ABSTRACT
Background Mangrove forests fulll a number of well-documented and essential ecological functions in tropical and subtropical regions. ey generate a variety of natural resources and ecosystem services that are vital to subsistence economies and
sustain local and national economies [e.g., [1-6]]. Mangroves provide breeding, spawning, hatching and nursery grounds for both coastal and oshore sh and shellsh stocks [3,7-13]. ey also serve as a physical buer between marine and terrestrial communities [e.g., [14-17]]. For local peoples, mangrove supply wood and products are harvested directly within the mangrove forest. Rapid population growth and increase utilization of mangrove habitats threatens these communities. Developing sustainable management policies that also consider the subsistence requirements of local people, is a high priority (e.g., [18,19]), particularly in India. Socio-economic or socio-ecological studies on mangroves are becoming more and more used [e.g., [20]]. However, so far, few ethnobiological surveys in mangroves have been conducted, in particularly for the general documentation of mangrove ethnobiology [e.g., [2,4,21]], the retrospective study of ecosystem changes (e.g., [22-24]), and for the investigation of management issues prior to the adoption of a particular policy [e.g. [25-27]. e same is true for the ethnobiological aspects of the seagrass (28) and coral reef ecosystems (29), which are often adjacent to mangroves.
