6. coastal environments

Question 1

Mangrove

Answer 1

Mangrove plants include trees, shrubs, ferns and palms.
These plants are found in the tropics and sub- tropics on river banks and along inter-tidal coastlines, being unusually adapted to anaerobic conditions of both salt and fresh water environments.
These plants have adapted to muddy, shifting, saline conditions. They produce stilt roots which project above the mud and water in order to absorb oxygen.
Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal conditions. There are over 110 mangrove plant species.
They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave action. They are adapted to the low oxygen (anoxic) conditions of waterlogged mud.

Question 2

Adaptations

Answer 2

Stilt roots to prop themselves above water levels. Pores in the bark called lenticles allow air to be absorbed at high tide. Pneumatophores are straw like roots that stick up out of the mud to aid respiration.
Roots filter salt and exclude sodium from the rest of the plant. Leaves can secrete salt from salt glands.
Leaves can restrict the opening of their stomata (pores on the leaf surfaces, which exchange carbon dioxide gas and water vapour during photosynthesis).
Seeds remain attached to the plant until they are fertilised, they then float vertically and root and grow in the Mangrove mudflats