Mangrove habitat and fishery resources of Florida

In the recent review of the ecology of mangroves in south Florida,mangrove forests are described as serving two distinct roles for fishpopulations (55). The first is as habitat for juvenile fish and the secondas food, either directly as decaying leaf material (detritus), or morecommonly as the source of energy for a detritus-based food web thatsupports numerous invertebrate species or small forage fish species thatare food for other fish.The role that mangroves play in supporting fishery resources varieswith location. A total of 217 species of fish have been collected frommangrove areas in south Florida, many of which are important incommercial and recreation fisheries (55).The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the fishery resourcesassociated with mangroves not only in south Florida but also in otherportions of Florida, and to discuss management alternatives important inrestoring fisheries presently exhibiting declines due in part to lost oraltered mangrove habitat (39, 41).