Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 5.2 Flow charts of the Gulf of Nicoya (
left
) and of the Caet´ estuary (
right
); box size is
proportional to square root of compartment biomass (except for mangrove compartment); Q-values
represent total amount of biomass entering the compartment; flows are given in gm
-2
(wet mass)
Fig. 5.3 Caet
´
estuary (
left
) and Gulf of Nicoya (
right
). Role of land crabs (
Ucides cordatus
) and
shrimps (
Penaeus
spp.) in the ecosystem and system biomass pyramid; food biomass from prey
compartments (
black bars
); food biomass to predators (
dark grey bars
); catches (
light grey bar
)
(widths of bars proportional to amounts transferred) (from Wolff 2006)
tidal regime and mangrove cover between both systems. The Gulf of Nicoya is
exposed to semidiurnal tides and an efficient daily water exchange between the
mangrove stands and the gulf and thus to a strong mangrove matter export to the
gulf water. In comparison, the mangrove forest of the Caet´ estuary is only flushed
each fortnight and the largest part of the mangrove production thus remains within
