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t it ion er f R to tres ta ay af gin plic pe1997). Furthermore, mangroves pro-vide critical nursery habitat for fish, birds, and invertebrates (Hogarth, 2007; Laegdsgaard and Johnson, 1995; Nagelkerken et al., 2001, 2002) and increase local and regional juveniles and other small animals with a calm environment to find shelter and food (De Vos, 2004; Wolanski and Ridd, 1986; Wolanski et al., 2001). The benefits of mangrove systems to fisheries have also been well docu-biomass of several commercially im-portant fish species are more than dou-ble when adult habitat is connected to mangroves(Mumbyetal.,2004,2006). Reducing mangrove habitat complex-ity would decrease the biodiversity 64 Marine Technology Society Journalthe ecological and aesthetic pitfalls of engineering projects such as groins and seawalls. Mangroves also help reduce the impact of anthropogenic nutrient pollution by assimilating inorganic nutrients from run-off and transform-ing it into rich organic material, which fuels the detrital food webs in areas that are otherwise often quite oligo-trophic (Jagtap, 1998; Ogden et al.,wave action, thus provid animals a safe place toing sessile settle, and 2003; Mumby and Hastings, 2008). Recent studies have found that thecostly nursery phase while also facilitating higher survival rates by minimizing washout, which was a key source of mortality, accounting for 20%-50 % of mortalities, depending on site. diversity (Nagelkerken et al., 2002; Dorenbosch et al., 2007). In particular, mangrove-lined sys-tems, which remain submerged even at low tide, have been shown to pro-vide an even higher level of valuable nursery habitat than fringing man-grove systems (which drain completely at low tide) (Lugendo et al., 2007). It should be noted, however, that both lined and fringing mangrove habitats will also increase water residence time, decrease current speed and reduce mented. Many studies have commen-ted on the effectiveness of seagrasses and mangroves as nursery habitats and food sources for commercially impor-tant finfish species (Dahlgren et al., 2006; Nagelkerken et al., 2000, 2001, 2002) and have stressed the impor-tance to preserve the “recruitment cor-ridors ” formed by the succession of mangrove, seagrass, and coral reef communities, as many invertebrates and fishes species undertake ontogeni