A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation.

ABSTRACT: Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services but are among the world's most threatened ecosystems. Mangroves vary substantially according to their geomorphic and sedimentary setting; while several conceptual frameworks describe these settings, their spatial distribution has not been quantified. Here, we present a new global mangrove biophysical typology and show that, based on their 2016 extent, 40.5% (54,972 km²) of mangrove systems were deltaic, 27.5% (37,411 km²) were estuarine and 21.0% (28,493 km²) were open coast, with lagoonal mangroves the least abundant (11.0%, 14,993 km²). Mangroves were also classified based on their sedimentary setting, with carbonate mangroves being less abundant than terrigenous, representing just 9.6% of global

SUBMITTER: Worthington TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7473852 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature