Mangrove forests provide important ecological services such as trapping sediment, acting as land-sea buffers, and serving as breeding and nursery areas for fish, shellfish, and birds. They also store carbon and help mitigate climate change. However, mangroves are threatened by loss of land from clearing for agriculture, aquaculture, and development as well as rising sea levels from climate change. While mangroves have adapted to tolerate a wide range of salt concentrations, their ability to adapt depends on sediment availability and lack of human barriers; restoration efforts aim to enhance their resilience.

1. Mangrove Forests
(Global Explorers Blog)

2. Distribution
(“Environment—Tropical Shelf Seas and Shores”)

3. Ecological Services
• Sediment trapping*
• Land-sea buffer*
• Breeding, feeding, nursery
area for fish, oyster, crab,
shrimp**
• Bird nesting (herons,
pelicans, spoonbills, etc.)**
• Carbon sink***
Aerial View (Laman)
(The Mangrove Hub)
*Kumara et al. 2010
**NOAA
***Stecker, Kumara et al. 2010

4. Community
(“Mangrove Forests of Australasia”) French grunt fish (“Florida Keys”)
(M., Vincent)

5. (Waycott et al. 2011)

6. Tree Structure
• Pneumatophores: aerial roots*
• Lenticels: location of gas exchange (intake
of oxygen)*
• Salt excluded from water by roots or
excreted from leaves*
Salt Excretion
(“Adaptations to salinity”)
Lenticels (NHMI)Pneumatophores (“Mangrove pneumatophores”)
*NHMI

7. Forest Structure
• 80 species*
• Tolerant to 0-90 ppt salinity**
• Red mangroves: 60-65 ppt**
• Black/white mangroves: up to 90 ppt**
(Waycott et al. 2011)
*NOAA
**NHMI

8. Threats: From the Land
• 35% loss in
mangroves*
• Mangrove clearing has
caused 10% of
deforestation-based
CO₂ emissions**
• Only make up 0.7% of
forests***
• Land used for
agriculture (rice),
aquaculture (shrimp
ponds),
industrial/residential
building***
(ELAW)
(Smithsonian)
*Mumby et al. 2004
**Phys.org
***Stecker

9. Threats: From the Sea
• Sea level rising by 3 mm/year*
• 70-140 cm increase in level by 2100**
• Due to loss of land ice and thermal expansion
of oceans
(Church et al. 2008)
*Church et al. 2008
**Waycott et al. 2011

10. Adaptability
• Historically began landward migration with
sea level rise rate higher than 0.7 mm/year*
• May also accrete sediment (2.8 mm/year)
• Adaptability depends on:*
– Sediment availability for elevation building
– Landward human infrastructure
– Landward surface gradient
– Landward natural competition
*Waycott et al. 2011

11. Mitigation for Climate Change
• Dense plantings may:
– Slow sea level rise
through sediment
accretion*
– Act as carbon sinks*
– Restore lost ecosystem
functions**
– Provide for fisheries**
– Safeguard other
habitats (coral reefs)**
(Reef Ball Foundation)
(Trip Advisor)
*Kumara et al. 2010
**Mumby et al. 2004

12. Bibliography
“Adaptations to salinity.” <http://users.tpg.com.au/users/rwest000/mangrove/salinity.html>
Bering, A. J. “Plant the Mangrove Propagules.” Trip Advisor. <http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/slideshow-photo/plant-
the-mangrove-propagules-roxas-city-philippines.html?sid=66320734&fid=upload_13268627070-tpfil02aw-25340>
Church, J. A., White, N. J., Aarup, T., Wilson, W. S., Woodworth, P. L., Domingues, C. M., Hunter, J. R., and Lambeck, K.
(2008). Understanding global sea levels: past, present and future. Sustainable Science 3, 9-22.
“Coastal Development or Devastation.” Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (2012).
<http://www.elaw.org/node/1237>
“Declining mangroves shield against global warming.” Phys.org. <http://phys.org/news/2011-04-declining-mangroves-
shield-global.html>
“Environment—Tropical Shelf Seas and Shores—System Description.”
<https://publicwiki.deltares.nl/display/BWN/Environment+-+Tropical+Shelf+Seas+and+Shores+-+System+description>
“Florida Keys.” <http://www.aug.edu/~sbajmb/pictures/Best-of-FloridaKeys-2006-Web/FloridaKeys2006.htm>
“Former Mangrove Forest.” Smithsonian. <http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-photos/former-mangrove-forest>
Grol, M. G. G., Nagelkerken, I., Bosch, N., and Meesters, E. (2011). Preference of early juveniles of a coral reef fish for
distinct lagoonal microhabitats is not related to common measures of structural complexity. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Series
432, 221-233.
“Indonesia: The Mangroves.” Global Explorers Blog (2012). <http://explorers.neaq.org/2012/02/indonesia-
mangroves.html>
Kumara, M. P., Jayatissa, L. P., Krauss, K. W., Phillips, D. H., and Huxham, M. (2010). High mangrove density enhances
surface accretion, surface elevation change, and tree survival in coastal areas susceptible to sea-level rise. Oecologia
164, 545-553.

13. Bibliography (cont.)
Laman, Tim. <http://timlaman.photoshelter.com/image/I00004rARLozl4c8>
M., Vincent. “The Amazing Mangroves.”
<http://w3.shorecrest.org/~Lisa_Peck/MarineBio/syllabus/ch11_ecosystems/ecosystem_wp/2008/vince/prod.h
tml>
“Mangrove Facts and Myths.” The Mangrove Hub. <http://whataremangroves.com/mangrove-facts-and-
myths/>
“Mangrove Forests.” NOAA Ocean Service Education.
<http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/estuaries/media/supp_estuar06b_mangrove.html>
“Mangrove Forests of Australasia.”
<http://www.jurgenfreund.com/stories/mangroves/content/1006407_large.html>
”Mangrove pneumatophores.” <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mangrove_pneumatophores.JPG>
“Morphological and Physiological Adaptations.” Newfound Harbor Marine Institute.
<http://www.nhmi.org/mangroves/phy.htm>
Mumby, P. J., Edwards, A. J., Arias-Gonzalez, J. E., Lindeman, K. C., Blackwell, P. G., Gall, A., Gorczynska, M. I.,
Harborne, A. R., Pescod, C. L., Renken, H., Wabnitz, C. C. C., and Llewellyn, G (2004). Mangroves enhance the
biomass of coral reef fish communities in the Caribbean. Nature 427, 533-536.
“Plant Mangroves.” Reef Ball Foundation. <http://www.reefball.org/>
Staats, Eric. “Push is on to restore dying mangrove forest near Marco Island.”
<http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/jan/20/dying-mangrove-forest-marco-island-goodland-sr92/>
Stecker, Tiffany. “Restoring Mangroves May Prove Cheap Way to Cool Climate.” Scientific American.
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=restoring-mangroves-may-prove-cheap-way-to-cool-
climate>
Waycott, M., McKenzie, L. J., Mellors, J. E., Ellison, J. C., Sheaves, M. T., Collier, C., Schwarz, A., Webb, A.,
Johnson, J. E., and Payri, C., E. (2011). Vulnerability of mangroves, seagrasses, and intertidal flats in the tropical
Pacific to climate change. In Vulnerability of Tropical Pacific Fisheries and Aquaculture to Climate Change (297-
368).