title: Stress in mangrove forests: Early detection and preemptive rehabilitation are essential for future successful worldwide mangrove forest management.
abstract: Mangrove forest rehabilitation should begin much sooner than at the point of catastrophic loss. We describe the need for "mangrove forest heart attack prevention", and how that might be accomplished in a general sense by embedding plot and remote sensing monitoring within coastal management plans. The major cause of mangrove stress at many sites globally is often linked to reduced tidal flows and exchanges. Blocked water flows can reduce flushing not only from the seaward side, but also result in higher salinity and reduced sediments when flows are blocked landward. Long-term degradation of function leads to acute mortality prompted by acute events, but created by a systematic propensity for long-term neglect of mangroves. Often, mangroves are lost within a few years; however, vulnerability is re-set decades earlier when seemingly innocuous hydrological modifications are made (e.g., road construction, blocked tidal channels), but which remain undetected without reasonable large-scale monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Coastal Resources Group, Inc., 23797 NE 189th Street, Salt Springs, FL 32134, USA. Electronic address: LESrrl3@aol.com.
authors.forename: Roy R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, 900A Tarpon Bay Road, Sanibel, FL 33957, USA.
authors.forename: Eric C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Milbrandt
authors.affiliation: Charles Darwin University, Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL), Red Building 1, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70506, USA.
authors.forename: Ken W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Campus Universitário, Trindade, Florianópolis, SC 88080-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: André S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rovai
authors.affiliation: Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, 1926 Victoria Avenue, Fort Myers, FL 33901, USA.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Beever
authors.affiliation: Coastal Resources Group, Inc., 23797 NE 189th Street, Salt Springs, FL 32134, USA.
authors.forename: Laura L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Flynn
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D005431:Florida; D053833:Wetlands
keywords: Early detection; Florida; Habitat degradation; Intertidal habitat; Restoration; Wetland forests