Mangroves in the Bragança peninsula occur in a variety of environmental settings differing in tidal influence and fresh water run-off. The construction of a paved road running through the middle of the peninsula modified the transversal flow of water. Five sites were sampled along this road: I. Coastal site near the village of Ajuruteua, II. Tidal creeks flowing into the lower Caeté river, III. Central lagoons, IV. Avicennia basin forest, and V. Upper Caeté estuary near the village of Acarajó. All but site III, harbored the three common mangroves species Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa and Avicennia germinans. Monospecific communities of shrub-like Avicennia germinans stands characterized site III. Soils were highly organic therefore bulk density was inversely correlated to the concentrations of C and N. Sites I and V had the lowest salinity values. The highest salinity was measured in the Avicennia dominated sites III and IV. Nitrogen showed similar values in all sites, but S was clearly more abundant in sites II and V. Leaf dimensions varied significantly between sites. Considering leaf area expansion as indicator of stress and δ13C values as indicator of water use efficiency, site V was more favorable for Rhizophora and Laguncularia while site IV was so for Avicennia. Leaf shape measured as the length/width ratio was more variable in Avicennia and least variable in Rhizophora. Leaf nutrients were not correlated with soil nutrient content. Sodium and Mg were more concentrated in Avicennia leaves while Fe was more concentrated in Laguncularia and Mn in Rhizophora leaves. Avicennia showed the highest N and the lowest Ca concentrations as expected for being a glycinbetaine accumulator and an oxalate-former. δ15N values indicate that N source for mangroves is essentially the mineralization of organic matter.