Mangrove Swamps

By: Jessica Lopez & Sara Villalba

Map of Mangrove Swamps

Location of Mangrove Swamps

Mangrove Swamps are usually located or found along muddy estuaries of large rivers, and in sheltered intertidal coastal settings that include lagoons, bays, tidal creeks and inlets. They are also found along tropical seacoasts on both sides of the equator.

Physical Characteristics Salinity

The water in a mangrove swamp is so salty it would kill most plants but the roots of red mangroves contain a waxy substance that helps keep salt out.

Temperature Tidal Mangrove Swamps are found to grow best in

temperatures 19°C (66°F) or higher. If the temperature fluctuates more than 10 degrees Celsius in a short period of time the mangroves can’t survive either. There precipitation averages annually about 4.5 meters. During the rainy season when most of the rain falls the salinity decreases greatly because the rain washes it away.

Depth The water can exceed one diameter in depth.

Organisms found In Mangrove Swamps

Animals Saltwater Crocodiles Jabirus Water Buffalos Flamingos Sea snakes Flying fox Fiddler Crabs Great Egret Mangrove Monitor Mudskipper Swamp Wallaby Bees Roseate Spoonbill

Plants Black Mangrove Red Mangrove White Mangrove Sea Oat Melaleuca Reeds Saltbush Ferns Hibiscus

Mangrove Swamp Food Web

Interesting Facts

Ferns were growing on Earth for two hundred million years before the flowering plants evolved.

Male Fiddler crab have one claw larger than the other and they use it to court females. If the larger claw is lost, the remaining smaller claw will grow larger and the lost claw re-grows as the smaller one. They also can’t swim.

The Jabirus are one of the largest birds in the New World. They stands 5 feet tall and has a wingspan of 8 feet.