Characteristics Of Mangrove Forest

Mangrove Forest

Mangrove forests are the tropical equivalent of salt marshes. They are found along some 70% of gently sloping sandy and silty coastlines in tropical and subtropical regions, especially Southeast Asia. Mangrove is a type of forest growing along tidal mudflat and along shallow water coastal area extending inland along river, stream, and their tributaries where the water is generally brackish. The dominant organisms in these nutrient-rich coastal forests are mangroves include 69 different tree species that can grow in salt water. The mangrove tree is a primary producer interacting with associated aquatic fauna, social and physical factors of the coastal environment.

The trees that are grows and develops in mangrove areas are highly specialised plants. Specialised plants mean that the plants that possessed and developed an adaptation to their unique environment condition. These plants all bear certain similarities between them, including their ability to live in water-clogged saline soil that always counters regular flooding. They also have extensive root systems that often extend above the water, where they can obtain oxygen and support the trees during periods of changing water level. Mangroves consist diverse of tree palm, shrubs, veins, and fern that are found above the mean sea level in the intertidal zone coastal and estuarine environment (Duke et. al, 1992). Mangrove ecosystems are unique and a bit different from terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem in