Most mangrove forests in China consist of shrubs with high canopy density (canopy density refers to the proportion of forest area that is covered by the canopy, see Miu et al., 1998). Small-stature stands (height 1.9 m) accounted for 68.8% of the total mangrove forests while large- stature stands (height 10.0 m) accounted for only 0.16% (Fig. 2a)
and are only distributed in Hainan province. Mangroves with a canopy density of 0.7e1.0 and 0.2e0.39 occupied 68.0% and