Novel coexisting mangrove-coral habitats: Extensive coral communities located deep within mangrove canopies of Panama, a global classification system and predicted distributions.

ABSTRACT: Marine ecosystems are structured by coexisting species occurring in adjacent or nested assemblages. Mangroves and corals are typically observed in adjacent assemblages (i.e., mangrove forests and coral reefs) but are increasingly reported in nested mangrove-coral assemblages with corals living within mangrove habitats. Here we define these nested assemblages as "coexisting mangrove-coral" (CMC) habitats and review the scientific literature to date to formalize a baseline understanding of these ecosystems and create a foundation for future studies. We identify 130 species of corals living within mangrove habitats across 12 locations spanning the Caribbean Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and South Pacific. We then provide the first description, to our knowledge, of a canopy CMC habitat type loca

SUBMITTER: Stewart HA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9200167 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature