Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Aquatic Botany 89 (2008) 77 www.elsevier.com/locate/aquabot Preface Mangrove ecology – applications in forestry and costal zone management ‘‘In Persia in the Carmanian district, where the tide is felt, paleontology, population biology, ecosystem ecology, eco- there are trees [Rhizophora mucronata] ... [that] are all nomics, and sociology, to name just a few. By providing eaten away up to the middle by the sea and are held up by summaries and syntheses of existing data, the 54 authors and their roots, so that they look like a cuttle-fish’’ co-authors of these papers set the benchmarks and founda- tions on which future studies will build. Perhaps more Theophrastus (370–285 B.C.E.), Enquiry into Plants IV. VII.5 importantly, these reviews illustrate clearly that for addressing (Translated by Sir Arthur Holt, 1916) many issues that are central to the conservation, management, and preservation of mangrove ecosystems, there is more than Mangrove forests have entranced and intrigued naturalists, enough data to make informed decisions and to guide sensible botanists, zoologists, and ecologists for millennia. Over two actions. thousand years ago, Theophrastus published perhaps the first Between one and two percent of the world’s mangrove explanation of why the roots of these trees grow aboveground forests are being lost to chainsaws, prawn and crab ponds, and and how they grow in brackish and salty water, and he also new settlements, condominiums, and waterfront resorts each observed that their viviparous seeds sprouted while they are still year. This rate of destruction is comparable to the annual rate at within the fruits attached to the branches. Straddling the land which upland tropical forests are being cut, burned, and and sea, mangroves provide natural resources of both; wood for converted to pastures, farms, towns, and cities. Declarations lumber and fuel, and fish and prawns for protein. They are home from regular conferences organized by academics, individual to resident and migratory birds, snakes, and mammals, and governments, regional interest groups, non-governmental simultaneously support incredible diversity and biomass of organizations, and the United Nations routinely decry the loss crabs, sponges, tunicates, and other benthic marine inverte- of mangroves, but often encourage more research before the brates. Mangroves absorb nutrients and sediments flowing needed actions can be reliably implemented. Although the down rivers from uplands through estuaries, and they offer dozen papers in this issue identify gaps in our knowledge, these protection to these uplands and estuaries from battering waves papers clearly show that those gaps are small relative to the vast and cyclonic storms. In this new millennium, we must ask if the amounts of information available to policy analysts, decision diversity of mangroves and the many ecosystem functions they makers, and managers. The data are here, well organized and provide can be retained and sustained when mangrove forests clearly presented. Use these data wisely: the time for action continue to be cut to provide logs for charcoal kilns and wood is now. chips for rayon mills, drained to construct commercial aquaculture operations, filled with garbage, and ‘‘reclaimed’’ Aaron M. Ellison* for coastal developments. Harvard University, Harvard Forest, The twelve papers in this special issue of Aquatic Botany 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA on the ecology of mangrove forests provide comprehensive reviews of the fundamental knowledge that literally thousands *Fax: +1 978 724 3595 of scientists have accumulated over hundreds of years that E-mail address: [email protected] can be used to answer these pressing questions. The papers range widely and represent many scientific disciplines: Available online 15 January 2008 0304-3770/$ – see front matter # 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aquabot.2008.01.001 Aquatic Botany 89 (2008) 78–79 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Aquatic Botany journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aquabot Personal report Aquatic Botany special issue dedication to Samuel Curry Snedaker (22 May 1938–21 March 2005) This special issue of Aquatic Botany is inspired on the well-known getting to the heart of things, and at preserving valuable UNESCO publication by Snedaker and Snedaker (1984).Morethana information. His words were few, but carried weight. I loved decade has passed since another major issue on the biodiversity and him for all he knew, taught me and said; but also for his silence. function of mangrove ecosystems has been published (Field and I miss his quiet entry into the office, his unobtrusiveness, his Whittaker, 1998). The contacts for publishing the present special sense of privacy and calm...’’ issue were established on a series of Australian mangrove and wetland conferences and workshops in 2006. Our aim was to provide Sam, this mangrove issue of Aquatic Botany is in your memory. A a series of comprehensive reviews on mangrove ecology, in memory that we will keep alive, and a memory that makes us particular on applications in forestry and coastal zone management. realise to whom this poem of mine was destined: We highlight the existence of a parallel special issue focusing more on macrobenthic fauna from mangroves (Lee and Dittmann, 2008). Finally, we refer to Aaron Ellison’s preface to this Aquatic Botany Special Issue on ‘Mangrove ecology—applications in forestry and coastal zone management’ for a state-of-the-art of mangrove ecosystems (Ellison, 2008), before coming back to the inspiration by and dedication to a great man. In this dedication we want to express our respect to the late Sam Snedaker with a few anecdotes: Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, December 1996. I still cannot believe Nico sent me to my first international conference abroad as a starting PhD student. Have you seen the program? Snedaker, Duke, Saenger, Lee, Field, Ball, Popp,...what on Earth am I going to present to the´se people? The´ Snedaker is going to be there! But then came the announcement of my presentation .... Immediately after that I was confronted with Sam’s charisma. He calmly came towards me and made me feel as if I were one of the big names on that program. He gave me so much confidence during the talks we had that I was convinced there was a mangrove future out there. Miami, Florida, September 1999. Coming back from the New Orleans conference of the Estuarine Research Foundation there was only one stop to make for us before crossing the Atlantic again, and that was Sam’s office in Miami and the New World mangroves nearby. The most remarkable sight that is burnt in our minds is Avicennia germinans cut like a hedge on the nearby golf course, and the most remarkable remembrance of Sam was his hospitality when he invited us into his small office. With the courtesy of Rafael J. Araujo we use some of the beautiful words with which he described Sam, which is exactly how we remember him and how we feel about him. ‘‘I always wanted to know how Sam felt about this legacy. Was he proud of it? Did it open doors for him? – He would look at me and say nothing. You see, there was a detachment about Sam, a mystery about him that unsettled many. Sam was especially good at concentrating large thoughts into a little space, at 0304-3770/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.aquabot.2008.02.008 Personal report / Aquatic Botany 89 (2008) 78–79 79 References Biocomplexity Research Focus c/o Laboratory of Plant Science and Nature Management, Araujo, R.J., 2005. Samuel Curry Snedaker (1938–2005). Bull. Mar. Sci. 76, 623– 624. Mangrove Management Group, Ellison, A.M., 2008. Preface. Preface. Aquat. Bot. 89, 77. Vrije Universiteit Brussel – VUB, Field, C.B., Whittaker, R.J., 1998. Biodiversity and function of mangrove ecosystems. Glob. Ecol. Biogeog. Let. 7, 1–94. Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Lee, S.Y., Dittmann, S., 2008. Preface. J. Sea Res. 59, 1–11. Snedaker, S.C., Snedaker, J.G., 1984. The Mangrove Ecosystem: Research Methods. Nico Koedam UNESCO, Paris. Biocomplexity Research Focus c/o Laboratory of Plant Science and Nature Management, Mangrove Management Group, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas* Vrije Universiteit Brussel – VUB, Biocomplexity Research Focus Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium (Complexite´ et Dynamique des Syste`mes Tropicaux), De´partement de Biologie des Organismes, *Corresponding author. Universite´ Libre de Bruxelles – ULB, Tel.: +32 2 629 34 22/650 21 37; fax: +32 2 629 34 13 Campus du Solbosch, CP 169, E-mail address: [email protected] (F. Dahdouh-Guebas) Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt 50, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium Available online 10 March 2008 Aquatic Botany 89 (2008) 80–92 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Aquatic Botany journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aquabot Review Long-term retrospection on mangrove development using transdisciplinary approaches: A review F. Dahdouh-Guebas a,b,*, Nico Koedam b a Biocomplexity Research Focus (Complexite´ et Dynamique des Syste`mes Tropicaux), De´partement de Biologie des Organismes, Universite´ Libre de Bruxelles – ULB, Campus du Solbosch, CP 169, Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt 50, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium b Biocomplexity Research Focus c/o Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Mangrove Management Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel – VUB, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Large ecosystem processes often take place beyond the observation time of a researcher. Yet, through Received 25 May 2007 retrospective research scientists can approach and understand ecosystem changes. This contributes to Received in revised form 6 March 2008 the fundamental understanding of both human-induced and natural dynamics in ecosystems world- Accepted 13 March 2008 wide. This also holds for fast changing coastal areas with mangrove ecosystems, which are important for Available online 29 March 2008 biodiversity, for coastal protection, and for the daily livelihood of millions of people in tropical coastal developing countries.