A Comparative Study of Macrofauna in a Highly Exploited and a Less Exploited Mangrove Swamp at Gazi Area, Kenya.

Abstract

Mangroves are ecosystems that are comprised of salt tolerant evergreen plants that grow in sheltered tropical and subtropical coastlines. Several species have characteristic aerial roots and show a zonation pattern that is determined by abiotic factors. Mangroves are of immense ecological importance to coastal communities and habitats and presently there has been much concern that mangroves are being degraded at an alarming rate. In the kenyan coast, mangrove forests are scattered in the creeks and cover an area of approximately 53,000 hectares, which, however, is being reduced particularly through deforestation. Being transitional between purely terrestrial and purely oceanic ecosystems, mangrove swamps are known to support a diversity of characteristic flora and fauna, several of which are of commercial importance. Many general and descriptive studies have been made of various aspects of the mangrove ecosystem in different areas of the world. Although work has been done on the distribution of mangrove macroflora and macrofauna in Kenya, nothing exists in the literature on the effects of mangrove depletion on the biodiversity or even a comparative study of deforested and natural mangrove swamps. The concern that deforestation of mangroves will lead to a loss of this diversity led to the design of this project, focusing on how significant the loss of biodiversity is, due to deforestation. This study specifically targeted the macrofauna which play an important role in this ecosystem.