Unpacking changes in mangrove social-ecological systems: lessons from Brazil, Zanzibar, and Vietnam

Mangroves provide multiple benefits, from carbon storage and shoreline protection to food and energy for natural resource-dependent coastal communities. However, they are coming under increasing pressure from climate change, coastal development, and aquaculture. There is increasing need to better understand the changes mangroves face and whether these changes differ or are similar in different parts of the world. Using a multiple case study approach, focused on Vietnam, Zanzibar, and Brazil, this research analyzed the drivers, pressures, states, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) of mangrove systems. A qualitative content analysis was used on a purposively sampled document set for each country to identify and collate evidence under each of the DPSIR categories. Population growth and changing political and economic processes were key drivers across the three countries, leading to land use change and declining states of mangroves. This had an impact on the delivery of regulatory and provisioning ecosystem services from mangroves and on the welfare of coastal communities. Responses have been predominantly regulatory and aim to improve mangrove states, but without always considering ecosystem services or the consequences for welfare. The issue of scale emerged as a critical factor with drivers, pressures, impacts, and responses operating at different levels (from international to local), with consequences for response effectiveness

Rehabilitation of Abandoned Shrimp Ponds through Mangrove Planting at Nakhon Si Thammarat, Southern Thailand: Investigation of a Food Chain System at a Newly Developed Mangrove Ecosystem

The complete food chain system of mangrove plantations on shrimp ponds sites were studied using the stable nitrogen (15N) and carbon isotopes (13C) to complete food chain (web) system studies of mangrove plantations. The analyzed data clearly indicates that heavy nitrogen (15N) was gradually accumulated during each stage of the food chain system and finally in large fishes. On the other hand, heavy carbon (13C) increased only slightly during each stage of the food chain system. The δ15N values for carnivores were much higher than those of herbivores and omnivores. Carnivores consume nitrogen accumulated fishes and animals as their feed sources. Finally these carnivores gradually accumulate nitrogen in protein forms in their bodies from their metabolic activities. Herbivores eat only plants, whereas omnivores consume both plants and animals (including fishes). Usually, the δ15N values of herbivores and omnivores are low. This promising data truly represents the food chain system occurring in a natural marine ecosystem. The above analyzed data suggests that carnivorous fishes are at least 4 to 5 steps from the mangrove leaves. Mangrove forests can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases acting as a carbon sink and a rich biodiversity ecosystem

Use of FT-NIR transmission spectroscopy for the quantitative analysis of an active ingredient in a translucent pharmaceutical topical gel formulation

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the use of transmission Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy for quantitative analysis of an active ingredient in a translucent gel formulation. Gels were prepared using Carbopol 980 with 0%, 1%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% ketoprofen and analyzed with an FT-NIR spectrophotometer operated in the transmission mode. The correlation coefficient of the calibration was 0.9996, and the root mean squared error of calibration was 0.0775%. The percent relative standard deviation for multiple measurements was 0.10%. The results prove that FT-NIR can be a good alternative to other, more time-consuming means of analysis for these types of formulations