Potential Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Mangroves

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Overview of Mangrove Ecosystem

Global Distribution

Climatic factors such as temperature and moisture affect mangrove distribution. Mangroves are distributed latitudinally within the tropics and subtropics, reaching their maximum development between 25°N and 25°S. Temperature controls latitudinal distributions of mangrove; perennial mangroves generally cannot survive freezing temperatures. The richest mangrove communities occur in areas where the water temperature is greater than 24ºC in the warmest month. The most recent estimates suggest that mangroves presently occupy about 14,653,000 ha of tropical and subtropical coastline[1] (Fig.1).

Global Distribution of mangroves. (FAO : Status and Trends in Mangrove Area Extent Worldwide)
  1. McLeod, E. and R.V. Salm. 2006. Managing Mangroves for Resilience to Climate Change. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. 64p.