However, putting research efforts into
local areas, such as mangrove forests, would concentrate available and limited funding in subjects that are more
relevant to the country’s interests. Table 4 clearly illustrates the great preference among more developed
countries to research Antarctica instead of mangrove ecosystems; the only exceptions among the top 15 countries
are China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Malaysia. These data in Table 4 confirm that the majority of these
15 countries, which are some of the most developed countries in the world and among the world’s most
productive in science and technology in general (Almeida & Guimarães, 2013), are not focusing as much
attention as they could to study the individuality of mangrove ecosystems. Advanced research by these countries
would contribute to a better understanding of the uniqueness of mangrove biodiversity and its potentially
valuable capabilities.