Mangrove ecosystem under pressure by

anthropogenic activities: Nitrogen,

Carbon, and human perspective

Pre-proposal

By:

Mervin E. Pérez and Xianbin Liu

Contents

• Research Problems

• Goals and Objectives

• Methodology

• Activities

• Potential Benefits

Research Problems

• Watershed without forest cover and presence of agriculture and urban zones promote greater sediments and pollution in mangrove ecosystem.

• Reduction in mangrove forests cover result in direct coastal pollution by elimination of buffer zone.

• Geochemical cycle arrested by mangroves reduction

Research Problems

• Lost of mangrove forests means reduction in species richness for both coastal and terrestrial ecosystems

• Reduction in good services by poor knowledge of human perception

Goals and Objectives

• Determine sediment accumulation in mangrove forests near urban, rural, and protected areas.

• Compare sediments among mangrove forests patches to identify anthropogenic impact (local and watershed scale).

• Quantify N and C to verify the stability of the mangrove forests habitat.

Methodology

• Collect soil samples using cutting ring

N and C compound (g/kg)

Soil microbial biomass (g/kg)

pH

• Litterfall using 0.5 m * 4.0 m basket with a screen net.

N and C compound (g/kg)

Total amount of litter (g/m2)

• Atmospheric deposition using plastic cup container

Wet and Dry N deposition (mg/g)

• Objective Identify the impact of watershed

condition (e.g. forest cover, agriculture,

urban areas) in sediments and pollution on

mangrove forests

• Hypothesis C and N concentration will be

lower in watershed with higher forest cover

and lower percentage of urban and

pasture zones.

Methodology

• GIS tool to analyze watershed deposition.

Landsat images (30-m resolution)

Classify land cover using training samples (supervised and unsupervised procedures)

Normalizae Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to compare land cover changes

Index-water quality analysis

• Objective Identify if sediments have

positive or negative effects on mangrove

development.

• Hypothesis Considering mangrove as an

ecosystem with higher resilience, no

differences in seed and seedling

development will be recorded among

study sites.

Methodology

• Seeds and seedling transplant experiment

– in and ex situ

– Germination rates and survival seedling

– Size, basal area, biomass vs C and N

• Objective Identify the perspective of

human settlement near mangrove forests.

• Hypothesis Mangroves present a great

number of ecosystem services but some

of them are not perceptible for humans

(e.g. C and N cycle), then human

perception vary according gender, age

and social status.

• Human perspective

– Questionnaires

– Interviews

– Workshop

– Volunteer program

Potential Benefits

• Determine the stability of the mangrove

system

• Identify the effect of anthropogenic

activities on mangrove ecosystem

• Change of paradigm about mangrove

ecosystem services

• Recommendation to mitigate pollution

in mangrove areas

Questions?