ix
Mexico: An Example of the American Crocodile [Crocodylus acutus]”), by Omar
Cervantes, Aramis Olivos-Ortiz, Refugio Anguiano-Cuevas, Concepción Contreras,
and Juan Carlos Chávez-Comparan, is a species-specific study in the Palo Verde
Estuary (a Ramsar site) that recognizes that pollution, fragmentation of ecosystems,
and habitat destruction due to human action incite the need for strategic management practices to encourage harvest sustainability. This chapter represents an opportunity to reconcile human activities with the environment based on an analysis made
from the perspective of the conceptual Driving Forces-Pressure-State-ImpactResponse model. Chapter 19 (“Mangrove Inventory, Monitoring, and Health
Assessment”), by Ajai and H.B. Chauhan, identifies threats to mangroves from
human activities (reclamation of mangrove areas for human habitation, aquaculture,
agriculture, and port and industrial development) and shows how the use of remote
sensing data can be used to develop a model for mangrove health assessment. The
model developed here is demonstrated through a case study in India. Chapter 20
(“How Can Accurate Landing Stats Help in Designing Better Fisheries and
Environmental Management for Western Atlantic Estuaries?”), by Mário Barletta,
André R.A. Lima, David V. Dantas, Igor M. Oliveira, Jurandyr Reis Neto, Cezar
A.F. Fernandes, Eduardo G.G. Farias, Jorge L.R. Filho, and Monica F. Costa, discusses fishery management in Brazilian estuaries while pointing out the need for
better statistics to help avoid the impacts of overfishing. The main thrust of this
chapter is the explanation of the need to improve fishery management by compliance of ecological data and biological research, obtaining robust data for landing
stats, and establishing a social profile of the fishery community to build better rules
of comanagement. Chapter 21 (“Returning the Tide to Dikelands in a Macrotidal
and Ice-Influenced Environment: Challenges and Lessons Learned”), by Laura
K. Boone, Jeff Ollerhead, Myriam A. Barbeau, Allen D. Beck, Brian G. Sanderson,
and Nic R. McLellan, deals with the lessons learned from the design, implementation, and monitoring of salt marsh restoration in the upper Bay of Fundy, Canada.
They found that the bioengineering species saltwater cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) performed well and could be used again in similar situations. Chapter 22
(“Macrobenthic Assemblage in the Rupsha-Pasur River System of the Sundarbans
Ecosystem (Bangladesh) for the Sustainable Management of Coastal Wetlands”),
by Salma Begum, investigates a non-forestry product (benthic invertebrates) of the
Sundarbans (the world’s largest mangrove forest) and found that the combined
effects of environmental and biological parameters influence relative species abundance. Chapter 23 (“Ecological Services of Intertidal Benthic Fauna and the
Sustenance of Coastal Wetlands along the Midnapore [East] Coast, West Bengal,
India”), the last chapter in the book, by Susanta Kumar Chakraborty, shows the
value and functional contribution of benthic biodiversity (macrobenthos and meiobenthos) for the continuation of the Sundarbans mangrove estuarine complex. These
bioindicators are indicative of the health of this disturbed coastal environment.
What is presented in this volume is but a snippet of the global situation confronting coastal wetlands today, which entails a universal threat from human action. The
chapters illustrate the status of coastal wetlands from the geographical spread ranging from the tropics to high-latitudes via studies in Florida, Spain, Cameroon,
Preface
Mexico: An Example of the American Crocodile [Crocodylus acutus]”), by Omar
Cervantes, Aramis Olivos-Ortiz, Refugio Anguiano-Cuevas, Concepción Contreras,
and Juan Carlos Chávez-Comparan, is a species-specific study in the Palo Verde
Estuary (a Ramsar site) that recognizes that pollution, fragmentation of ecosystems,
and habitat destruction due to human action incite the need for strategic management practices to encourage harvest sustainability. This chapter represents an opportunity to reconcile human activities with the environment based on an analysis made
from the perspective of the conceptual Driving Forces-Pressure-State-ImpactResponse model. Chapter 19 (“Mangrove Inventory, Monitoring, and Health
Assessment”), by Ajai and H.B. Chauhan, identifies threats to mangroves from
human activities (reclamation of mangrove areas for human habitation, aquaculture,
agriculture, and port and industrial development) and shows how the use of remote
sensing data can be used to develop a model for mangrove health assessment. The
model developed here is demonstrated through a case study in India. Chapter 20
(“How Can Accurate Landing Stats Help in Designing Better Fisheries and
Environmental Management for Western Atlantic Estuaries?”), by Mário Barletta,
André R.A. Lima, David V. Dantas, Igor M. Oliveira, Jurandyr Reis Neto, Cezar
A.F. Fernandes, Eduardo G.G. Farias, Jorge L.R. Filho, and Monica F. Costa, discusses fishery management in Brazilian estuaries while pointing out the need for
better statistics to help avoid the impacts of overfishing. The main thrust of this
chapter is the explanation of the need to improve fishery management by compliance of ecological data and biological research, obtaining robust data for landing
stats, and establishing a social profile of the fishery community to build better rules
of comanagement. Chapter 21 (“Returning the Tide to Dikelands in a Macrotidal
and Ice-Influenced Environment: Challenges and Lessons Learned”), by Laura
K. Boone, Jeff Ollerhead, Myriam A. Barbeau, Allen D. Beck, Brian G. Sanderson,
and Nic R. McLellan, deals with the lessons learned from the design, implementation, and monitoring of salt marsh restoration in the upper Bay of Fundy, Canada.
They found that the bioengineering species saltwater cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) performed well and could be used again in similar situations. Chapter 22
(“Macrobenthic Assemblage in the Rupsha-Pasur River System of the Sundarbans
Ecosystem (Bangladesh) for the Sustainable Management of Coastal Wetlands”),
by Salma Begum, investigates a non-forestry product (benthic invertebrates) of the
Sundarbans (the world’s largest mangrove forest) and found that the combined
effects of environmental and biological parameters influence relative species abundance. Chapter 23 (“Ecological Services of Intertidal Benthic Fauna and the
Sustenance of Coastal Wetlands along the Midnapore [East] Coast, West Bengal,
India”), the last chapter in the book, by Susanta Kumar Chakraborty, shows the
value and functional contribution of benthic biodiversity (macrobenthos and meiobenthos) for the continuation of the Sundarbans mangrove estuarine complex. These
bioindicators are indicative of the health of this disturbed coastal environment.
What is presented in this volume is but a snippet of the global situation confronting coastal wetlands today, which entails a universal threat from human action. The
chapters illustrate the status of coastal wetlands from the geographical spread ranging from the tropics to high-latitudes via studies in Florida, Spain, Cameroon,
Preface