165

REVIEW ARTICLE

The Mangrove Ecosystem Utilizes Physical Processes
Yoshihiro MAZDA
Professor Emeritus at Tokai University & Vice-President of the Japan Society for Mangroves
1-16-5 Tonosawa, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-0912, Japane-mail: sakim@sakura.tnc.ne.jp

Abstract
Various physical processes support the mangrove environment. In this paper, a synopsis of hydraulic systems such as tidal flow, sea waves and groundwater in mangrove areas is introduced. Further, in order topreserve the natural environment of mangrove areas, it is proposed to connect quantitatively these physicalprocesses and the mangrove ecosystem in execution of interdisciplinary studies.
Key words: ecosystem, hydraulic system, mangrove environment, physical process

1. Introduction
Mangrove environments are formed through strong
feedback relationships among biota, landforms, waterflow and the atmosphere (Fig.1). Water flow plays aparticularly important role in mangrove ecosystems,
compared to terrestrial ecosystems.
Biotic activities within mangrove forests, where
mangrove trees are the central feature of the ecosystem,
have led to the development of a unique substrate(bio-geomorphology) in intertidal areas. On the other
hand, colonies of mangroves have developed under the
influence of physical factors such as tides that accompany alternating flooding and drying of the habitat. In
turn, mangroves are sensitive to several environmental

Fig. 1 Feedback system in mangrove environments.
Feedback among four factors, 1) biota in which mangrove
trees themselves are the nucleus, 2) sediment topography,3) water movement such as tidal flow and sea waves, and 4)
the atmosphere, play important roles in forming and maintaining the mangrove environment.
Global Environmental Research
17/2013: 165-172
printed in Japan

gradients and preserve themselves under pressure fromthose physical processes.
The first study of physical processes in mangrove
areas was probably that of Wolanski et al. (1980). Even
today, however, research on those physical processes islimited compared with the amount of research that
focuses on biological aspects. A summary of the paststudies on the physical processes in mangrove areas is
given below. The details are described in Mazda et al.
(2007a), Perillo et al. (2009) and Mazda (2011).

2. Unique Hydraulic Systems in Mangrove
Areas
2.1 Mangrove topography
Mangrove topography is classified into three types,
riverine forest (R-type), fringe forest (F-type) and basin
forest (B-type), as seen in Fig. 2. These types differ interms of the dominant water movements of each system .
In the typical R-type, swamp water within a few metersfrom tidal creeks is dragged by tidal flow in the creek;
thus it flows parallel to the creek. Further inside mangrove swamps the flow is predominantly perpendicular tothe creek due to the high vegetation-induced friction andthe water surface gradient between the swamp and thetidal creek. At ebb tide the surface soil in the swamp dries
rapidly (Mazda et al., 2005). In the F-type, the surface
soil remains wet even at low tide. Sea waves are
mitigated in swamps because of the resistance of thickmangrove trees and their emergent roots. The erosion/accumulation of the topography depends on the wave
height (see Section 2.3). In the B-type, during the dry
season, the water level in the depressions continues todescend slowly because of groundwater flow to the open
sea driven by the difference in water levels between the
depression and the open sea (Mazda et al., 1990a).
©2013 AIRIES166

