CATENA

ELSEVIER Catena 27 (1996) 167-178

Mangroves as indicators of coastal change

F. Blasco a, p. Saenger b, E. Janodet a
a Institute for the International Map of the Vegetation, CNRS/Universit£ Paul Sabatier, 13, avenue du
Colonel Roche, 31405 Toulouse Cedex, France
b Centre for Coastal Management, Southern Cross University, P.O. Box 157, Lismore, N.S.W. 2480, Australia

Received 6 December 1994; accepted 3 March 1996

Abstract

In view of the unique biological characteristics of mangroves, it is interesting to assess the

extent to which these ecosystems can be used as indicators of coastal change or sea-level rise.
From recent studies of mangrove mortality at several locations (including Guiana, Gambia, C6te
d'Ivoire, Kenya, India and Bangladesh), it appears that these coastal ecosystems are so specialized
that any minor variation in their hydrological or tidal regimes causes noticeable mortality. Each
species of mangrove (but particularly those belonging to the genera Rhizophora, Bruguiera,
Sonneratia, Heritiera and Nypa) occurs in ecological conditions that approach its limit of
tolerance with regard to salinity of the water and soil, as well as the inundation regime. If the
duration of daily immersion were to be modified by tectonic, sedimentological or hydrological
events, the species either readjusts to the new conditions or succumbs to unsuitable conditions.
Consequently, the use of remote sensing data for mangrove ecosystems offers excellent potential
as a tool for monitoring coastal change.

Keywords: ecosystems; zonation patterns; coastal stability; sea-level;tidal regime; Auicennia germinans

I. Introduction

" M a n g r o v e " is an ecological term referring to a taxonomically diverse assemblage

of trees and shrubs that form the dominant plant communities in tidal, saline wetlands
along sheltered tropical and subtropical coasts. Economically, mangroves are a great
source of timber, poles, thatch and fuel, and the bark is used for tanning materials; some
species have food or medicinal value (Hamilton and Murphy, 1988). In Malaysia,
Bangladesh, India and Thailand, managed forest operations exist which produce com-
mercial timber, fuelwood, charcoal or woodpulp and subsistence harvesting of man-
groves is widespread in central America and parts of Asia and Africa. Elsewhere,
mangroves are used for honey or fodder production (Baconguis and Mauricio, 1991).

0341-8162/96/$15.00 Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PH S0341-8162(96)00013-6
168 F. Blasco et al./ Catena 27 (1996) 167-178

Although the economic significance of mangroves is being increasingly recognized,

they are still decreasing in area around the world. In some regions, such losses are due
to over-exploitation, clearing and pollution of mangrove systems (Saenger et al., 1983)
but, in other areas, net losses occur as a result of natural erosion of the shoreline (e.g.
Senegal, Benin, C6te d'Ivoire, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela). At some localities,
such as Guiana (Blasco, 1991), there are losses due to erosion of established mangroves
but considerable gains on newly deposited sediments with no overall net loss.
There has been considerable recent interest in the probable response of mangrove
shorelines to sea-level a n d / o r climate change (Woodroffe, 1990; Woodroffe, 1993;
Pernetta, 1993; Snedaker, 1993; Field, 1994), both in terms of the mangroves themselves
and in terms of their use as "early warning" ecosystems. In this review, we pose three
questions in relation to mangroves as indicators of regional coastal change. Specifically,
(1) What are the unique biological/ecological characteristics of mangroves? (2) Can
mangroves be used as biological indicators of coastal change or sea-level rise? and (3)
Can mangroves be used to enhance coastal stability a n d / o r reduce coastal erosion?

2. What are the unique biological/ecological characteristics of mangroves?

The development and composition of mangrove communities depend largely on

temperature, soil type, salinity, duration and frequency of inundation, accretion of silt,
tidal and wave energy and such aperiodic factors as cyclone or flood frequencies (Lugo
and Snedaker, 1974; Hutchings and Saenger, 1987). Extensive mangrove communities
seem to correlate with those areas where the water temperature of the warmest month
exceeds 24°C, and they are absent from those waters that never exceed 24°C throughout
the year. Intertidal, sheltered, low-energy muddy sediments are the most suitable habitats
for mangroves and, under optimal conditions, forests up to 45 m in height can develop
as, for example, in Ecuador, Cameroon, Thailand and Malaysia. Where Jess favourable
conditions are found, mangrove communities may reach maturity at heights of around
1-2 m (e.g. on the arid coasts of the Arabian Gulf, Rajasthan, South Madagascar and
Australia and in cooler waters in New Zealand).
At present, about 150,000 km 2 of mangrove communities occur around the world
(Saenger et al., 1983) and they show a great similarity in structure, floristics and
function throughout their range. Plants of the mangrove community belong to many
different genera and families, most of which are not closely related to one another
phylogenetically. What they do have in common is a variety of morphological, physio-
logical and reproductive adaptations that enable them to grow in a particular kind of
rather unstable, harsh and salty environment (Saenger, 1982; Tomlinson, 1986). On the
basis of the common possession of these various adaptations (see below), approximately
eighty species of plants belonging to about thirty genera in over twenty families are
recognized throughout the world as being mangroves--a very small number of species
for a tropical ecosystem. Most of these species (about sixty) occur in the lndo-Pacific
region, while there are about twenty species in the western hemisphere.
At the generic level, A u i c e n n i a and R h i z o p h o r a are the dominant plants of mangrove
communities throughout the world, with each genus having several closely related
 F. Blasco et a l . / Catena 27 (1996) 167-178 169

species in both the east and the west (Macnae, 1968; Tomlinson, 1986; Ellison, 1991).
At the species level, however, only a few species (such mangrove associates as
Thespesia populnea (L.) Soland., the mangrove fern Acrostichum aureum L. and the
swamp hibiscus, Hibiscus tiliaceus L.) occur in both hemispheres. Such a present-day
distribution can be satisfactorily explained only if the ancestors of the mangroves
evolved in the Early Cretaceous, were dispersed outwards from their centre of origin
both in the Atlantic (e.g. Nypa) and the Indo-Pacific (e.g. Avicennia and Rhizophora)
through the remnants of the Tethys Sea, and subsequently developed further as two
isolated groups with the closure of the Mediterranean Sea as a dispersal route between
the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic. Some further spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
through the still open Panama isthmus, explains the similarity between the species on the
Pacific and Atlantic coasts of America (Keay, 1953; Tomlinson, 1986; Jimenez et al.,
1985).
As indicated earlier, most plants of the mangrove community are halophytes, well
adapted to salt water and fluctuations of tide-level (Clough, 1982). Many species show
modified root structures such as stilt or prop roots which support them on the
semi-liquid or shifting sediments while others have erect root structures (pneumato-
phores) that facilitate oxygen penetration to the roots in a hypoxic environment. Salt
glands, allowing excess salt to be excreted through the leaves, occur in several species.
Other species show a range of physiological mechanisms either to exclude salt from the
plants, or to minimize the damage excess salts may cause by separating the salt from the
sensitive enzyme systems of the plant.
The mangrove community is often strikingly zoned parallel to the shoreline, with a
series of different species dominating from open water to the landward margins
(Snedaker, 1982). These zones are the response of individual mangrove species to the
gradients of inundation frequency, waterlogging, nutrient availability and soil salt
concentrations across the intertidal area (Hutchings and Saenger, 1987; Wolanski et al.,
1990). These zones arise by the successful establishment of seedlings at specific levels
in the intertidal zone (Fig. 1). The mechanism of seedling establishment has been widely
discussed. Early studies supported the "self-planting" theory (Tomlinson, 1986) where
seedlings fall from the parent tree and establish in the sediment at the base of the parent.
Others have suggested that the "stranding" theory is more generally applicable, where
larger propagules are stranded in deeper water and where only small propagules can
successfully establish in shallow water i.e. high up in the intertidal zone (Rabinowitz,
1975, 1978). Others argue that both strategies occur (Van Spreybroeck, 1992). However,
both of these approaches are based on a restricted distribution of mangrove seedlings in
the intertidal zone. In a long-term study, Saenger (1982) showed that most species
broadcast their propagules widely throughout the mangrove habitat and that seedlings
establish very widely. Several species have well-developed vivipary of their seeds,
where the hypocotyl develops while the fruit is still attached to the tree. These seedlings
are generally buoyant, able to float long distances in the sea and establish themselves
rapidly once stranded in a suitable habitat (Fig. 1). However, with time, seedling
mortality is higher outside the optimal zone of each species--resulting ultimately in
distinct zones which reflect physico-chemical characteristics (Snedaker, 1982; Youssef,
1995) that are still being identified.
 170 F. Blasco et al. / Catena 27 (1996) 167-178

