What is a mangrove ? The fast guide

When we talk about the mangrove, it usually refers to 2 different things :

1. A tidal ecosystem which can be only found around the deltas,lagoons and river of tropical areas and islands.

Mangrove are very sensitive to the cold. The mangroves trees which develop unique adaptations to coastal environments. The trees survive to salty waters by excreting salt trough their leaves or keeping it in their tissues.

Their root systems are very shallow and exposed to the air, which allow

them to breathe in an environment frequently flooded and low in

oxygen.

Mangrove swamps are a unique ecological system that link freshwater

and oceanic waters. That’s why they host very rich diversity of animal

species.

Biology of the mangrove

The trees network is a perfect environment to host hundreds of species like mollusk, fishes and birds (heron, egrets, wild ducks,

For some species of fish, the mangrove is a nursery that protect the

juveniles before they go into the open water.

Mangroves and global warming

Mangroves constitutes a valuable tool in the fight against the warming

of our planet. The trees store high quantities of carbon in its biomass, thus

decreasing the carbon dioxide rate in the atmosphere.

For example, at equal area of rainforest, mangroves store 5 times more

carbon.

Tree species

Although there are officially more than one hundred of vegetal species

living in the mangrove, the main ones in Okinawa are :