Geog Ppa 2 MANGROVES Flashcards
Location!
Tropical climate zone between 23.5⁰N and 23.5⁰S of the equator.
Halophytic
Salt-tolerant
Environment they live in
Trees, shrubs and other plants that grow in the brackish to saline tidal waters of the intertidal coastal zone
Layers of water near mangroves
Top - supratidal Middle - intertidal Bottom - shallow subtidal
Bruguiera - location and characteristics?
Inland zone, knee like roots that emerge from the ground and loop back in, with a knobbly bump at the highest point of the loop that resembles a knee.
RHIZOPHORA - location and characteristics?
Middle zone, stilt/prop roots arching out from trunk/brunches to the ground for support and air absorption, filters 90% of salt in seawater as it enters the roots.
AVICENNIA - location and characteristics?
Coastal zone, pencil like roots which grow up to 30cm in height
Sonneratia - location and characteristics?
Coastal zone, cone-shaped roots which grow to a height of 40-60cm, has aerenchyma (air spaces) that provide a reservoir of air during high tide when roots are submerged.
Use of aerial roots
Avoid suffocation in anaerobic soil, pores called lenticels to take in air. Roots are hydrophobic (repels water)
Characteristics of leaves
Broad to absorb sunlight, drip tips to allow rain to flow off, thick and leathery, contain glands to secrete excess salt (AVICENNIA does this best)
Germination in mangroves!
Viviparous germination, seed can germinate into propagule still attached to parent plant. Water and nutrients supplied to propagule to develop into seedlings before they detach from parent plant and drop. (Propagules are buoyant, floats on water before rooting themselves in suitable soil)
Climate
Little variation in temperature, high precipitation throughout year. Trees evergreen but don’t shed leaves (not deciduous).
