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Sources of Variation that Affect Perceived Nursery Function of Mangroves

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Ecological Connectivity among Tropical Coastal Ecosystems

Abstract

Mangroves are considered among the most productive ecosystems on the planet. While mangroves provide numerous critical ecosystem services to surrounding environments, there is particular interest in the role of mangroves as nursery habitats for fish and decapods. Despite this interest, scientific consensus regarding the role of mangroves as nurseries remains elusive. In this chapter, we identify four principal sources of variability that underlie conflicting conclusions regarding the function of mangroves as nursery habitat. We provide brief sketches of the reasons why these sources of variability may affect the role of mangroves as nursery habitat, drawing particularly on recent empirical advances in the field, and conclude with a conceptual model summarizing the different levels at which the nursery function of mangroves is evaluated.

‘It is time that we biologists accept diversity and variability for what they are, two of the essential features of the biological world. We would be wise to restructure our search for orderly patterns in the natural world. We should stop thinking primarily in terms of central tendencies … .Variation among and within species is fundamental to organisms. Analysis of variation can offer insights just as surely as can traditional delineation of central tendencies.’ (Bartholomew .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Craig H. Faunce

  2. Marine Sciences Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 33181, 3000 NE 151st Street, North Miami, Florida, USA

    Craig A. Layman

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  1. Craig H. Faunce
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Correspondence to Craig H. Faunce .

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  1. Fac. Science, Dept. Animal Ecology & Ecophysiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, 6500 GL, Netherlands

    Ivan Nagelkerken

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Faunce, C.H., Layman, C.A. (2009). Sources of Variation that Affect Perceived Nursery Function of Mangroves. In: Nagelkerken, I. (eds) Ecological Connectivity among Tropical Coastal Ecosystems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2406-0_11

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