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Structure of a unique inland mangrove forest assemblage in fossil lagoons on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico

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Abstract

Scrub mangrove wetlands colonize the intertidal zone of fossil lagoons located in carbonate continental margins along the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. These unique ecological types were investigated in October, 1994, by locating transects in several mangrove forests along the Caribbean coast of the peninsula. Four species of mangrove occurred at these sites including Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa, Conocarpus erecta. This is one of the first examples of a species rich scrub forest. The mangroves fell into three height categories: short scrub less than 1.5 m, tall scrub to 3.0 m, and basin forests between 4.5 and 6 m. Average height, diameter (dbh), basal area, and complexity index generally increased from short scrub to basin forests. Basal area, ranged from 0.16 m2 ha−1 in a short scrub forest intermixed with Cladium jamaicense to 12.9 m2 ha−1 in a basin forest. Density ranged from 1520 trees ha−1 to over 25,000 trees ha−1 in a short scrub forest dominated by R. mangle. The complexity index ranged from 0.01 to 8.3. Height, dbh, basal area, and complexity index were positively related. A number of trees were growing as sprouts from larger downed trunks, suggesting that hurricanes, such as Gilbert that occurred in 1988, are important in controlling the structure of these forests. These forests appear isolated from the sea, but are influenced by groundwater exchange occurring at the land-margin zone.

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Author notes

  1. Robert R. Twilley

    Present address: Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute, Dept. of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, School of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, 70803, Baton Rouge, LA, México

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Recursos Costeros, Instituto de Ecologia, A.C., km 2.5 Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, Xalapa, 91070, Veracruz, México

    Ana Laura Lara-Domínguez & Alejandro Yáñez-Arancibia

  2. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences and Coastal Ecology Institute, School of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA , 70803, USA

    John W. Day Jr

  3. Centro EPOMEX, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Ap. post. 520, Campeche, 24030, Campeche, México

    Guillermo Villalobos Zapata

  4. Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, 70504, USA

    Robert R. Twilley

  5. Estación de Investigaciones Marinas, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. post. 30, Cd. del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico

    Hernán Alvarez Guillén

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  1. Ana Laura Lara-Domínguez
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  2. John W. Day Jr
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Correspondence to Ana Laura Lara-Domínguez.

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Lara-Domínguez, A., Day, J., Zapata, G. et al. Structure of a unique inland mangrove forest assemblage in fossil lagoons on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico. Wetlands Ecol Manage 13, 111–122 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-004-5197-x

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