The mangrove forest

Question 1

The mangrove forest is a blanket term for what

Answer 1

To describe tropical communities dominated by trees and shrubs that can grow in saltwater over very salty solid. It has been reported that 60-70% of the coastline on tropical regions is lined with mangroves and as such, they are the dominant ecosystem in the Bahamas and Caribbean

Question 2

What are the 4 main species of mangrove trees?

Answer 2

• red mangrove
  black mangrove
  white mangrove
  buttonwood mangrove

Question 3

What is the difference between these trees

Answer 3

slightly diff physical requirements and specific adaptations such that a clear zonation pattern can be observed as one moves inland from the sea

Question 4

What happens to mangrove trees on the floor with little wave action

Answer 4

They are often associated with the leeward side of the islands. This lack of high water movement means that fine sediments settle out forming a muddy bottom which tens to be anoxic (lacking in oxygen content)

Question 5

Other names for red mangrove? and characteristics

Answer 5

Rhizophora mangle. The most seaweed mangrove tree on the Bahamas and Caribbean. It has numerous prop roots that extend from the trunk and help to stabilise the tree in the shifting mud substrate in which it grows.

Question 6

Red mangrove seeds

Answer 6

Germinate while attached to the tree, forming arrow-shaped seedlings which grow to 25-30 cm in length before they detach from the parent plant. The seedlings float in the water with the rooting end down until they reach of a suitable depth to allow them to take root

Question 7

The black mangrove- name characteristics

Answer 7

(Avicennia germinans) The next landward zone is dominated by the black mangrove. This area receives high tide water and can remain flooded for long periods of time, leading to a highly saline anoxic mid substrate. The black mangrove is distinguished by its pneumatophores

Question 8

The black mangrove is distinguished by what

Answer 8

The black mangrove is distinguished by its pneumatophores, vertical roots that extend above the water from the main horizontal root network, these allow oxygen to diffuse into the roots of the plant to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the mud

Question 9

Name of white mangrove and buttonwood

Answer 9

Lauguncularia racemosa, conocarpys erecta

Question 10

Buttonwood/white

Answer 10

• found landward o the other two species, the white mangrove being slightly more salt-tolerant than that buttonwood.
• High tide water only occasionally reach these trees, however, their environment is still very salty, due to salt spray

Question 11

White mangrove

Answer 11

• fleshy waxy leaves (retains water)
• both white and black (two salt glands on the leaf stalks or petioles. These actively secrete salt which would otherwise upset the plant osmotic balance, Buttonwood gets its name from the hard leathery, button-like seeds it produces

Question 12

Destruction of mangrove forests

Answer 12

• tropical storms (global warming)
• silting up of creek entrances that prohibit tidal flow in the area. Once again, however man is the major destructive agent, Mangrove forests have been cleared and the land drained for urban development and houses and hotels spring up in their place

Question 13

Destruction of mangrove forests(2)

Answer 13

Oil spills and tar deposits are particularly damaging to the intertidal mangrove environment, killing algae and invertebrates that live on the roots and interfering with the oxygen supply blocking the respiratory pores on prop roots and pneumatophores

• Water temp becomes warmer- kills animals. A;age multiply–> eutrophication
• Melting ice caps, influx fresh water making swamp water more fresh. Animals and plants cannot tolerate there changes.
• Garbage (me) acid rain

Question 14

Importance of mangrove forests

Answer 14

Read this one - there’s alot and they’ll get rel mixed up