.2020 Sep 4;10(1):14652.

doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5.

A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

Thomas A Worthington^#¹, Philine S E Zu Ermgassen^#², Daniel A Friess³, Ken W Krauss⁴, Catherine E Lovelock⁵, Julia Thorley⁶, Rick Tingey⁷, Colin D Woodroffe⁸, Pete Bunting⁹, Nicole Cormier¹⁰, David Lagomasino^{11 12}, Richard Lucas⁹, Nicholas J Murray¹³, William J Sutherland¹⁴, Mark Spalding^{14 15}

Affiliations

¹ Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK. taw52@cam.ac.uk.
² Global Change Group, School of Geosciences, Grant Institute, Kings Buildings, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, UK.
³ Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore.
⁴ U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd, Lafayette, LA, 70506, USA.
⁵ School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
⁶ Independent GIS Consultant, Penzance, UK.
⁷ Spatial Support Systems, LLC, Cottonwood Heights, UT, 84121, USA.
⁸ School of Earth Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
⁹ Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Wales, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Level 4, 12 Wally's Walk, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Coastal Studies, East Carolina University, Wanchese, NC, 27981, USA.
¹² Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA.
¹³ College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia.
¹⁴ Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK.
¹⁵ The Nature Conservancy, c/o Department of Physical, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Pian dei Mantellini, 53100, Siena, Italy.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID:32887898
PMCID: PMC7473852
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5

A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

Thomas A Worthington et al. Sci Rep.2020.

.2020 Sep 4;10(1):14652.

doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK. taw52@cam.ac.uk.
² Global Change Group, School of Geosciences, Grant Institute, Kings Buildings, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, UK.
³ Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore.
⁴ U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd, Lafayette, LA, 70506, USA.
⁵ School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
⁶ Independent GIS Consultant, Penzance, UK.
⁷ Spatial Support Systems, LLC, Cottonwood Heights, UT, 84121, USA.
⁸ School of Earth Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
⁹ Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Wales, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Level 4, 12 Wally's Walk, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Coastal Studies, East Carolina University, Wanchese, NC, 27981, USA.
¹² Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA.
¹³ College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia.
¹⁴ Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK.
¹⁵ The Nature Conservancy, c/o Department of Physical, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Pian dei Mantellini, 53100, Siena, Italy.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID:32887898
PMCID: PMC7473852
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71194-5

Abstract

Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services but are among the world's most threatened ecosystems. Mangroves vary substantially according to their geomorphic and sedimentary setting; while several conceptual frameworks describe these settings, their spatial distribution has not been quantified. Here, we present a new global mangrove biophysical typology and show that, based on their 2016 extent, 40.5% (54,972 km²) of mangrove systems were deltaic, 27.5% (37,411 km²) were estuarine and 21.0% (28,493 km²) were open coast, with lagoonal mangroves the least abundant (11.0%, 14,993 km²). Mangroves were also classified based on their sedimentary setting, with carbonate mangroves being less abundant than terrigenous, representing just 9.6% of global coverage. Our typology provides a basis for future research to incorporate geomorphic and sedimentary setting in analyses. We present two examples of such applications. Firstly, based on change in extent between 1996 and 2016, we show while all types exhibited considerable declines in area, losses of lagoonal mangroves (- 6.9%) were nearly twice that of other types. Secondly, we quantify differences in aboveground biomass between mangroves of different types, with it being significantly lower in lagoonal mangroves. Overall, our biophysical typology provides a baseline for assessing restoration potential and for quantifying mangrove ecosystem service provision.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Distribution of deltaic, estuarine, lagoonal and open coast mangrove types, and approximate extent of carbonate sedimentary settings in the (i) North and Central America and the Caribbean and (ii) South America regions. Bar charts represent the percentage change in area of the different types between 1996 and 2016 at the regional scale. Adapted from Worthington and Spalding. The map was generated in ArcGIS Desktop version 10.6 software (https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/).

**Figure 2**
Distribution of deltaic, estuarine, lagoonal and open coast mangrove types, and approximate extent of carbonate sedimentary settings in the (a) West and Central Africa, (b) Middle East and (c) East and Southern Africa regions. Bar charts represent the percentage change in area of the different types between 1996 and 2016 at the regional scale. Adapted from Worthington and Spalding. The map was generated in ArcGIS Desktop version 10.6 software (https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/).

**Figure 3**
Distribution of deltaic, estuarine, lagoonal and open coast mangrove types, and approximate extent of carbonate sedimentary settings in (ai) the South Asia, (aii) Southeast Asia and (aiii) East Asia regions and (bi) the Australia and New Zealand and (bii) Pacific Islands regions. Bar charts represent the percentage change in area of the different types between 1996 and 2016 at the regional scale. *Value truncated for display, actual value − 33.2%. Adapted from Worthington and Spalding. The map was generated in ArcGIS Desktop version 10.6 software (https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/).

**Figure 4**
Mean above ground biomass across the four mangrove types. Open circles represent the median value, with box ends representing the upper and lower quartiles and thin lines highest and lowest values excluding outliers (outside 1.5 times the interquartile range above the upper quartile and below the lower quartile). Outline shows data density and spread. Data points shown with a small amount of error added to the x value for display. Letters denote predicted group membership from post-hoc analysis.

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A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

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A global biophysical typology of mangroves and its relevance for ecosystem structure and deforestation

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Conflict of interest statement

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