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Mangrove Swamp

Range

In the U.S. they are found along the coast from southwestern Florida, in the Everglades,up all along the Gulf of Mexico coast around to Texas. Mangroves can live in both fresh

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and salt water. They are also found in the coastal tropics of Africa, Asia, Australia andSouth America.

Habitat Description

Mangrove swamps are found along the coasts in tropical and subtropical locations. Theplants there have to be able to live in salty water. This is called halophytic, which meanssalt-loving. Because mangroves often line estuaries, where freshwater rivers flow intothe ocean, the water is often brackish a mix of fresh and salt water. As the water risesand falls every day with the changing tides, the saltiness (salinity) also changes.Because of this the mangroves have to be adapted to the changing salinity. Their leaveshave specially adapted glands that give off (secrete) the salt they take in plus a waxycovering (cuticle) that keeps their own water from being lost. This allows them to live ina salty environment without drying out.

Mangroves are threatened by habitat destruction as they were once cleared for beach

front development. Their loss is marked by increased erosion, animal species loss, andincreased storm damage and it is now illegal in Florida to cut down a mangrove tree.

Animals Found in This Habitat

Mangrove swamps are rich habitats full of animals like the snowy egret, whiteibis, brown pelican , frigatebirds, cormorants, mangrove cuckoos, herons , manatees , monkeys, turtles, lizards like anoles , red-tailed hawks , eagles , sea turtles , Americanalligators and crocodiles . The mangrove roots house smaller animals likethe mangrove tree crab , spotted mangrove crab, snails , barnacles , oysters,mussels, anemones , and sponges. Because they have thick vegetation for hiding andare rich in organic matter (dropped leaves, buds, seeds, bark, etc.) which provides food,they act as a nursery habitat for many species of larval shrimps and crabs. Many speciesof fish also feed there including: bonefish, tarpon, sheepshead, jacks, snappers, gar,mullet and moles. Other invertebrates (no backbone) are also found there like worms,protozoa, bacteria. The bacteria in mangroves are very important, acting asdecomposers and breaking down organic matter making it is available to the food web.

Plants Found in This Habitat

There is not a lot of plant diversity (number of species) in mangrove swamps. There arethree kinds of mangroves: black, red and white.

The most common species of mangrove found in the inland swamps is the blackmangrove . Black mangroves have roots that stick straight out of the water to reach theair. This is important for the plant, which is rooted in underwater soil where gasexchange is poor. These roots are called pneumatophores.

Red mangroves are the most common coastal mangroves. They are the mangrovesthat have the strange, arching roots called prop roots that most people think ofwhen they hear of mangroves. Prop roots grow down on the trunk of the mangrove untilthey reach the surface of the water where they will branch over and over forming a thickweb of roots. These roots do the plant's gas exchange when out of the water. They alsoprovide shelter for many animal species. The red mangroves located on the ocean side oftheir habitat are vitally important because they trap sand. This slows coastal erosion and

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builds a foundation for other plants to grow like sea grape, buttonwood, pines, ferns,black and white mangroves. Red mangroves also protect the coast from storm damageby slowing storm surges and tidal waves.

White mangroves grow further inland out of the water, so do not need arching roots or

special structures for reaching the air.

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Mangrove Adaptations

Mangrove plants live in hostile environmental conditions such as high salinity, hypoxic (oxygen deficient)waterlogged soil strata, tidal pressures, strong winds and sea waves. To cope up with such a hostile environmentmangroves exhibit highly evolved morphological and physiological adaptations to extreme conditions.

Do mangroves need salt?

The answer is no. Mangroves are facultative halophytes, i.e., the presence of salt in the environment is notnecessary for the growth of mangroves and they can grow very well in freshwater. One particular advantage togrowing in a salty environment is the lack of competition! Only a limited number of plants have investedevolutionary energy into adapting to intertidal conditions. In the optimum conditions of a tropical rainforest,diversity is great and competition fierce.

