The mangroves of the Rufiji Delta are an important habitat and resource. The mangrove forest reserve is home to an indigenous population and has been under pressure from an influx of migrants from the landward side of the delta. Timely and effective forest management is needed to preserve the delta and mangrove forest. Here, we investigate the potential of polarimetric target decomposition for mangrove forest monitoring and analysis. Using three ALOS PALSAR images, we show that L-band polarimetry is capable of mapping mangrove dynamics and is sensitive to stand structure and the hydro-geomorphology of stands. Entropy-alpha-anisotropy and incoherent target decompositions provided valuable measures of scattering behavior related to forest structure. Little difference was found between Yamaguchi and Arii decompositions, despite the conceptual differences between these models. Using these models, we were able to differentiate the scattering behavior of the four main species found in the delta, though classification was impractical due to the lack of pure stands. Scattering differences related to season were attributed primarily to differences in ground moisture or inundation. This is the first time mangrove species have been identified by their scattering behavior in L-band polarimetric data. These results suggest higher resolution L-band quad-polarized imagery, such as from PALSAR-2, may be a powerful tool for mangrove species mapping.Swedish International Development Agency European Space Agency and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency