Presented by:

Ma. Theresa Montecillo

Bethel Palarion
BEED- II
What are mangroves?
Mangroves are tropical trees that thrive in
conditions most timber could never tolerate –
salty, coastal waters, and the interminable ebb
and flow of the tide. With the ability to stove vast
amounts of carbon.

Mangroves forest are key weapons in the fight

against climate change, but they are under threat
worldwide.
• Any of certain shrubs and trees that belong
primarily to the families Rhizophoraceae,
Acanthaceae, Lythraceae, Combretaceae, and
Arecaceae; that grow in dense thickets or forests
along tidal estuaries, in salt marshes, and on
muddy coasts; and characteristically have prop
roots.

• Physically, they serve as a buffer between marine

and terrestrial communities and protect
shorelines from damaging winds, waves, and
floods.
• Mangroves are facultative halophytes which
means salt water is not a physical requirement
for growth. Most can grow well in fresh water,
but mangrove communities are not usually
found in strict freshwater environments.

• Saltwater can kill plants, so mangroves must

extract freshwater from the seawater that
surrounds them. Many mangrove species survive
by filtering out as much as 90 percent of salt
found in seawater as it enters their roots.
How many mangroves are left in
the world?
• The first attempt at estimating the total
mangrove area in the world was undertaken as
part of the FAO/UNEP Tropical Forest
Resources Assessment in 1980, where the world
total was estimates as 15.6 million hectares.
More recent estimates range from 12 to 20
million hectares.
Which is the largest mangrove
forest in the world?
The Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF), located
in the Southwest of Bangladesh between the
river Baleswar in the East and the Harinbanga in
the west, adjoining to the Bay of Bengal, the
largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world.
How do mangroves breathe?
• Although they are plants, they grow in saltwater
and their roots are buried in thick mud that
contains little oxygen. In order to breathe, the
roots send up spikes that rise into the air above
the level of the mud.
What is mangrove swamp forest?

• Mangrove swamps are coastal wetlands found in

tropical and subtropical regions. They are
characterized by halophytic (salt loving) trees,
shrubs and other plants growing in brackish to
saline tidal waters.

• Mangroves are tropical species, surviving at

temperatures above 66° F(19° C), not tolerating
fluctuations exceeding 18° F (10° C) or temperature
below freezing for any length of time.
• Mangroves swamps is important for shoreline
protection. Mangroves protect shorelines from
damaging storm and hurricane winds, waves,
and floods.

• Mangroves also help prevent erosion by

stabilizing sediments with their tangled root
system.

• They maintain water quality and clarity, filtering

pollutants and trapping sediments originating
from land.
Mangrove Forests
1. Protect coastlines against erosive wave action
and strong coastal winds, and serve as natural
barriers against tsunamis and torrential
storms.

2. Prevent salt water from intruding into rivers.

3. Retain, concentrate and recycle nutrients and

remove toxicants through a natural filtering
process.
Do mangroves have fruit?

• Mangroves typically produce fruits or seeds that

float. This makes sense for plants that lives in
water. As the fruit or seeds are dropped, they
float away on the tide, to hopefully mature
elsewhere, thus spreading the population of
mangroves.
Do mangroves need light?
• Mangrove trees are high energy living plants
which need intense light, a proper growth
medium, frequent rinses of freshwater to do well
in an aquarium, let alone grow.
Why are mangrove forests muddy
and smelly?
• The strong odour smell of hydrogen sulphide in
the mud is due to the presence of anaerobic
sulphur – reducing bacteria which thrive in the
low oxygen condition.
Who eats mangroves?

• Some of the detritus is consumed by crabs, but

fungi and bacteria are most important in making
the food available to animals.

• These micro-organisms produce waste which,

along with the even smaller mangrove litter, is
eaten by molluscs, small crustacian and fish.
4 Types of Mangroves
Rhizophora mangle
• Also known as the red mangrove, is distributed
in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics.
Its viviporous “seeds”, in actuality called
propagules, become fully mature plants before
dropping off the parent tree. These are dispersed
by water until eventually embedding in the
shallows.
Avicennia germinans
• Also known the black mangrove, is a shurb in
the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in
tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas,
on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and on
the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa, where it
thrives on the sandy and muddy shores that
seawater reaches.
Laguncularia racemosa
• Also known the white mangrove, is a species of
flowering plant in the leadwood tree family,
Combretaceae.

• It’s usually occupies the highest elevations

farther upland than either the red or black
mangroves.
Conocarpus erectus
• Commonly called buttonwood or button
mangrove, is a mangrove shrub in the family
Combretaceae.

• This species grows on shorelines in tropical and

subtropical regions around the world.
11 Facts you need to
know!
1. Mangroves can be a bit salty – mangroves are
the only species of trees in the world that can
tolerate saltwater. Their strategy for dealing
with otherwise toxic levels of salt, by excreting
it through their waxy leaves.
2. Mangroves come in a variety of sizes.
though estimates vary, there are at least 50 --- and
maybe up to 110 --- mangrove species, ranging in height
from 2 to 10 meters, but all species feature oblong or
oval-shaped leaves and share an affinity for brackish
habitats.
3. Fish flock to mangroves.
mangroves, specifically the underwater habitat their
roots provide, offer critical nursing environments of
juveniles of thousands of fish species, from 1-inch gobies
to 10-foot sharks.
4. Mangroves live on the edge.
mangrove forests can be found on the saltwater coasts of
118 tropical and subtropical counties, totalling more than
137,000 square kilometers (85,000 square miles)--- roughly
the size of Greece or Arkanzsas.
5. Indonesia tops the worldwide list.
The largest amount of mangrove coverage can be found in
Indonesia, where mangrove trees cover some 23,000 square
km--- that’s more than twice the size of Jamaica or roughly
the size of Vermont.
6. Florida mangroves prefer the Southern coast.
The US has roughly 2,500 sq. km of mangroves--- an area
about the size of Luxemburg--- located almost entirely in
Southern Florida.
7. Mangroves have (carbon) hoarding issues.
Blue carbon ecosystems (mangroves sea grasses and salt
marshes) can be up to 10 times more efficient then terrestrial
ecosystem at absorbing and storing carbon long term, making
then a critical solution in the fight against climate change.
8. Mangroves can help to keep people safe.
Mangrove forests--- specifically, their thick, impenetrable
roots are vital to shoreline communities as natural buffers
against storm surges, and increasing threat in a changing
global climate with rising sea levels.
9. There’s trouble in Myanmar.
Mangroves are under threat nearly everywhere, but the
problem is particularly acute in Myanmar, where the rate of
deforestation is four times the global average.
10. Shrimping is a jumbo problem.
In Thailand, Mexico and Indonesia, mangroves are often
cut down to make room for temporary shrimp pens. But once
the pens have been removed, the accumulated bio waste
renders the water too toxics for most forms of life.
11. It’s better to revitalize than replant.
Mangroves’ dense root systems inhibit the flow of tidal
water and encourage the position of nutrient-rich sediments.
But once lost, mangroves are very difficult to replant due to
shifts in the very sediments the roots helped keep in place.