Introduction

Abstract

Coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds are dominant features of tropical coastlines. These tropical coastal ecosystems have long been known for their high productivity, rich biodiversity, and various ecosystem services (Harborne et al. 2006). For example, coral reefs have important economic, biological, and aesthetic values; they generate about $30 billion per year in fishing, tourism, and coastal protection from storms (Stone 2007). The extent of mangroves has frequently been linked to a high productivity in adjacent coastal fisheries (Manson et al. 2005, Meynecke et al. 2008, Aburto-Oropeza et al. 2008) which can approach economic values of up to US$ 16,500 per hectare of mangrove (UNEP 2006). Nutrient cycling of raw materials by seagrass beds has been estimated to value US$ 19,000 ha -1. yr-1 (Constanza et al. 1997). © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.