According to the World Mangrove Atlas, this ecosystem represents 8% of the world's coastline and one quarter of the tropical coastal zone shoreline, embracing 181,077 km². The aim of this work is to map and to quantify the extension of macrotidal mangroves along the northeastern Pará and northwestern Maranhão coasts, here named as Amazon Macrotidal Mangrove Coast (AMMC). The identification of mangrove areas and their quantification were carried out using Landsat-7 ETM+ images acquired in 1999 and 2000 and a geographic information system (GIS). The integration of remote sensing data, geological and oceanographic data allowed the recognition of five geomorphologic sectors, representing a total mangroves area of 7.591 km². This area represents the largest continuous mangrove belt in the world and constitutes 56,6% of mangroves in Brazil. Prioritary measures for Amazon mangrove conservation must be taken and research to enhance understanding of this complex and important ecosystem must be supported and developed.
mangroves; area estimative; remote sensing; Amazon
