The lagoon of Coyuca de Benitez, Guerrero, Mexico - Ofelia Castañeda López - Bog

The importance of coastal ecosystems lies in the fact that they are considered one of the most productive systems on the planet in terms of primary productivity and high nutrient content, compared to other terrestrial environments, such as tropical rainforests and agricultural crops. One of the main components of these ecosystems are mangrove forests, whose ecological functions include the conversion of nutrients from organic matter, which represent an indispensable source for maintaining the productivity of coastal fisheries. Mangroves also function as traps for various types of contaminants, such as municipal organic waste, industrial waste, agricultural waste, and chemical substances from agricultural activities. For this reason, coastal ecosystems play a key role in maintaining the essential ecological cycles of coastal water quality, and their high productivity maintains a rich and complex food chain, which, in turn, characterizes the high fishery production in the country's lagoon systems.