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Chapter 17 - Kropotkin’s Garden

Facilitation in Mangrove Ecosystems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2019

By
Mark Huxham ,
Uta Berger ,
Martin W. Skov  and
Wayne P. Sousa
Edited by
Stephen J. Hawkins ,
Katrin Bohn ,
Louise B. Firth  and
Gray A. Williams
Stephen J. Hawkins
Affiliation:
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth
Katrin Bohn
Affiliation:
Natural England
Louise B. Firth
Affiliation:
University of Plymouth
Gray A. Williams
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
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Summary

Despite the environmental stresses that mangrove forests experience – including fluctuating salinity, low soil oxygen and buffeting by waves – they can be highly productive. Facilitation, defined here as the benefits to an organism by the minimisation by neighbouring organisms of biotic or physical stress, may help explain this. Theory suggests that facilitation is likely in stressful environments, and trees and shrubs have been found to be particularly likely to exhibit facilitation. Hence, we should find facilitation in mangrove forests, and this chapter summarises new and published evidence for its existence. Facilitation occurs at a wide range of scales and during all different points in a mangrove tree's life. Amelioration of hydrodynamic and dessicative stresses can be important during seedling establishment and early growth. Interactions with fauna, including crabs and ants, can sustain tree production and help defend against herbivores. Ecosystem-scale facilitation helps ensure resilience in the face of changes such as sea-level rise. Hence facilitation is common in mangroves, and the challenge now is to gain a theoretical understanding of when and where to expect it.

Keywords

mangrovefacilitationstressdefenceintertidalcrabant
Type
Chapter
Information
Interactions in the Marine Benthos
Global Patterns and Processes
 , pp. 431 - 447
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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