démographique, les importants prélèvements de ses ressources par les populations et la mise en œuvre de techniques d’aménagements inadaptées qui ont accentué sa destruction. L’analyse de l’histoire des usages de cet écosystème, sa perception par les populations de diverses origines, les changements de législation foncière et le contexte politique propre à la région expliquent aussi cette situation. On remarque ainsi qu’au fil des années la mangrove péri-urbaine de Ziguinchor ne cesse de perdre des surfaces. Pourtant depuis les années 1990 l’amorce de la prise de conscience croissante de son importance écosystémique a conduit à la multiplication de projets de la part des organismes de développement et de protection de l’environnement pour endiguer ce phénomène. Il ressort en revanche à la suite d’enquêtes réalisées sur le terrain auprès des populations et des opérateurs du développement que ces initiatives et notamment les reboisements de la mangrove n’ont pas toujours eu les résultats escomptés, et cela en raison de leur faible acceptabilité sociale, de l’existence de grandes disparités dans l’exécution des travaux et dans la répartition des moyens de travail.Au regard de ces difficultés, des pistes de travail sont alors proposées et notamment un Système d’Information Géographique (SIG) qui permet de faire un état actualisé des changements de l’occupation du sol.Ce travail de thèse permet de mieux comprendre les changements survenus dans l’occupation du sol et notamment la mangrove avec l’évolution des pratiques des populations et de l’augmentation de leurs besoins. Il permet aussi de disposer d’une base de données sur l’évolution des unités du sol de la région péri-urbaine de Ziguinchor. / Degradation of mangroves in Casamance has been strongly influenced by physical constraints. But it is urban sprawl due to population growth, the sharp drawdown of its resources by the population and the implementation of inadequate technical facilities to which accentuated its destruction.The analysis of the history of the uses of this ecosystem, its perception by people of diverse origins, changes in land laws and the specific political context in the region explainalso this situation. It is thus noted that over the years the peri-urban mangrove Ziguinchor keeps losing surfaces. Yet since the 1990s, the beginning of the growing awareness of its importance ecosystem led to the multiplication of projects from development and environmental protection agencies to curb this phenomenon. It appears however as a result of investigations carried out on the ground with the population and operators of these development initiatives including reforestation of mangroves have not always had the desired results, and that because of their low acceptability social, the existence of large disparities in the performance of work and in the allocation of labor resources.Given these difficulties, work tracks are proposed including a Geographic Information System (GIS) which allows for an update on changes in land use.This work provides insight into the changes in land use, including mangrove populations with changing practices and increasing needs. It also helps to have a database onthe development of ground units in the area peri-urban Ziguinchor.

The meiofauna of a mangrove forest in the River Barwon estuary was studied by means of surveys and field experiments. Distinctive assemblages of meiofauna were described from the sediment and pneumatophores of the ecosystem. Fine resolution of phytal habitats was demonstrated, and particular assemblages of meiofauna were characteristic within habitat provided by dominant epibionts. Distribution of the meiofauna within leaf litter revealed high turnover rates of nematodes, and some factors controlling detrital assemblages were assessed. The vertical profile of sedimentary meiofauna was examined, and changes in abundance were related to the tychopelagic habit of many taxa at high tide. Dispersal within the water column was confirmed by pelagic trapping, and colonisation of mimic pneumatophores was investigated. The amount of algal cover, effects of grazing by gastropods, and rugosity of the colonised surface were shown to influence meiofauna colonisation of mimic pneumatophores. Establishment and persistence of patchy distributions of meiofauna at scales of less than 10 m in an intertidal environment was demonstrated, and it was concluded that this was due to the dynamic nature of assemblages rather than their integrity.

<p>This paper deals with approaches toward the conservation of archaeological heritage among different people and different institutions in Samoa. This is compared with approaches toward ecology and preservation of the environment to find out if there are similarities and/or differences. Moreover the opinions on how the public perceive the material heritage is compared with a survey of the public itself and their ideas concerning archaeology. The investigation was carried out by conducting interviews with people working within different institutions, NGO’s and schools as well as representatives from the general population i.e. people without education in conservation and cultural heritage. Possibilities of co-conserving the cultural and ecological values are also examined, as is the relation between culture and a natural feature - the mangroves.<strong></strong></p> / <p>Uppsatsen behandlar åsikter och attityder hos allmänheten och olika institutioner på Samoa gällandebevarandet av det arkeologiska kulturarvet. Detta jämförs med en likande studie gällande bevarandetav miljömässiga och ekologiska värden på Samoa för att se om det finns likheter och skillnader. Studieninkluderar också en undersökning av hur allmänheten ser på det materiella kulturarvet och derasförhållande till och kundkap om arkeologi. Undersökningarna gjordes genom ett intervjuprojekt där desom intervjuades representerade både institutioner, organisationer, skolor och allmänheten, densistnämnda gruppen hade ingen formell kunskap om kulturarvet och dess hantering. Inom ramen förstudien undersöktes också möjligheterna för att samarbeta när det gäller hanteringen och bevarandetav kulturella och ekologiska värden t.ex. gällande mangroveområden.</p>

The Dona and Roberts Bay watershed comprises one of the five major watersheds in Sarasota County, Florida. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico via Venice Inlet. Like many estuaries in the Florida, significant modifications have been made to the drainage basins, principally to the main tributaries. The system has undergone several anthropogenic modifications to enhance water management efforts. Creeks that comprise fresh water input into the system have been dammed in order to inhibit the upstream flow of salt water during the dry season. They are also deepened or lengthened to allow for better drainage. In addition, biogenic activity has also had morphological effects on the system. There are numerous oyster bars, and mangrove forests that impose obstruction to the tidal and river flows. This has resulted in a highly complicated estuary system in terms of flow velocities and sedimentation patterns. The objectives of this study are to quantify the sediment characteristics and deposition-erosion trends and their relationship to flow patterns and other natural and anthropogenic factors within the system. A detailed sedimentary analysis was conducted based on 149 surface sediment samples and 29 drill cores. Spatial distribution of the sediment properties is quite complex, controlled by several interactive factors including; local sediment supply, intensity of the hydrodynamic processes, distribution of oyster bars and mangrove islands, and artificial structures. Sedimentation and erosion is significantly influenced by flood events. In some locations, such as the mouth of the fluvial channels, or the confluence of two creeks, the core data suggest that rapid sedimentation, driven by flood events, is responsible for the development of some of the large shoals. A 2-D depth-averaged circulation model was established for the study area. Many of the natural structures and artificial modifications to the watershed system are incorporated into the model. A close relationship between the flow intensity and sediment characteristics, and therefore, sedimentation-erosion tendency is identified. Remotely sensed data is also incorporated into the study in order to gain an understanding of the development of the estuary system over a ten-year period. Data suggests that the maturation of biogenic organisms that inhabit the system coincides with the development of complex sedimentation patterns.