Y. MAZDA

Lugo et al. (1988) and Adame et al. (2010) stated thatthe formation of mangrove ecosystems differs among
these three types, and the growth level of R-type mangrove colonies is the highest among them, the reason forwhich is shown in Section 3.4.
In reality, these three types have complexities withsecondary topographies such as sub-creeks and sanddunes.
2.2 Tidal flow
The physical processes that support mangrove ecosystems basically consist of the tidal motion of seawater,
although the tide does deform significantly in mangroveswamps due to the high density of mangrove trees androots. Watson (1928) recognized that the mangrove community depended on tidal inundation. However, quantitative relationships between the ecosystem and tidal
action have not been apparent till now, mainly because of
the delay in hydrological studies in mangrove areas.
Momentum equations applicable to tidal motion in
the peculiar landforms of mangrove areas, which com-prise long meandering tidal creeks and wide fringing
mangrove swamps (R-type), were first proposed by
Wolanski et al. (1980). Uncles et al. (1990) and Dyeret al. (1992) analyzed hydrodynamics of mangrove
creeks from a physical viewpoint of water exchange
between mangrove areas and the open sea. The tidal flowin creeks depends strongly on the magnitude of the water
volume that enters the mangrove swamp during the floodtide (Fig. 3). Wolanski and Ridd (1986), Ridd et al.
(1990) and Nihei et al. (2004) used schematic models toinvestigate the interrelationship between tidal flow increeks and tidal inundation into fringing mangroveswamps. Arranging observational results in various fieldareas, Mazda et al. (2005) formulated mangrove hydrodynamics composed of tidal creeks and fringing mangrove swamps.
Many tidal creeks with wide mangrove swamps(R-type) record a tidal flow asymmetry (Fig. 4), in which
the peak current velocity is often 20%-50% higher at ebb
tide than at flood tide, though the velocity in the swamp isalways higher at flood tide. This asymmetry is formed by
the interaction between the tidal creek and the mangrove
vegetation in the swamp (Mazda et al., 1995). Wolanski(2006) pointed out that this velocity asymmetry in tidal
creeks helps flush out coarse sediment from the creeks,
ensuring maintenance of creek depth and material exchange between the mangrove area and the open sea. The
tidal flow in creeks is accompanied by secondary circulation, which occurs in the lateral cross-section of thecreek, depending on the existence of freshwater runoff
from the upper stream and meanders of the creek. Interactions between this secondary circulation and the tidally
reversing flow affect dispersal of mangrove seeds (Ridd
et al., 1998).

Fig. 2 Classification of mangrove topography (after Cintron &Novelli, 1984).
a. RIVERINE FOREST is defined as a mangrove swamp with tidal creeks(or rivers), which is inundated by high tides and exposed during low tides.
Tidal creeks commonly run perpendicular to the coastal banks, are highly
sinuous and can intertwine with other creeks (see Fig. 7).
b. FRINGE FOREST is defined as a mangrove swamp along a shorelinethat faces the open sea, which is directly exposed to the action of both tidal
water and sea waves. The bottom slope of the swamp is continuous to theopen coast.
c. BASIN FOREST is defined as a depressed mangrove swamp, which isseldom inundated by high tides during the dry season, but is inundated byspring high tides during the wet season.

Fig. 3 Schematic views of tidal rivers (a) without and (b) withflood plains, and tidal flows around the river mouth.
At rising tide the creek water inundates the mangrove swamp, and istrapped temporarily within the swamp. On returning to the creek at ebb
tide, the trapped water mixes with the creek water, and materials that are
dissolved, floating or suspended in the water disperse longitudinally along
the creek and toward the adjacent coastal sea with each passing tide.
The tidal flow flux in the creek depends on the extent of the flooded area
and the vegetation density.

The Mangrove Ecosystem Utilizes Physical Processes

167

Fig. 4 Time series plots of water level and current speed in Cocoa Creek, Australia (after Aucan& Ridd, 2000).
Only when the tidal level is well over the elevation of the bottom floor of the swamp as shown in the upper
figure, does the ebb flow (▲) prevail against the flood flow (●). Further, this flow asymmetry between ebb andflood strengthens with increasing tidal level. Mazda et al. (1995) demonstrated that the asymmetry isdependent on the difference between tidal phases in the creek and the swamp; this difference results from thedrag force of mangrove roots in the swamp.

2.3 Sea waves - tsunamis
Sea waves are another important physical factor incoastal areas. In R-type topography, wind-driven waves
and swells rarely propagate into swamps because of thedissipation of wave energy along long tidal creeks. Also,in the B-type, waves seldom appear because of the presence of a barrier between it and the open sea. In the
F-type, mangrove vegetation reduces sea waves, resulting in coastal protection, as shown in Fig. 5. The
quantitative mechanisms of wave reduction, however, are
not yet well understood because of the complicatedvertical configuration of mangrove trees, structural differences between mangrove species, various conditionsof natural vegetation density and dependency on wave
characteristics in the open sea (Mazda, 2011). Further,studies of wave action at the boundary between mangrove swamps and the open sea are important from aviewpoint of sedimentation/erosion (Massel et al., 1999;
Furukawa, 2008).
Findings on sea waves (period typically less than
20 sec) cannot be applied to tsunami waves (seismic sea
waves) with periods between ten minutes and an hour.
Many studies have examined the hydraulic behavior oftsunami waves reaching various coastal areas. Thesestudies, however, cannot be applied directly to mangrove
areas, because unique conditions such as the drag force
on mangrove trees and their vertical configurations are
not taken into consideration. Mangrove forests with theirFig. 5 Difference in the effect of wave reduction (a) with and (b)without mangroves (after Mazda et al., 1997).
Based on the observation on the Thuy Hai Coast, Vietnam, where
mangroves (Kandelia candel) had been planted in a strip 1.5 km wide
(toward offshore) at 1 m intervals, wave reduction was estimated. (a) A
wave height of 1.0 m on the open sea decreased to 0.05 m on the coast.
However, (b) without the sheltering effect of mangroves, the waves arrivewith a height of 0.75 m, diminished by bottom stress alone.

