The Mangrove Forrest       
February 5th, 2009 by Cyrus

MANGROVE JOURNAL

Brackish water, mangroves all around. Mud under foot. Crabs scuttle away as I wade towards them. “Click.”  A picture taken.

Stilt-like roots rise out of water. Squish, squish, rise out of water. Hundreds of centimeter long crabs dart into their sand caves. “Click.” Another picture taken.

Light shines through the roots, and leaves snake like shadows. “Swish.” A small hawk glides overhead. “Flash.” Picture taken.

 I wade upstream. Leaves and twigs drift by. “Click.” A picture taken of small shrimp. “Swish.” A Fish swims by. A yellow leaf reminds me of fall. As I climb up a sand bar, a snake like fish darts upstream. I follow it to find I cannot reach. Float downstream. “Ow!” Deerflies bite. I sink into water.

Crabs scuttle away. “Crash!” An ocean wave breaks. Music plays from beach barraca. I rise out of brown water and think of my adventure.

MANGROVES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

While most trees would die within hours in the choking saltwater of the sea, mangrove trees thrive there. Mangroves help the environment and people by blocking tsunamis, creating land, helping poverty, providing habitat for fish, absorbing carbon from the air, and filtering pollution from the water. Unfortunately, mangroves forests are one of the most threatened biomes in the world.

The earliest species of mangroves are thought to have originated in Southeast Asia. Mangrove trees’ seeds can float over water. The seeds sprout in the mangrove tree then drop into the water. Sometimes they are swept out by the tide. The seeds can travel in the water for days, weeks, months, or even a year. Mangrove seeds float horizontally. When mangrove seeds get to a sustainable habitat (they need nitrogen, phosphorus and iron) the seeds change their density so that they are vertical. If the habitat is not sustainable, the seeds can change their density and float to another place. Mangrove forests are in the warm waters of tropical oceans all over the world. Along the Atlantic coast, on both the eastern and western coasts of Africa, they stretch into India, Burma, and Southeast Asia. They are also common in New Zealand and Australia. 27% of mangroves are in Southeast Asia. Brazil has 15% of the world’s mangroves.

While most trees would die in saltwater within hours, mangroves filter saltwater through their roots. The salt goes to the tree’s leaves which are shed once in a while. Some species of mangrove trees force the salt through their leaves. Mangroves’ roots also serve as stilts by keeping the mangrove’s trunk, branches, and leaves out of the water. The roots also hold back sediment such as leaves, mud, soil, branches, etc. People in Bangladesh planted mangrove trees and Bangladesh gained 300,000 acres of land.

Mangrove swamps provide habitat for shrimp, crabs, prawns, shellfish, snails, birds, crab-eating monkeys, fishing cats, lizards, sea turtles, tigers, and deer. Mudskippers are a type of fish that are adapted to mangrove forests. Mudskippers can jump from pool to pool when the tide goes down.

People in Eritrea planted mangroves in the Red Sea. The Eritreans used the mangrove tree leaves to feed the livestock. Mangroves also house mullet which attract bigger, predatory fish for the fishermen to catch and sell (this helps poverty). 75% of our commercial fish need mangrove wetlands as habitat to protect them from larger fish when they are small. Mangroves help the world by taking in carbon, 100 pounds per acre per day in fact.

Sadly, mangrove forests are being destroyed. They are being destroyed by shrimp farming (the #1 cause), real estate (such as high rise hotels, ports etc.), deforestation for wood (mangrove wood is very fine), and many other things. Many communities have realized how important mangroves are to the overall environment, and are replanting mangrove trees.