A Case Study on the Diversity of the Mangrove Ecosystem in Shenzhen Dongchong, Southern China

The mangrove ecosystems can provide important ecological services, and studies on the mangroves are of great meaningful, and its researches are increasing. It is crucial to study the diversity of mangroves because it's the basis of the assessment and planning for the mangrove ecosystems. The mangrove ecosystem in Shenzhen Dongchong is an important Chinese mangrove ecosystem, which have not yet been surveyed until recent days. We carried out a field investigation in the year of 2009-2011 for this region. All the landscapes and five mangrove communities were investigated during these times using Plant community investigation methods. Results showed that the area of the mangroves is about 3 hm 2 in 2009, and the mangroves in the central area of the ecosystem were protected, while other parts of the ecosystem had disturbed or degraded. The diversity of the mangrove community is low with a mean value of 0.502 in abundance and 0.564 in diversity. The native mangrove species included Excoecaria agallocha, Aegiceras corniculatum, Kandelia candel, and Clerodendrum inerme,which are the key species in this mangrove ecosystem according to their important value. The landscapes were diverse, with seven kinds of wetland landscape found, of which the colorful Excoecaria agallocha is the most typical mangrove landscape in China or even in the world. Results indicated it's necessary and important to protect and restore this mangrove ecosystem especially for its native mangrove species and the typical landscape of Excoecaria agallocha, and district planning is needed and ecological restoration projects with landscape ecological philosophy is the key point for Dongchong mangrove ecosystems.