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How do Mangroves cope with salt

Coping with salt

The first line of defense for many mangroves is to prevent much of thesalt from entering by filtering it out at root level. Some species canexclude more than 90 percent of salt in seawaters (Rhizophora, Ceriops,Bruguiera species are all salt -excluders.)

Another method is t he retention of water in the leaves giving rise to leafsucculence in many species, viz., Sonneratia apetala, S. alba,Lumnitzera recemosa, Salvadora persica etc. These species showremarkably high concentration of salts stored in their tissue. To avoid thetoxic effects of salts, these plants absorb a large quantity of water for dilution of salt.

The leaves of many mangroves have special salt glands, which are among the most active salt -secretingsystems known. It is quite possible to see and/or taste the salt on the leaf surfaces of species, which choose thismethod. (Examples of salt -secretors include Avicennia, Sonneratia and Acanthus).

Fourth method of coping with salt is to concentrate it in bark or in older leaves which carry it with them whenthey drop. (Lumnitzera, Avicennia, Ceriops and Sonneratia species all use this) .

Specialized Root System in Mangroves

Specialized Root System

The major plant species forming the mangroveecosystem have aerial roots, commonly prop roots oreven stilt roots (Example: Rhizhophora spp). Stilt rootsserve, of course, to anchor the plants, but also areimportant in aeration, because the mangrove mud

tends to be anaerobic. Rhizophora spp (Red mangroves) have prop rootsdescending from the trunk and branches, providing astable support system. Other mangrove species,including the white mangroves (A. marina) obtainstability with an extensive system of shallow,underground cable roots that radiate out from thecentral trunk for a considerable distance in alldirections: pneumatophores extend from these cableroots.

Breathing Roots (Pneumatophores) : Specialvertical roots, called pneumatophores, form fromlateral roots in the mud, often projecting above soil (toa height of 20-30 cms, e.g. Avicennia, Sonneratia )permitting some oxygen to reach the oxygen-starvedsubmerged roots. Roots also can exhibit developmentof air cavities in root tissues, designs that aidoxygenation of the tissues. The density, size andnumber of pneumatophores vary per tree. They aregreen and contain chlorophyll.

Stilt roots are the main organs for breathing especiallyduring the high t ide. They are very common in many

species of Rhizophora and Avicennia (Avicenniamarina and Avicennia offficinalis). The stilt roots of

Rhizophora mucronata extend more than a meterabove the soil surface and contain many small pores(lenticels) which at low tide allow oxygen to diffuse into

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the plant and down to the underground roots by meansof open passages called aerenchyma. The lenticels arehighly hydrophobic and prevent water penetration into

the aerenchyma system during the high tide. InBrugeira and Ceriops they become hollow and

malfunctional after some stage.

Aeration occurs also through lenticels in the bark ofmangrove species, e.g., species of Rhizophora.

Reproductive Strategies of Mangroves

Reproductive Strategies:

Virtually all mangroves share two common reproductive strategies: dispersal by means of water and vivipary.

Members of the Rhizophoraceae family (Rhizophora, Bruguiera and Ceriops species) have an intriguing

viviparous method for successfully reproducing themselves. Vivipary means that the embryo developscontinuously while attached to the parent tree and during dispersal. They may grow in place, attached to theparent tree, for one to three years, reaching lengths of up to one meter, before breaking off from the parent andfalling into the water.

These seedlings (propagule) then travel in an intriguing way. In buoyant sea water they lie horizontally and movequickly. On reaching fresher (brackish) water however, they turn vertically, roots down and lead buds up, makingit easier for them to lodge in the mud at a suitable, less salty. Once lodged in the mud they quickly produceadditional roots and begin to grow.

Some other species (Avicennia and Aegiceras) also produce live seedlings but these are still contained within theseed coat when it drops from the plant. The seed of Avicennia floats until this coat drops.

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