Mangroves are trees or shrubs that grow in salty water in hot places like the tropics. Mangroves make a special saltwater woodland or shrubland habitat, called a mangrove swamp, mangrove forest, mangrove or mangal. Mangroves grow on 1/3 of tropical shores.

the other name of mangrove forest is tidal forest. Also called Sunderbans in India. Mangrove forests are also known as tidal forest,alpine vegetation etc.

The mangrove forest are also referred to as Tidal forest because this forest can live both in salt and freshwater.

A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal conditions.

The shoot grows up to a foot long before falling to the ground or water. If it falls at the low tide, it drops like a dart into the mud and puts out roots immediately. If instead it falls into water, it may float, scouting for a new habitat even 100 miles away.

Mangroves are utilized in many parts of the world as a renewable resource. Harvested for durable, water-resistant wood, mangroves have been used in building houses, boats, pilings, and furniture. The wood of the black mangrove and buttonwood trees has also been utilized in the production of charcoal.

Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that live in the coastal intertidal zone. There are about 80 different species of mangrove trees. All of these trees grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate.

They require the perfect amount of sea water — too little and they dry out; too much and they drown. Sea-level rise is changing where mangroves can grow and threatening their continued existence in some of the places where they are most needed.

Black Mangroves propagules are edible, too. The sprouting propagules of the Black Mangrove, Avicennia germinans, (av-ih-SEN-ee-uh JER-min-ans) can also be used as a famine food, if cooked. They are toxic raw and resemble huge pointed lima beans.

How old do mangroves get? Answer: There is only little knowledge about the age of mangroves. Investigations on Rhizophora mucronata showed that the age can be 100 years plus.

Diverting water can harm mangroves by preventing their seeds from being dispersed via seawater, and it can kill the trees by cutting off freshwater supplies. When diverted inland, seawater may contaminate farmland or freshwater below the ground.

In the tropics, red mangroves grow to more than 80 feet (24 meters) in height. In the U.S., however, the trees rarely grow beyond 20 feet (6 meters), which gives them a shrub-like appearance.

The rate of mangrove loss is significantly higher than the loss of any other types of forests. If deforestation of mangroves continues, it can lead to severe losses of biodiversity and livelihoods, in addition to salt intrusion in coastal areas and siltation of coral reefs, ports and shipping lanes.

A world without mangroves would likely mean a world with fewer fishes, more coastal damage, and unknown ecosystem and public health consequences related to changes in pollutant, sediment and carbon cycles.

Mangroves are important to people because they help stabilize Florida’s coastline ecosystem and prevent erosion. Mangroves also provide natural infrastructure and protection to nearby populated areas by preventing erosion and absorbing storm surge impacts during extreme weather events such as hurricanes.

Homeowners are exempt to trim their mangroves when the mangroves are in a Riparian Mangrove Fringe and are no more than 10 feet in height; so long as the homeowner does not trim the mangroves below 6 feet in height and does not defoliate any mangrove.

Growing Mangrove Trees at Home You can start growing mangrove trees in your backyard if you live in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9-12. If you want an impressive potted plant, consider growing mangroves from seed in containers at home.

American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) and American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are both residents of mangrove habitats. The American alligator ranges throughout the southeastern U.S., and is found only in low salinity areas of Florida mangroves.

Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection Quick Links Mangroves are one of Florida’s true natives. They thrive in salty environments because they can obtain freshwater from saltwater. Some secrete excess salt through their leaves, while others block absorption of salt at their roots.

Planting mangrove species into another region where they do not grow natively can produce trouble for the native species. The imported, exotic mangrove becomes an invasive species and takes over the nutrients of the natural plants. This disrupts the local ecology.

All mangrove trees share two reproductive adaptations – viviparity and propagule dispersal.

Red mangroves have edible fruits, but they’re quite bitter apparently. You can dry their leaves to make tea, too. The bark can be used for making natural dyes; they give red, olive, brown, or slate colors depending on the soaking agent used.

Root systems that arch high over the water are a distinctive feature of many mangrove species. In addition to providing structural support, aerial roots play an important part in providing oxygen for respiration. Oxygen enters a mangrove through lenticels, thousands of cell-sized breathing pores in the bark and roots.

The leaves and the fruit are edible and appreciated as food in certain areas, such as Maldives. In Sri Lanka, where the fruit is known as kirala gédi (කිරල ගෙඩි) in Sinhala, the pulp of the fruit is mixed with coconut milk extract and made into a milk shake.

Fish such as snook, barracuda, and many reef fish stay in the mangroves until they become adults. Then they leave, but will return to leave their young in the protective roots of the mangroves. Some marine animals spend their whole lives in and on the mangroves.

Black mangrove wood has been used as posts, fuel, and for marine construction. Black mangrove contains tannin in the bark and has been used to prepare leather products. Black mangroves bloom in June and July with white flowers. When in bloom, black mangrove nectar is used for “mangrove honey” production.

pneumatophores

Black mangrove is a subtropical woody shrub that grows in salt marshes. Mangroves are very hardy, having become adapted to harsh environments where water and salinity levels fluctuate. Pneumatophores, or breather roots, form a network collecting silt and debris and controlling erosion.