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Litterfall of three subtropical mangrove species in the family Rhizophoraceae

  • Special Section: Original Article
  • Towards a cooperative research future in the East China Sea—selected research from the 8th International Workshop on Oceanogra
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Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the litterfall dynamics of three mangrove species in the family Rhizophoraceae: Rhizophora stylosa, Kandelia obovata, and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, in Manko Wetland, Okinawa Island, Japan. Over 3 years, these species showed highest litterfall of leaves and stipules in summer and the lowest litterfall in winter. Litterfall of flowers and fruits peaked in July for R. stylosa, and in August and again in October–November for K. obovata. Litterfall of flower buds, flowers, and propagules occurred throughout the year for B. gymnorrhiza, but was highest in summer. Litterfall of propagules was highest in September and May for R. stylosa and K. obovata, respectively. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance revealed that the monthly changes for leaf, stipule, flower, and fruit litterfalls of all the species were strongly and significantly concordant among the years. The conversion rate of flowers to propagules was 2.3 % in R. stylosa, 5.9 % in K. obovata, and 10.3 % in B. gymnorrhiza. Total annual litterfall in R. stylosa was significantly different from K. obovata and B. gymnorrhiza; however, the latter two species showed no significant differences. Leaves contributed the most to the total litterfall of all three species, and represented 58.4, 54.0, and 50.4 % of the total litterfall for R. stylosa, K. obovata, and B. gymnorrhiza, respectively. Except for branches and flower bud primordia, all other components of litterfall had clear annual cycles for all three species. Rhizophora stylosa and K. obovata showed a negative correlation between leaf production and reproductive organ production, but B. gymnorrhiza tended to increase leaf production with increasing reproductive organ production.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. W. Min, Mr. K. Mouctar, and Ms. R. Deshar for their invaluable help during field work and data analysis. We also thank Dr. Donald Franklin (Charles Darwin University, Australia) and Dr. James Davis Reimer (University of the Ryukyus, Japan) for their insightful suggestions and useful guidance on our manuscript. This study was partially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (nos. 22658051 and 23380094) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Md. Kamruzzaman & Sahadev Sharma

  2. Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong University, Chittagong, 4331, Bangladesh

    A. T. M. Rafiqul Hoque

  3. Laboratory of Ecology and Systematics, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    Akio Hagihara

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  1. Md. Kamruzzaman
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  2. Sahadev Sharma
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  3. A. T. M. Rafiqul Hoque
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  4. Akio Hagihara
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Correspondence to Akio Hagihara.

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Kamruzzaman, M., Sharma, S., Rafiqul Hoque, A.T.M. et al. Litterfall of three subtropical mangrove species in the family Rhizophoraceae. J Oceanogr 68, 841–850 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-012-0134-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-012-0134-8

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