Mangrove ecosystems are being increasingly threatened by human activities. Their biotic productivity supplies food and other resources to the human populations that inhabit or make use of them. This volume highlights the results of a ten-year German / Brazilian research project, called MADAM, in one of the largest continuous mangrove areas of the world, located in northern Brazil. Based on the analysis of the ecosystem dynamics, management strategies for the conversation and sustainable use of mangroves are presented and discussed. Beyond the scientific results, this book also provides guidelines for the development of international cooperation projects.

Inhalt
The Need for a Holistic Approach in Mangrove Research and Management.- MADAM, Concept and Reality.- Geography and Biogeochemistry.- The Geography of the Bragança Coastal Region.- Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction.- The Biogeochemistry of the Caeté Mangrove-Shelf System.- Floristic and Faunistic Studies in Mangroves.- Mangrove Vegetation of the Caeté Estuary.- Mangrove Infauna and Sessile Epifauna.- Dynamics in the Mangrove System.- Drivers of Temporal Changes in Mangrove Vegetation Boundaries and Consequences for Land Use.- System Processes and Forest Development.- Synoptic Analysis of Mangroves for Coastal Zone Management.- Ecology and Fishery of Fin-Fish in the Mangrove System.- Distribution Pattern of Fish in a Mangrove Estuary.- Dynamics in Mangrove Fish Assemblages on a Macrotidal Coast.- An Evaluation of the Larval Fish Assemblage in a North Brazilian Mangrove Area.- Molecular Phylogenetic and Population Genetic Structuring of Macrodon sp., a Coastal and Estuarine Fish of the Western Atlantic Ocean.- Fisheries and Management.- Ecology and Fishery of Mangrove Crabs.- The Brachyuran Crab Community of the Caeté Estuary, North Brazil: Species Richness, Zonation and Abundance.- Feeding Ecology and Ecological Role of North Brazilian Mangrove Crabs.- Comparative Population Dynamics and Life Histories of North Brazilian Mangrove Crabs, Genera Uca and Ucides (Ocypodoidea).- Artisanal Fishery of the Mangrove Crab Ucides cordatus (Ucididae) and First Steps Toward a Successful Co-Management in Bragança, North Brazil.- Simulating Ucides cordatus Population Recovery on Fished Grounds.- Mangroves and People.- Mangroves and People: A Social-Ecological System.- Data Synthesis and Assessment Tools.- The Mangrove Information System MAIS: Managing and IntegratingInterdisciplinary Research Data.- Coastal Zone Management Tool: A GIS-Based Vulnerability Assessment to Natural Hazards.- Closing Remarks.- Epilog.