i ¸ i

Fig. 1

%, ~, #', ~, , : ;t " :

Fig. 2
Fig. 1. The seedlings of Rhizophora are able to float long distances in brackish water and establish themselves
once stranded in suitable hydrological and pedological conditions. Sine Saloum delta, West Africa.

Fig. 2. Minor change in the hydric regime causes massive mortality of mangrove species.
 F. Blasco et al./ Catena 27 (1996) 167-178 171

Not surprisingly, the zonation patterns show some similarity between the eastern and
western hemispheres. In the Americas and west Africa, Rhizophora forms the outermost
zone, followed by Avicennia, then Laguncularia, with a sporadic landward fringe of
Conocarpus. In the eastern hemisphere, Rhizophora forms the outermost zone although
at some localities, Sonneratia and Acicennia may also be present. Acicennia generally
forms monospecific stands behind this outer zone, followed by mixed stands of
Bruguiera, Heritiera and Xylocarpus, with a landward zone of Ceriops mixed with
Lumnitzera and Auicennia.
Given the marked uniformity of zonation, mangrove communities may be useful in
interpreting minor changes in coastal conditions, such as altered drainage patterns and
recent accretion or erosion zones, by the minor deviations from the regional zonation
patterns.

3. Can mangroves be used as biological indicators of coastal change or sea-level

rise?

Relict mangrove sediments and fossil mangroves, particularly their pollen, have been
used extensively in the interpretation of palaeogeography and stratigraphy (Churchill,
1973; Muller and Caratini, 1977; Bessedik, 1981; Mildenhall and Brown, 1987; Grindrod,
1988; Crowley et al., 1990; Ellison, 1991; Woodroffe and Grindrod, 1991). Mangrove
pollen are particularly good markers because their presence in the sediments indicates a
warm climate (with a mean monthly temperature above 16°C) and a nearby shoreline at
the time the pollen was deposited.
In addition, the most obvious impacts of relative sea-level rise in coastal ecosystems
are permanent inundation, salinization and coastal erosion (Snedaker, 1993; Pernetta,
1993; Field, 1994). Each of these parameters may partially or totally destroy or disrupt
the affected mangrove stands. From studies of mangrove mortality on several continents,
it appears that these ecosystems are so specialised that any minor variations in their
hydrological regimes causes noticeable mortality (Breen and Hill, 1969; Blasco, 1984;
Jimenez et al., 1985). The mortality results from the fact that each species of mangrove
lives in ecological conditions that approach the limit of tolerance with regard to the
salinity of the water and soil, and the inundation regime. If for some reason (tectonic,
sedimentological, or hydrological) the duration of immersion is modified, the species
either readjusts to the new conditions or succumbs to unsuitable conditions. Several
cases are known of massive mortality of mangroves such as that of the mangroves of
Gambia which, because of a minor ( < 5 centimetres) but rapid ( < 6 weeks) change in
the hydrological regime, died over thousands of hectares between January and March
1982 (Blasco, 1983, Fig. 2).
When relative sea-level change is slow (in the order of 10-15 m m . y r -~ - -
Woodroffe, 1990), mangroves react differently. In the delta of the Ganges (Figs. 3 and
4), there has been a very slow tilting of the coast due to tectonic uplift in the
north-western part (India) and subsidence (caused largely by compaction of deltaic
sediments) in the east (Bangladesh). As these movements have been very slow, the
plants are able to adapt and colonise those areas which are suitable for them in terms of
172 F. Blasco et al./ Catena 27 (1996) 167-178

C : Calcutta
D : Dakha

Approximative distribution of the "Sunderbans",

the largest mangroves in the world (6,000 km 2)

Low m a n g r o v e s t a n d s on h i g h l y saltish soils

H i g h m a n g r o v e s t a n d s on less saltish soils
Fig. 3. Location of the mouth of the Ganges.

Fig. 4. Location of the study area (Fig. 3).

Fig. 5. Evolution of the delta of the Ganges seen from satellite (Landsat MSS No. 148/45). The western part
of the delta is much more saline than the eastern part due to the tilting of the delta. Less halotolerant species
(Heritiera, t(vpa, Sonneratia) are mainly found in Bangladesh (East).

their e c o l o g i c a l conditions. As a result, species such as Avicennia marina (Forsk.)

Vierh. and Ceriops tagal (Perr.) C.B. Rob. which tolerate high salt concentrations
( > 30%0) during the dry season, h a v e b e c o m e p r e d o m i n a n t in the west o f the delta. In
the delta area of Bangladesh, shifts in the position o f the l a n d / s e a boundary are further
c o m p l i c a t e d by very high sedimentation rates (around 2,240 × 106 tonnes - y r - ~ - - L e w i s
and M c C o n c h i e , 1994) in s o m e areas and e x t e n s i v e coastal erosion in others; the high
 F. Blasco et a l . / Catena 27 (1996) 167-178 173

53o30'W ~53ow /52o30'W

°c 4 v

Fig. 6. Coastal displacement of mangroves and sediments in Guiana. Average rate 250 to 125(I meters per
year. (ORSTOM-CNRS, 1979; Froidefond et al., 1988)

input of fresh water from the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system (around

30.8 X 10 3 m 3 ' s 1) also has a major impact on salinity conditions and hence on
mangrove species distribution. Those species (Heritiera fomes Buch.-Ham. and Nypa
fruticans van Wurmb.) which do not tolerate salinities in excess of 15%0 are confined to
the Bangladesh sections of the delta. Satellite data clearly show this abrupt vegetation
change due to a change in relative sea-levels (Fig. 5).
In contrast with the species-rich systems of Asia, the mangroves of the Atlantic coast
are generally dominated by only two species (Rhizophora mangle L. and Avicennia
germinans L.) which, together, constitute more than 80% of the mangroves. In Guiana,
where the upland forests contain around a thousand species, the shoreline mangroves
contain practically only one (Ac,icennia germinans L.). Because of the gentle gradient of
sediments, this environmental setting is both selective and fragile. A small change in
mean sea-level would result in a considerable change in the duration of immersion of the
mangroves at any point in the littoral zone, thereby causing plant mortality. Here again,
the rapidity and the scale of changes make the application of satellite data extremely
useful for measuring the extent of changes and evaluating their consequences.
The study of the littoral zone of Guiana and its mangrove communities has been
augmented by aerial photographs obtained between 1979 and 1987. These photographs
leave no doubt about the scale of displacement of coastal sediments (Fig. 6) which have
174 F. Blasco et a l . / Catena 27 (1996) 167 178

been mobilised by tides and currents and moved along the coast at an average linear rate
of 250 to 1250 m • yr ~. Sediment movement rates are seasonally variable and when
there are strong winds (January to April) and the seas are rough, displacement of
sediments is very rapid; it is much slower during the rest of the year.
It appears that erosion commences and intensifies in the littoral zone of Guiana when
the mangroves die. In other words, the new hypothesis is that the death of mangroves is
not a consequence of coastal erosion but one of its causes, perhaps the principal one. It
then remains to explain why the trees die.
Each Ac,icennia has several hundred pneumatophores per square metre and their
combined baffling effect favours an acceleration of sedimentation (Bird, 1971, 1986;
Wells and Coleman, 1981). Thus, where a large supply of sediment is available to a
mangrove system, an increase in level of the substrate will rapidly occur. If it is too
rapid, it will asphyxiate the trees due to a lack of oxygen in the sediments. With death
and decomposition, the roots release the sediments which are then susceptible to erosion.
Thus, there are probably two causes of this rapid mangrove change: the rapid sedimenta-
tion from the Amazon and the "self-destruct" tendency of mangroves with dense
pneumatophores. This explains why the build-up of sediments at any one point suddenly
ceases and is replaced by a phase of intense erosion. It should be noted that the
interaction of biotic and abiotic factors is rarely expressed as clearly as in this example.
If one disappears, so does the other.
Any point on the coast of the Guianas (from Northern Brazil to Venezuela) can
remain stable while an adjacent section is attacked by waves and, after a short period of
stability, may have sediments returned to it. Finally, mangroves (practically comprised
of only Ac,icennia germinans L.) regrow on the alluvium where a new balance has been
attained - - thus closing the cycle. Similarly on the Atlantic coast of Africa, where there
has been a slight recession of the littoral zone with losses of tens of metres per year
(Awosika et al., 1993), erosion has often been accompanied by mangrove mortality
(Saenger and Bellan, 1995). The cause of these losses has not been firmly established.
There is no scientific evidence to date indicating that mangrove mass mortalities
recorded on all continents are related to sea-level rise. An evaluation of the impacts of
this phenomenon, if it takes place at all, requires careful assessment of possible coastal
uplift or subsidence at each specific site (Hoffman, 1984). Unfortunately, tide-level data
are difficult to use today because there are too few tide-gauging stations, particularly in
the south Atlantic. Where data are available, they are of insufficient duration to allow
significant changes in sea-level to be detected. Estimates of mean sea-level rise vary
around 10-15 cm since the start of this century (Woodroffe, 1990; Awosika et al.,
1993). However, the geographic spread of these sea-level changes is poorly known.
Mapping of sea-level variations within several centimetres is becoming possible with
highly accurate altimetric satellites recently launched (Minster et al., 1991).
The use of remote sensing data for coastal zone monitoring offers two major
possibilities. One, already in widespread use, involves the discrimination and delineation
of floristic units (mainly Rhizophora and Ac,icennia) and of mortality within each unit.
This is carried out with classical optical data provided by high resolution systems such
as SPOT, Landsat TM or airborne scanners (Chaudhury, 1989; Hartono and Muljo-
sukojo, 1991; Blasco et al., 1992).
 F. Blasco et al./ Catena 27 (1996) 167-178 175

Although still at an experimental stage, the second possibility for the use of remote
sensing data involves the use of active microwave systems. One of the first attempts to
identify mangrove species from space with radar imagery was carried out by Gastellu
(1987), who was able to map Nypa fruticans van Wurmb. stands in East Kalimantan
(Indonesia) with SIR-A images (band L) much more easily than with the available
panchromatic aerial photographs. Nypa stands are sensitive to hydrological conditions
and occur in areas of low water salinity ( < 10 ppm) and where the mean daily
inundation period does not exceed 3 hours. Being a sensitive indicator of hydrological
changes, stands of this mangrove palm could be monitored, with any changes providing
specific biological signals of physico-chemical changes in coastal environmental condi-
tions.
One of the key issues is the simultaneous discrimination between the vegetation units
and the degree of inundation beneath the vegetation canopy. Such detection appears to
be possible with Synthetic Aperture Radar remote sensing but it has not yet been applied
to mangrove ecosystems (Hess et al., 1990). Tile experiments that are now being carried
out in coastal Thailand (Khlung mangroves) and in French Guiana with data provided by
ERS 1 and J.ERS 1 are expected to yield new data on the correlation between changes in
tidal inundation and the distribution and adaptation (adjustment) of mangroves.

