Dramatic changes in the horizontal structure of mangrove forests in the largest delta of the northern Beibu Gulf, China  

作　　者：Riming Wang Zhijun Dai Hu Huang Xixing Liang Xiaoyan Zhou Zhenming Ge Baoqing Hu 

机构地区：[1]Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Change and Disaster in Beibu Gulf/Beibu Gulf Ocean Development Research Center,Beibu Gulf University,Qinzhou 535011,China [2]State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Costal Research,East China Normal University,Shanghai 200062,China [3]Key Laboratory of Environment Change and Resources Use in Beibu Gulf(Nanning Normal University),Ministry of Education,Nanning 510310,China

出　　处：《Acta Oceanologica Sinica》2023年第7期116-123,共8页海洋学报（英文版）

基　　金：The National Natural Science Key Foundation of China under contract No.41930537;the Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences in Guangxi Universities“Beibu Gulf Ocean Development Research Center”under contract No.10BHZKY2110;the Key Research and Development Plan of Guangxi under contract No.Guike AB21076016;the Marine Science Program for Guangxi First-Class Discipline,Beibu Gulf University.

摘　　要：The horizontal structure of mangrove forests is an important characteristic that reflects a significant signal for coupling between mangroves and external drivers.While the loss and gain of mangroves has received much attention,little information about how the horizontal structure of mangrove forests develops from the seedling stage to maturity has been presented.Here,remote sensing images taken over approximately 15 years,UVA images,nutrient elements,sediments,and Aegiceras corniculatum vegetation parameters of the ecological quadrats along the Nanliu Delta,the largest delta of the northern Beibu Gulf in China,are analyzed to reveal changes in the horizontal structure of mangroves and their associated driving factors.The results show that both discrete structures and agglomerated structures can often be found in A.corniculatum seedlings and saplings.However,the combination of seedlings growing into maturity and new seedlings filling in available gaps causes the discrete structure of A.corniculatum to gradually vanish and the agglomerate structure to become stable.The aggregated structure of seedlings,compared to the discrete structure,can enhance the elevation beneath mangroves by trapping significantly more sediments,providing available spaces and conditions for seedlings to continue growing.Furthermore,by catching fine sediments with enriched nutrients,the survival rate of A.corniculatum seedlings in the agglomerated structure can be much higher than that in the discrete structure.Our results highlight the significance of the agglomeration of A.corniculatum,which can be beneficial to coastal mangrove restoration and management.

关 键 词：deltaic mangrove Aegiceras corniculatum horizontal structure biomorphodynamic processes Nanliu Delta 

分 类 号：X171.1[环境科学与工程—环境科学]