Abstract
The mangroves of Japan are at the northern limit of their distribution in the Indo-Pacific region; Kamino River of Hioki City (31°37′N) may in fact be the northernmost limit of mangroves in the world. Mangroves are found only in two southern prefectures, namely, Kagoshima and Okinawa. The total area of mangroves in Japan is 870 ha, less than 0.01% of the country’s total forest area, but they are protected and increasing in area and important for tourism.
Eleven mangrove species occur in Okinawa Prefecture and four species occur in Kagoshima Prefecture. In the first case study, the contents of mineral nutrients in mangrove rivers and in the leaves of Bruguiera gymnorhiza and Rhizophora stylosa, on Ishigaki and Iriomote Islands, were measured. The second case study describes the faunal, distributional, and ecological features of decapod crustaceans inhabiting mangrove environments in Japan. Tourism and beach cleaning activities on Iriomote Island are components of the third case study.
Note: General Description was written by Nozomi Oshiro, Mio Kezuka and Mami Kainuma; Case study on mineral nutrients in the leaves of two mangrove species was by Tomomi Inoue, Ayato Kohzu, Yasuaki Akaji, Shingo Miura and Shigeyuki Baba; Case study on decapod crustaceans inhabiting mangrove ecosystems was by Tohru Naruse; Case study on tourism and beach cleaning on Iriomote Island was by Nozomi Oshiro, Mio Kezuka and Harumi Tokuoka.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Prof. Thammineni Pullaiah of Sri Krishnadevaraya University, India, for his kind invitation to write this chapter. The authors extend their appreciation to Dr. Hung Tuck Chan for his careful reading, useful comments, and encouraging support in compiling and finalizing the chapter. The authors also wish to thank Mr. Shunichi Inaba for his kind support during the mangrove survey in Kagoshima Prefecture and to many others for their generous support.
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Inoue, T. et al. (2022). Mangroves of Japan. In: Das, S.C., Pullaiah, Ashton, E.C. (eds) Mangroves: Biodiversity, Livelihoods and Conservation . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0519-3_18
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