Leaf area index and vegetation cover of the Paripe river mangrove, Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1997 and 2017

Resumen

The leaf area index (LAI) was estimated for Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa and Avicennia schaueriana, based on the average leaf size, number of leaves in each growth apex, number of apices per plant and number of plants per hectare. Crown projection areas were also determined. The number, size and biomass of leaves per growth apex varied little among plant stem diameter classes and were higher in R. mangle than in L. racemosa and A. schaueriana. The number of apices and the crown projection area increased greatly in plants with larger stem diameters. R. mangle contributed (82%) to most of the total leaf area index (3.96), due to the combination of high plant densities, large plants, many apices and large leaves. The leaf areas corresponded to normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) from 0.68 to 0.77 in 1997 and from 0.74 to 0.80 in 2017. Therefore, contrary to many other mangroves in the world, the vegetation of the Paripe river has been relatively protected from human impact in the last twenty years.