Mangroves support an estimated annual abundance of over 700 billion juvenile fish and invertebrates

Abstract Mangroves are a critical habitat that provide a suite of ecosystem services and support livelihoods. Here we undertook a global analysis to model the density and abundance of 37 commercially important juvenile fish and juvenile and resident invertebrates that are known to extensively use mangroves, by fitting expert-identified drivers of density to fish and invertebrate density data from published field studies. The numerical model predicted high densities throughout parts of Southeast and South Asia, the northern coast of South America, the Red Sea, and the Caribbean and Central America. Application of our model globally estimates that mangroves support an annual abundance of over 700 billion juvenile fish and invertebrates. While abundance at the early life-history stage does not directly equate to potential economic or biomass gains, this estimate indicates the critical role of mangroves globally in supporting fish and fisheries, and further builds the case for their conservation and restoration.

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Publication Details

Journal
Communications Earth & Environment
Published
2025-04-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02229-w
Citations
15
Primary Topic
Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
25.74

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article

Mangroves support an estimated annual abundance of over 700 billion juvenile fish and invertebrates

Uwe Krumme, Karen Diele, Andrew F. Johnson, Jocemar Tomasino Mendonça et al.
15 citations
Communications Earth & Environment
Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
25.74
article

Mangroves support an estimated annual abundance of over 700 billion juvenile fish and invertebrates

Uwe Krumme, Karen Diele, Andrew F. Johnson, Jocemar Tomasino Mendonça, J. R. Gair, Christine M. Beitl, Marcus Sheaves, Chantal M. Huijbers, Ana Rosa da Rocha Araújo, Shing Yip Lee, Emma Garnett, Andrew D. Olds, Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen, M. Enamul Hoq, Ronald J. Baker, Ivan Nagelkerken, Rod M. Connolly, Mark Spalding, Daniel A. Friess, Kate Longley-Wood, Alejandro Acosta, Thomas A. Worthington, Patrik Rönnbäck, Farid Dahdouh‐Guebas, Rayna Benzeev, Neil Hutchinson, Matthias Wolff, Nathan J. Waltham, Jan‐Olaf Meynecke, Borja G. Reguero, Thomas Grove, Ving Ching Chong, Baraka Kuguru, Octavio Aburto‐Oropeza, Matthew D. Taylor, Blandina R. Lugendo, Jon Knight, Cosmas N. Munga, Justin D. Brookes, Kátya G. Abrantes, Patrick G. Dwyer, Marília Cunha-Lignon, Gustavo A. Castellanos‐Galindo, Cara L. Parrett, Nibedita Mukherjee, Anna Safryghin, Aaron Savio Lobo, Ross Johnson, Adam Barnett
article en
15 citations

Abstract

Abstract Mangroves are a critical habitat that provide a suite of ecosystem services and support livelihoods. Here we undertook a global analysis to model the density and abundance of 37 commercially important juvenile fish and juvenile and resident invertebrates that are known to extensively use mangroves, by fitting expert-identified drivers of density to fish and invertebrate density data from published field studies. The numerical model predicted high densities throughout parts of Southeast and South Asia, the northern coast of South America, the Red Sea, and the Caribbean and Central America. Application of our model globally estimates that mangroves support an annual abundance of over 700 billion juvenile fish and invertebrates. While abundance at the early life-history stage does not directly equate to potential economic or biomass gains, this estimate indicates the critical role of mangroves globally in supporting fish and fisheries, and further builds the case for their conservation and restoration.

Communications Earth & EnvironmentVol. 6(1)
Tulane University (US), Griffith University (AU), Uppsala University (SE), The Nature Conservancy (US), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PA), Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL), Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE), Zoological Society of London (GB), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (US), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (MY), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (US), University of the Sunshine Coast (AU), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), University of Dar es Salaam (TZ), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Universidade Federal de Sergipe (BR), University of the Witwatersrand (ZA), University of Cambridge (GB), Edinburgh Napier University (GB), Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (DE), Faraday Institute for Science and Religion (GB), Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (DE), Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BD), New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (AU), Dauphin Island Sea Lab (US), Technical University of Mombasa (KE), Heriot-Watt University (GB), University of Malaya (MY), Swansea University (GB), University of Oxford (GB), Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TZ), The Nature Conservancy (CO), Seafish (GB), James Cook University Singapore (SG), Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE), Instituto de Pesca (BR), Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (DE), Department of Fisheries (ZM), Conservation Leadership Programme (GB), Wildlife Conservation Society India (IN), Instituto de Pesquisas Cananéia (BR), The University of Adelaide (AU), Brunel University of London (GB), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), University of Maine (US), University of South Alabama (US), James Cook University (AU), University of California, Berkeley (US), University of Edinburgh (GB)
Lyda Hill Foundation, Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics
25.74
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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