168

Y. MAZDA

unique vertical configuration protect human lives fromtsunamis. For example, though tsunamis uproot underground roots of mangroves, the substantial resistanceprovided by these intertwining roots forms a sacrificial
barrier that helps protect the land and human settlements
located behind the mangrove belt (Mazda et al., 2007b).
However, it is noteworthy that tsunamis behave differently in R-type or F-type topographies.
Hong (2006) collected articles about roles of mangroves in protecting human lives from various waves
such as sea waves, storm surges and tsunamis in South
Asia.
2.4 Groundwater flow
Water flow is composed of surface water flow above
the substrate and groundwater flow through the substrate.
Compared to surface water flow, groundwater flow tends
to be ignored because of the low rate of water flux.
However, the role of the groundwater flow in determining soil properties and maintaining mangrove ecosystems
has been clearly documented from field observations. For
example, Stieglitz et al. (2000) reported that a high density of crab holes supports water/material permeability
and modifies soil properties. Susilo and Ridd (2005)
stated that 50% of the salt that accumulates around underground roots and limits the growth of mangrove trees
may be discharged to the creek via groundwater. Thesefindings are supported by the observational results thatthe hydraulic conductivity (the coefficient of permeability) of mangrove swamps is two to three orders ofmagnitude larger than that of normal sediment substrates(Fig. 6). Further, the permeability depends on topography,
particularly on the bottom slope, suggesting that groundwater behaves significantly differently between R, F and
B-types.
Groundwater with a tidal period in coastal areas suchas mangrove forests, particularly where the substrate iscomposed of loose sediment, behaves very differently
from that in inland areas. The water flow has three components: first, a quasi-steady flow towards the open sea
due to the tidal mean pressure gradient between the waterlevels in the swamp and the open sea; second, a tidally
reversing flow with exponentially damped amplitude andlinearly delayed phase towards the swamp; and third, a
residual flow towards the swamp caused by the exponentially damped tidal flow (Mazda et al., 1990a).

3. Relationships between the Mangrove
Ecosystem and Physical Processes
3.1 Mangrove topographies are formed by aself-organization system
Water currents forced by tides and sea waves aresteered, channeled and hindered by the topography ofFig. 6 Time series plots of water levels at Stns. 1-8 and Stn. C in the Maira-Gawa
mangrove area on Iriomote Island, Japan (after Mazda & Ikeda, 2006).
After tidal inundation of the swamp has ceased, groundwater tables near a creek (Stns. 1 and 2)
descend by up to 15 cm during the time until the subsequent flood tide. In contrast, only minorchanges occur at sites far from the creek (Stns. 6, 7 and 8). This descending speed of thegroundwater depends on the hydraulic conductivity and the bottom slope of mangrove swamps.

The Mangrove Ecosystem Utilizes Physical Processes

swamps and by mangrove trees and intertwining roots. Inturn, the movement of sediment that accompanies waterflow modifies the swamp topography, sometimes initiating meanders in creeks or eroding coastlines. However,the quantitative mechanisms of sedimentation in mangrove swamps have yet to be fully investigated.
Many mangrove areas form a remarkable fractal pattern with innumerable tidal creeks and sub-creeks, as
shown in Fig. 7. The mechanisms and physical processes
that form the fractal network of these creeks, however,Fig. 7 Map of the area around the Long Hoa Coast in
southern Vietnam.
All of this area is covered with mangrove swamps, with many tidal
creeks and their sub-creeks, except for a small area facing theSouth China Sea which was converted into a human settlement.

