Low Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is a climate barrier because it may inhibit and reduce seedling growth of mangrove propagules upon dispersal through seawater. Our objective is to analyze the spatio-temporal series of daily SST data from the Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution (MUR)-SST in order to identify the occurrence of chilling events for mangrove plants at the Eastern South America mangrove limit and beyond. We focus our study on three key sites: (i) the Rhizophora mangle L. distribution limit (Praia do Sonho: 27°53′S), (ii) the Eastern South America mangrove limit (Laguna: 28°30′S) and (iii) one beyond mangrove areas, in Araranguá (28°55′S). Our results show that, in Araranguá, chilling events are more intense and occur more frequently than in the other two sites that have a mangrove cover. We conclude that, the chilling events of SST may play a role in restricting mangroves within their actual limits. In this sense, higher occurrences of chilling events of SST could be an explanation for the absence of R. mangle in Laguna. However, Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C.F. Gaertn. was reported to be tolerant to low temperatures, and yet it is absent from the southernmost study site. This may be an indication of the role of other factors than SST in determining a mangrove range expansion, such as dispersal constraints.

Archive records such as maps, journals, books, sketches, cadastre and notarial documents have been underutilised in describing past and present changes in ecological systems, such as mangrove forests. Historical records can be invaluable information sources for baseline establishment, to undertake long-term study on mangrove dynamics and enhance the historical land cover and land-use dynamics of a country. In this study, we explore these untapped information reservoirs, used complementarily with remote sensing techniques, to explain the dynamics of the mangrove systems in Peninsular Malaysia. The archives in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Singapore were explored and mined for related information on the mangrove systems in Peninsular Malaysia from past centuries. Most historical records found in this study were used to validate the mangrove presence in Peninsular Malaysia since 1853 while two records from 1944 and 1954 were used to quantify the mangrove cover extent. A significant finding of this study was the oldest record found in 1853 that attested to the presence of a mangrove system on the mainland Penang of Peninsular Malaysia which was not identified again as such in records post-1853. Remote sensing data, specifically Landsat images, were used to determine the mangrove extent in Peninsular Malaysia for the years 1988, 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2018. By complementing the historical records with remote sensing information, we were able to validate the mangrove presence in Peninsular Malaysia since 1853 and determine the gain/loss of mangrove systems over the last 74 years. Peninsular Malaysia has lost over 400 km² of mangrove forests, equivalent to 31% of its original extent between 1944 and 2018. This is a significant loss for Peninsular Malaysia which has less than 1% mangrove cover of its total land area presently.

Biodiversity is under threat from anthropogenic pressures, in particular in biodiversity-rich developing countries. Development cooperation actors, who traditionally focus on the improvement of socio-economic conditions in the South, are increasingly acknowledging the linkages between poverty and biodiversity, e.g. by referring to the ecosystem services framework. However, there are many different framings which stress the need for biodiversity integration and which influence how biodiversity and development are and/or should be linked. Moreover, there is a gap between the lip service paid to biodiversity integration and the reality of development cooperation interventions. This study analyses how biodiversity framings are reflected in environmental impact assessment (EIA) practice, and how these framings influence EIA and decision-making. The findings, based on an in-depth qualitative analysis of World Bank EIAs undertaken in West Africa, indicate the incoherent quality but also the dominance of the ‘utilitarian’ and ‘corrective’ framings, which respectively stress human use of nature and mitigation of negative unintended development impacts. Identifying and highlighting these discursive trends leads to increased awareness of the importance of biodiversity among all development actors in North and South. However, some framings may lead to an overly narrow human-centred approach which downplays the intrinsic value of biodiversity. This study proposes recommendations for an improved integration of biodiversity in development cooperation, including the need for more systematic baseline studies in EIAs.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe