ORIGINAL PAPER Mangrove litter dynamics in La Mancha Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico Marco Erick Utrera-Lo´pez Patricia Moreno-Casasola Received: 20 July 2006 / Accepted: 19 April 2007 / Published online: 26 June 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract In the mangrove surrounding the coastal lagoon of La Mancha, Veracruz, Mexico, we studied litter fall, litter standing crop, and turnover rates in four different mangrove settings, based on the ecological classification of Lugo and Snedaker (1974). We studied those three prominent ecological processes at the basin, fringe and riverine mangrove settings, being the last one a relict riverine stand. The aim was to describe and compare litter dynamics among mangrove types in a lagoon with an ephem- eral inlet, as a way of understanding functional heterogeneity within this coastal ecosystem. The daily average values of litter fall were different (P < 0.01) among mangrove site basin I, formed by Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle (2.35 g/ m 2 /day); basin II, formed by Laguncularia racemosa, Avicennia germinans, and Rhizophora mangle (2.93 g/m 2 /day); fringe with Rhizophora mangle (2.13 g/m 2 /day); and relic riverine, also with R. mangle (4.70 g/m 2 /day). The amount of litter standing crop was different among sites (P < 0.001), and also between the dry and rainy season, for each mangrove type (P < 0.001). Turnover ratios were higher in basin I and basin II sites (6.34 and 7.44 times per year) than in relic riverine and fringe mangroves (1.49 and 2.39 times per year). Interstitial salinity and sediment nutrients varied among man- grove types and could influence litter production. Since this lagoon has an ephemeral inlet, continuous inundation throughout 7–8 months per year has an important effect on litter dynamics. Keywords Avicennia germinans Á Gulf of Mexico Á Laguncularia racemosa Á Litter dynamics Á Mangrove function Á Rhizophora mangle Á Veracruz Á Mexico Introduction In any type of forest, leaf litter production analysis is one way of estimating primary net productivity in terms of components that have a high turnover rate (Day et al. 1988). Although it gives only a partial image of biomass production, this approach has been especially relevant to research on mangrove function, given the importance of vegetation biomass that falls from trees as a primary energy source for ground- foraging organisms and because the trophic detritus chain begins with that biomass in adjacent estuary waters (Robertson 1986, 1988; Robertson and Daniel 1989). Also, leaf litter production has an important effect on nutrient cycling in mangrove sediments. M. E. Utrera-Lo´pez (&) Á P. Moreno-Casasola Departamento de Ecologı ´a Funcional, Instituto de Ecologı ´a A.C., Km 2.5 Carretera Antigua a Coatepec, No. 351. Congregacio´n el Haya, Apartado Postal 63, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico e-mail: utrerame@hotmail.com P. Moreno-Casasola e-mail: patricia.moreno@inecol.edu.mx 123 Wetlands Ecol Manage (2008) 16:11–22 DOI 10.1007/s11273-007-9042-x