169

have received little scientific scrutiny. Geologies ofdrainage basins and channel networks in inland areas
have been quantitatively studied, but the mechanism ofchannel network formation in mangrove areas seems tobe quite different from that in inland areas because of theunique morphological and hydrological characteristics ofmangrove areas, such as the very gentle slope of the bottom substrate, loose bottom sediment and water inundation into the area with tidal period.
Based on these considerations, Yagi et al. (2007)
proposed the idea of “self-organization,” in which thefractal pattern must be formed by feedback interactions
among mangrove vegetation, loose soils and reciprocal
tidal flows (see Section 3.4). Further, D’Alpaos et al.
(2009) proposed a formation mechanism of creeks intidal flats due to tidal flows. These ideas suggest theinitial stage to form networks of tidal creeks in mangrove
forests.
3.2 Roles of water circulation in the mangrove
environment
Water properties such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrient concentrations support mangrove ecosystems directly and indirectly. These water
properties vary spatially and temporally in a mannerthat is strongly dependent on physical processes such as
water circulation, tidal mixing and diffusion/dispersion(Fig. 8).
These water properties also depend on the peculiar
mangrove topography. In the R-type, the hydraulicFig. 8 Synoptic views of the predicted contaminant concentration cloud (ppm) at two-hourintervals during a tidal cycle (after Wolanski et al., 1990).
The contaminant cloud stays trapped along the mangrove-fringed coast at and around low tide (③-④-⑤), and is pushed back into the mangrove swamps through a tidal creek at high tide (①). This behavior
is unique to tidally inundated coastal area with mangrove vegetation.

170

Y. MAZDA

mechanisms that control water properties have been
investigated, based on field measurements and numericalsimulations (Mazda et al., 2007a). The diffusivity ofwater properties along creeks is increased by the tidal
trapping effect (see Fig. 3) by two orders of magnitude
from its value in the absence of swamps. The materialtransport mechanisms have been discussed by Wolanski(1992) and Ridd et al. (1997) for the R-type, by Wolanski
et al. (1990) for the F-type, and further by Twilley et al.
(1986), Mazda et al. (1990a) and Susilo et al. (2005) for
the B-type.
The mangrove ecosystem is affected by the open sea
due to diurnal or semi-diurnal tidal actions, while themangroves affect the ecosystem of the adjacent coastal
waters (Fig. 9). This interaction between mangrove forests and the open sea is mainly achieved through tidal
creeks in R-type topography, occurs directly in the F-type,and via groundwater flow in the B-type.
Tidal flow processes within creeks were described in
Section 2.2. The role of tidal creeks in enabling the exchange of material such as nutrients, dissolved oxygenFig. 9 Time series plots of (a) solar radiation, (b) sea level in aswamp and (c) dissolved oxygen concentrations in theswamp and neighboring coral reef in the Bashita-Minato
mangrove area, Iriomote Island, Japan (after Mazda et al.,1990b).
The DO in the swamp rose sharply at the commencement of the flood tide
(20:00) and fell slowly thereafter until anoxic conditions were reached,irrespective of solar radiation. The DO at the reef had a diurnal cycle with aminimum value in the early morning and a maximum in the evening close tosunset, resulting from the biological activity of corals and algae due torespiration at night and photosynthesis after sunrise, respectively. It is
understood that the DO from the reef strongly influences that of the swamp,
which influences aquatic or benthic organisms in the swamp.
In this observation, the flood tide happened in the evening (20:00) and earlymorning (08:00) when the DO in the reef was at its maximum and minimum
values, respectively. This suggests that if the flood tide happens several
hours before or after the occurrence of a maximum in DO, the swamp will
not record such high values of DO. In turn, the interrelationship between
oxygen production at the reef and tidal transport processes into the swamp
controls biotic activity in the mangrove swamp.

and mangrove litter between mangroves and coastal
waters has been described by Woodroffe (1985a, b),
Wolanski and Ridd (1986) and Wolanski et al. (1990).
3.3 Atmospheric and terrestrial processes affecting
mangrove ecosystems
Mangrove hydrodynamicists tend to neglect theeffects of atmospheric elements such as sunlight, rain,
evaporation, air temperature, humidity and wind on
mangrove ecosystems, as they often assume that theseelements are unimportant compared to the influence ofhydrodynamic elements. This assumption may be madein part because the thick canopies of mangroves appear toseparate the swamp area from the lower atmosphere andto self-generate a microclimate under the mangrove
canopy.
Wattayakorn et al. (2000), however, emphasized theinfluence of river discharge, which varies with seasonalrainfall, on both water properties and biogeochemical
processes that occur within mangrove estuaries, based on
their observations. Ridd and Stieglitz (2002) stated thatthe formation of a salinity maximum zone in creeks due
to effects of rain and evaporation affects mangrove species assemblages (Fig. 10). Wolanski (2006) discussed
quantitatively the function of mangrove canopies inabsorbing wind energy and intercepting the transport ofsalt spray to inland areas behind mangrove forests. Basedon these findings, he stressed that the mangrove environment should be understood in the total ecosystemthat comprises the river basin, rivers, and estuarine/
coastal waters, forming a “total eco-hydrology” systemthat should be considered using a holistic approach.
3.4 Feedback relationships maintaining themangrove environment
As shown in Fig. 1, four factors, namely biota, sediment topography, water flow and atmosphere, play important roles individually in forming and maintaining themangrove environment. Further, every factor interacts
with one of other factors. For example, the biology drives
the physics of mangroves; the amount of water thatinundates mangrove swamps depends on vegetation
density in mangrove swamps, because the vegetation
resists water inundation. On the other hand, the physics
drives the biology in mangroves: the growth of mangrove
trees and their zonation patterns depend strongly on thetides and the elevation of the substrate or the flooding
frequency, duration of inundation and water depth due totidal action (Watson, 1928).
Further, it should be recognized that all of theseinteractions between two arbitrary factors construct the
feedback system for maintaining the mangrove ecosystem, as follows. The water flow associated with tides andrainfall helps to supply nutrients to mangrove trees. The
mangrove trees, which grow with the help of solar radiation, deposit their decayed leaves around the bottom
substrate as sediment, which leads to the establishment oflandforms. The landform or topography modifies thewater flow with their drag force.

The Mangrove Ecosystem Utilizes Physical Processes

171

Fig. 10 Changes in salinity following major rainfall events in Cocoa Creek and Crocodile Creek, Australia (after
Ridd & Stieglitz, 2002).
(a) The salinity is higher throughout the length of the creek than at the creek mouth.
The salinity maximum zone in the creeks, which is affected by rain and evaporation, forms density currents,
isolating the upper reaches of the estuary from the coastal waters.
(b) The creeks became completely hypersaline within one month after rainfall in late August 1998.
□ 3 Sept. 1998; ○ 10 Sept. 1998; △ 16 Sept. 1998; ▽14 Oct. 1998
Both (a) and (b) suggest the strong influences of rain and solar radiation on water properties in mangrove areas.

Large numbers of tidal creeks supply various materials such as seawater, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, andfish eggs/larvae to the innermost area of the swamp. On
the other hand, tidal creeks and their tributaries have been
formed by the actions of tidal waters, mangrove vegetation and so on, as described in Section 3.1. The networkof tidal creeks and their tributaries (see Fig.7) seems toshow the result of these feedback actions. This network issimilar to the capillary vessels in human bodies; that is,
the network appears to sustain the natural mangrove
ecosystem in the same manner as capillary vessels inhuman bodies sustain human activity. In turn, the mangrove ecosystem utilizes the physical systems in order topreserve the natural environment.
Aquaculture farms have been developed under thesenatural feedback systems (Hong, 2006; Perillo et al.,2009). However, there are concerns that their artificial
development may destroy the natural feedback system,
resulting in a feedback that leads to the degradation of theaquaculture farms themselves.

4. In Order to Preserve and Utilize theMangrove Environment

ing nonlinear interactions among biological, chemicaland physical factors, each of which has different spatial
and temporal scales. Thus, in order to understand themangrove ecosystem as a whole, to preserve it, and toensure that human activity is in harmony with it, interdisciplinary studies involving various study fields shouldbe put into practice.
To understand nonlinear interactions among biological, chemical and physical factors, it is necessary to conduct joint studies involving researchers with different
areas of expertise, especially simultaneous field work at acommon site; such works have never been executed
hitherto. Moreover, these interdisciplinary studies should
be continued successively in the future, as ecosystems
with long time scales respond to physical actions withshort time scales, which are integrated in the ecosystemover the course of decades.
Furthermore, such interdisciplinary studies should beorganized at an international level. This is because mangroves are distributed globally, whilst their ecosystems
vary locally, depending on unique physical processes
which differ locally according to the site.
References

As described above, mangrove ecosystems are established as “total eco-hydrology.” Total eco-hydrology isformed spatially by interactions among terrestrial, estuarine, coastal and offshore areas. It evolves via intertwin-

Adame, M.F., D. Neil, S.F. Wright and C.E. Lovelock (2010)
Sedimentation within and among mangrove forests along a
gradient of geomorphological settings. Estuarine, Coastal and
Shelf Science, 86: 21-30.

172

Y. MAZDA

Aucan, J. and P.V. Ridd (2000) Tidal asymmetry in creek surrounded by saltflats and mangroves with small swamp slopes.
Wetlands Ecology and Management, 8: 223-231.
Cintron, G. and Y.S. Novelli (1984) Methods for studying mangrove structure. In: S.C. Snedaker and J.G. Snedaker, eds., The
Mangrove Ecosystem: Research Methods, 91-113, UNESCO.
D’Alpaos, A., S. Lanzoni, A. Rinaldo and M. Marani (2009)
Intertidal eco-geomorphological dynamics and hydrodynamic
circulation. In: G.M.E. Perillo, E. Wolanski, D.R. Cahoon and
M.M. Brinson, eds., Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem
Approach, 159-184, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Dyer, K.R., W.K. Gong and J.E. Ong (1992) The cross sectionalsalt balance in a tropical estuary during a lunar tide and a discharge event. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 34: 579-591.
Furukawa, K. (2008) An environment shielded by a coral reef: caseof a coastal ecosystem. Bulletin on Coastal Oceanography, 46:
41-46. (in Japanese)
Hong, P.N. (2006) The role of mangrove and coral reef ecosystems
in natural disaster mitigation and coastal life improvement,
Agricultural Publishing House, Hanoi.
Lugo, A.E., S. Brown and M.M. Brinson (1988) Forested wetlands
in fresh-water and salt-water environments. Limnology andOceanography, 33: 894-909.
Massel, S.R., K. Furukawa and R.M. Brinkman (1999) Surface
wave propagation in mangrove forests. Fluid Dynamics
Research, 24: 219-249.
Mazda, Y. (2011) Environmental Physics in Mangroves. Tokai
University Press, Hatano. (in Japanese)
Mazda, Y. and Y. Ikeda (2006) Behavior of the groundwater in ariverine-type mangrove forest. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 14: 477-488.
Mazda, Y., H. Yokochi and Y. Sato (1990a) Groundwater flow in
the Bashita-Minato mangrove area, and its influence on waterand bottom mud properties. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 31: 621-638.
Mazda, Y., Y. Sato, S. Sawamoto, H. Yokochi and E. Wolanski(1990b) Links between physical, chemical and biological processes in Bashita-Minato, a mangrove swamp in Japan. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 31: 817-833.
Mazda, Y., N. Kanazawa and E. Wolanski (1995) Tidal asymmetry
in mangrove creeks. Hydrobiologia, 295: 51-58.
Mazda, Y., M. Magi, M. Kogo and P.N. Hong (1997) Mangroves asa coastal protection from waves in the Tong King delta, Vietnam.
Mangroves and Salt Marshes, 1: 127-135.
Mazda, Y., D. Kobashi and S. Okada (2005) Tidal-scale hydrodynamics within mangrove swamps. Wetlands Ecology andManagement, 13: 647-655.
Mazda, Y., E. Wolanski and P.V. Ridd (2007a) The Role of PhysicalProcesses in Mangrove Environments, TERRAPUB, Tokyo.
<http://www.terrapub.co.jp/e-library/matsuda/index.html>
Mazda, Y., F. Parish, F. Danielsen and F. Imamura (2007b)
Hydraulic functions of mangroves in relation to tsunamis. Mangrove Science, 4.5: 57-67.
Nihei, Y., K. Sato, Y. Aoki, T. Nishimura and K. Nadaoka (2004)
An application of a nesting procedure to a highly-resolved current simulation in a mangrove area. APAC2003, CD-ROM, 1-8.
Perillo, G.M.E., E. Wolanski, D.R. Cahoon and M.M. Brinson(2009) Coastal Wetlands. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Ridd, P.V. and T. Stieglitz (2002) Dry season salinity changes intropical mangrove and salt flat fringed estuaries. Estuarine,
Coastal and Shelf Science, 54: 1039-1049.
Ridd, P., E. Wolanski and Y. Mazda (1990) Longitudinal diffusion
in mangrove fringed tidal creeks. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf
Science, 31: 541-554.
Ridd, P.V., R. Sam, S. Hollins and G. Brunkskill (1997) Water, salt
and nutrient fluxes of tropical tidal salt flats. Mangroves and Salt
Marshes, 1: 229-238.
Ridd, P.V., T. Stieglitz and P. Larcombe (1998) Density-driven
secondary circulation in a tropical mangrove estuary, Estuarine,

Coastal and Shelf Science, 47: 621-632
Stieglitz, T., P.V. Ridd and P. Muller (2000) Passive irrigation andfunctional morphology of crustacean burrows in a tropicalmangrove swamps. Hydrobiologia, 421: 69-76.
Susilo, A. and P.V. Ridd (2005) The bulk hydraulic conductivity ofmangrove soil perforated with animal burrows. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 13: 123-133.
Twilley, R.R., A.E. Lugo and C. Patterson-Zucca (1986) Litter
production and turnover in basin mangrove forests in southwest
Florida. Ecology, 67: 670-683.
Uncles, R.J., J.E. Ong and W.K. Gong (1990) Observations andAnalysis of a stratification-destratification event in a tropicalestuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 31: 651-665.
Watson, J.G. (1928) Mangrove forests of the Malay Peninsula.
Malayan Forest Records No.6, Forest Department, Federated
Malay States, Kuala Lumpur.
Wattayakorn, G., T. Ayukai and P. Sojisuporn (2000) Materialtransport and biogeochemical processes in Sawi Bay, southern
Thailand. In: B.E. Brown and P. Limpsaichol, eds., Carbon
Cycling in a Tropical Coastal Ecosystem, Sawi Bay, southern
Thailand, 22, 63-77, Phuket Marine Biological Center Special
Publication.
Wolanski, E. (1992) Hydrodynamics of mangrove swamps andtheir coastal waters. Hydrobiologia, 247: 141-161.
Wolanski, E. (2006) The application of ecohydrology for sustainable development and management of mangrove-dominatedestuaries. The ICEMAN 2006 Mangrove Conference in Kuala
Lumpur.
Wolanski, E. and P.V. Ridd (1986) Tidal mixing and trapping inmangrove swamps. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 23:759-771.
Wolanski, E., M. Jones and J.S. Bunt (1980) Hydrodynamics of atidal creek-mangrove swamp system. Aust. J. Mar. FreshwaterRes., 31: 431-450.
Wolanski, E., Y. Mazda, B. King and S. Gay (1990) Dynamics,
flushing and trapping in Hinchinbrook Channel, a giant mangrove swamp, Australia. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science,
31:, 555-579.
Woodroffe, C.D. (1985a) Studies of a mangrove basin, Tuff Crater,
New Zealand: II. Comparison of volumetric and velocity-area
methods of estimating tidal flux. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf
Science, 20: 431-445.
Woodroffe, C.D. (1985b) Studies of a mangrove basin, Tuff Crater,
New Zealand: III. The flux of organic and inorganic particulatematter. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 20: 447-461.
Yagi, A., T. Miyagi and P.N. Hong (2007) A mathematical model
for mangrove geo-ecosystem focusing on interactions between
trees and soils. Annual Report of FY 2005, Core University
Program between JSPS and NCST, Fujita Laboratory, Graduate
School of Engineering, 285-288, Osaka University .

Yoshihiro MAZDA
Yoshihiro MAZDA is a Professor Emeritus at
Tokai University and Vice-President of the Japan
Society for Mangroves. He has elucidated physical processes affecting mangrove forests, particularly hydrodynamics such as tidal flow, sea
waves and material dispersion supporting
mangrove ecosystems, through field work in
Southeast Asia, Australia, Middle America and Iriomote Island(Received 2 December 2012, Accepted 25 June 2013)