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Differences in regeneration between hurricane damaged and clear-cut mangrove stands 25 years after clearing

  • Soft-Bottom Near-Shore Ecosystems
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Abstract

The effect of human disturbance on mangrove forest may be substantially different from the effects of natural disturbances. This paper describes differences in vegetation composition and structure of five vegetation types in two mangrove areas near Darwin, Australia, 25 years after disturbance. The vegetation in clear-felled forest showed more adult Avicennia marina than in the hurricane-affected forest, and a virtual absence of A. marina juveniles and saplings. This indicates that A. marina will be replaced by other species in the canopy, showing a multi-phase vegetation development in mangrove forest after human disturbance. The mechanism of disturbance and the conditions after clearing therefore affects the vegetation composition for at least 25 years after this disturbance took place.

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Acknowledgements

The participation of P. Ketner was financially supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO grant R 84-507). The work by J.G. Ferwerda was financially supported by the Wageningen University Fund, the “Hendrick Muller Vaderlandsch fonds” and the Fund for fundamental research for nature conservation (FONA), and an ARC grant supported K. McGuinness. Research facilities for the project were made available by Charles Darwin University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, 3001, Australia

    J. G. Ferwerda

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Resource Ecology Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Bornsesteeg 69, 6708 PD, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    P. Ketner

  3. School of Science and Primary Industries, Faculty of Education, Health and Science, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia

    K. A. McGuinness

Authors
  1. J. G. Ferwerda
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  2. P. Ketner
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  3. K. A. McGuinness
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Correspondence to J. G. Ferwerda.

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Ferwerda, J.G., Ketner, P. & McGuinness, K.A. Differences in regeneration between hurricane damaged and clear-cut mangrove stands 25 years after clearing. Hydrobiologia 591, 35–45 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0782-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0782-7

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