4. Can mangroves be used to enhance coastal stability a n d / o r reduce coastal

erosion?

Mangroves are generally not land-builders (Bird, 1971, 1986) but rather, they are a
group of highly-reactive opportunists which can rapidly colonise newly deposited and
stable intertidal sediments and, in so doing, they help to consolidate these recent
sediments and may promote further sedimentation. Along the same lines, mangroves do
not prevent coastal erosion although their elaborate root structures are likely to slow that
process down considerably. Both of these characteristics of mangroves form the basis of
mangrove afforestation programs where mangroves have been used to stabilise sedi-
ments as a means of gaining land from the sea. Thus in Bangladesh, for example, a
World-Bank funded project has assisted in the stabilisation of around 120,000 hectares
of recently deposited Gangetic sediments over the last ten years (Saenger and Siddiqi,
1993). Similar afforestation programs are presently underway at numerous locations
including, for example, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Benin.
In contrast, the mangrove vegetation of Guiana does not appear to consolidate the
sediment, during its 10-30 year life span, to the point where the coastline is stable
(ORSTOM-CNRS, 1979; Wells and Coleman, 1981; Blasco, 1991). Given the physical
constraints on the mangroves of Bangladesh (large tidal ranges, cyclones, strong
currents), the inability of the Guiana mangroves to maintain themselves on the new
sediments where their growth rates are rapid, is surprising. But, in the Indo-Pacific,
when one species dies, it is immediately replaced by another. The floristic pool in the
Indo-Pacific (with around 60 species) permits this immediate replacement and the
multi-species system appears to have greater physical stability as well as ecological
resilience.
176 F. Blasco et al./ Catena 27 (1996) 167 178

In Guiana, with only the one species of mangrove, additional species (such as the
grass O r y z a c o a r c t a t a (Roxb.) Tak. or other mangroves) could be introduced to take
over the gaps created by the dying A v i c e n n i a . Whether such introductions are feasible is
beyond the scope of this review. However, it does raise the question as to why the flora
of the Guiana mangroves is so depauperate?

5. Concluding comments

The potential impacts of sea-level change on mangrove ecosystems have recently

been reviewed (Pernetta, 1993; Snedaker, 1993; Field, 1994) and further discussion is
beyond the scope of the present study. However, the available scenarios of global
change and climatic models suggest an increase in global mean temperature of I°C by
2025 leading to a rise in global mean sea-level of about 6 cm per decade (Houghton,
1991; Pernetta, 1993). These figures refer to mean values at a global level. In the
absence of more accurate scenarios, at sub-regional scales (e.g. Bay of Bengal, Persian
Gulf, Guiana coast) any attempt to anticipate the impacts at a given location remains
impossible.
Most mangroves of the world are organized in almost monospecific belts in which the
R h i z o p h o r a and A u i c e n n i a groups play essential roles. The discrimination of these belts
from space is now generally feasible. In view of the well-known ecological properties of
mangroves, particularly the tendency for any change in the daily duration and amplitude
of flooding in these communities to induce sudden and often spectacular mortalities,
they appear to constitute sensitive biological indicators of coastal environmental changes.
Whilst this property has been used for many years by palynologists, when coupled with
satellite technology, it can be used for monitoring coastal events, almost in real time.
However, the task is not quite so simple. The actual impacts of sea-level changes on a
given mangrove ecosystem would be meaningless if they are analysed independently of
other factors that simultaneously affect the ecological balance of that particular ecosys-
tem i.e. local tectonics and sediment dynamics, rainfall changes and changes in the
freshwater input, and frequency and intensity of cyclonic storms.
Despite their obvious economic value, mangroves have often been considered as
wastelands and converted to other forms of land use (Vannucci, 1988). Gradually,
however, opinion has changed and, more often than not, these communities are now
recognized not merely for their economic value but also as living systems of scientific
interest which are useful indicators of coastal change to which they are particularly
vulnerable. As discussed above, they constitute one means by which to learn more about
the magnitude and mechanisms of changes in coastal phenomena.

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