20-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast Brazil
Brazilian mangroves cover about 11,100 km2 and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Despite their importance, they are one of the most impacted ecosystems because of combined influences of climate change, pollution, and direct conversion and loss. A major driver of environmental impacts is sh...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-04-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.653096/full |
| _version_ | 1818716230884786176 |
|---|---|
| author | Luiz Drude de Lacerda Raymond D. Ward Raymond D. Ward Mario Duarte Pinto Godoy Antônio Jeovah de Andrade Meireles Rebecca Borges Alexander Cesar Ferreira |
| author_facet | Luiz Drude de Lacerda Raymond D. Ward Raymond D. Ward Mario Duarte Pinto Godoy Antônio Jeovah de Andrade Meireles Rebecca Borges Alexander Cesar Ferreira |
| author_sort | Luiz Drude de Lacerda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Brazilian mangroves cover about 11,100 km2 and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Despite their importance, they are one of the most impacted ecosystems because of combined influences of climate change, pollution, and direct conversion and loss. A major driver of environmental impacts is shrimp farming and this is particularly acute in the semi-arid northeast of Brazil, where mangroves are constrained in a narrow band along ephemeral estuaries that are often impacted by multi-year droughts. Recent changes to Brazilian law, in particular the Forest Code, have weakened protection for mangroves and associated “apicum” (salt pan) ecosystems. In NE Brazil, most shrimp ponds are converted from mangrove-adjacent “apicuns” rather than the mangroves themselves with periodic hydrological connectivity through dammed channels, allowing the flushing of effluents. As a result, the main impacts on mangroves are typically indirect, because of pollution inputs from shrimp pond effluents and associated loss of ecosystem services including reductions in primary productivity, carbon storage capacity, resilience to other environmental stressors, their efficiency as estuarine filters, and biodiversity and abundance of subsistence use of marine species. Soil damage and infrastructure remaining after shrimp pond deactivation impairs mangrove recovery. This extends the duration of the damage and allows the occupation of degraded areas by other activities that can permanently impair ecosystem function. In this review, we address several aspects of the shrimp culture boom in NE Brazilian, their features and consequences, and the future of mangroves in the region considering climate change and rising poverty. Our conclusions on the practices and outcomes of shrimp farming in mangroves are likely to apply to areas with similar environmental settings, e.g., semiarid regions worldwide, and particularly in the Latin America and Caribbean region, and our findings can be taken into account to improve conservation and management of these forests at the least to a regional scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T19:15:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d35eff403891407c8c8fb2a6504aebff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-893X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T19:15:58Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |
| spelling | doaj.art-d35eff403891407c8c8fb2a6504aebff2022-12-21T21:35:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Forests and Global Change2624-893X2021-04-01410.3389/ffgc.2021.65309665309620-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast BrazilLuiz Drude de Lacerda0Raymond D. Ward1Raymond D. Ward2Mario Duarte Pinto Godoy3Antônio Jeovah de Andrade Meireles4Rebecca Borges5Alexander Cesar Ferreira6Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, BrazilCentre for Aquatic Environments, University of Brighton, Brighton, United KingdomInstitute of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, EstoniaInstituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, BrazilDepartamento de Geografia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, BrazilLeibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, ZMT, Bremen, GermanyInstituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, BrazilBrazilian mangroves cover about 11,100 km2 and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Despite their importance, they are one of the most impacted ecosystems because of combined influences of climate change, pollution, and direct conversion and loss. A major driver of environmental impacts is shrimp farming and this is particularly acute in the semi-arid northeast of Brazil, where mangroves are constrained in a narrow band along ephemeral estuaries that are often impacted by multi-year droughts. Recent changes to Brazilian law, in particular the Forest Code, have weakened protection for mangroves and associated “apicum” (salt pan) ecosystems. In NE Brazil, most shrimp ponds are converted from mangrove-adjacent “apicuns” rather than the mangroves themselves with periodic hydrological connectivity through dammed channels, allowing the flushing of effluents. As a result, the main impacts on mangroves are typically indirect, because of pollution inputs from shrimp pond effluents and associated loss of ecosystem services including reductions in primary productivity, carbon storage capacity, resilience to other environmental stressors, their efficiency as estuarine filters, and biodiversity and abundance of subsistence use of marine species. Soil damage and infrastructure remaining after shrimp pond deactivation impairs mangrove recovery. This extends the duration of the damage and allows the occupation of degraded areas by other activities that can permanently impair ecosystem function. In this review, we address several aspects of the shrimp culture boom in NE Brazilian, their features and consequences, and the future of mangroves in the region considering climate change and rising poverty. Our conclusions on the practices and outcomes of shrimp farming in mangroves are likely to apply to areas with similar environmental settings, e.g., semiarid regions worldwide, and particularly in the Latin America and Caribbean region, and our findings can be taken into account to improve conservation and management of these forests at the least to a regional scale.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.653096/fullaquacultureeutrophicationdeforestationhuman impactsnutrientsblue carbon |
| spellingShingle | Luiz Drude de Lacerda Raymond D. Ward Raymond D. Ward Mario Duarte Pinto Godoy Antônio Jeovah de Andrade Meireles Rebecca Borges Alexander Cesar Ferreira 20-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast Brazil Frontiers in Forests and Global Change aquaculture eutrophication deforestation human impacts nutrients blue carbon |
| title | 20-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast Brazil |
| title_full | 20-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast Brazil |
| title_fullStr | 20-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | 20-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast Brazil |
| title_short | 20-Years Cumulative Impact From Shrimp Farming on Mangroves of Northeast Brazil |
| title_sort | 20 years cumulative impact from shrimp farming on mangroves of northeast brazil |
| topic | aquaculture eutrophication deforestation human impacts nutrients blue carbon |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.653096/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT luizdrudedelacerda 20yearscumulativeimpactfromshrimpfarmingonmangrovesofnortheastbrazil AT raymonddward 20yearscumulativeimpactfromshrimpfarmingonmangrovesofnortheastbrazil AT raymonddward 20yearscumulativeimpactfromshrimpfarmingonmangrovesofnortheastbrazil AT marioduartepintogodoy 20yearscumulativeimpactfromshrimpfarmingonmangrovesofnortheastbrazil AT antoniojeovahdeandrademeireles 20yearscumulativeimpactfromshrimpfarmingonmangrovesofnortheastbrazil AT rebeccaborges 20yearscumulativeimpactfromshrimpfarmingonmangrovesofnortheastbrazil AT alexandercesarferreira 20yearscumulativeimpactfromshrimpfarmingonmangrovesofnortheastbrazil |