Mangrove trees - a unique creation of nature

Mangrove trees are evergreen deciduousplants settled on tropical and subtropical coasts and adapted to life in conditions of constant ebbs and flows. They grow up to 15 meters and have fancy root types: stilted (raising a tree above the water) and respiratory (pneumathores), protruding from the soil, like straws, and absorbing oxygen.

Few plants would survive in salt water, butthis does not apply to mangrams. They developed filtering mechanisms. Water absorbed by their roots contains less than 0.1% salt. The remaining salt is excreted by leaves through special leaf glands, forming white crystals on the surface.

The soil on which mangroves grow,always saturated with water, there is not enough oxygen in it. Under such conditions, anaerobic bacteria secrete nitrogen, phosphates, iron, methane, sulfides, etc., which create the specific smell of trees. The missing oxygen roots, as was said, absorb from the air, and nutrients - from the soil.

The leaves of these plants are tough, leathery, juicy,bright green. Given the salinity of the soil and the lack of fresh water, they have adapted to the limited loss of moisture. Leaves can regulate the degree of openness of stomata, which perform gas exchange in the process of photosynthesis, and rotate, avoiding hot sunlight.

Mangrove trees grow in belts, in eachof which certain species predominate. This is due to the frequency and duration of flooding, the nature of the substrate (sandy or silty), the ratio of sea and fresh water (in the mouths of rivers). The front line is occupied by rhizophores with blood-red wood, the color of which is determined by the high tannin content. This species is under water about 40% of the time. They are followed by Avicenias, lagularia, etc.

As atypical mangrove itself, and the fruits(seeds) its unusual. They are covered with airy tissue, due to which they are able to swim for a certain time, changing their density if necessary. Many mangroves are viviparous. Their seeds, not separated from the tree, germinate. The seedling moves either inside the fruit, or through the fruit outside. By the time of separation, he is ready to eat independently through photosynthesis.

Отсоединившись от дерева (как правило, в период low tide), the seedling falls and quickly becomes fixed in the soil. Or it is carried away by water, possibly, at decent distances. He is so tenacious that he can wait for a favorable moment for a year to take root.

Mangrove forests serve as a refuge and placehabitats of many organisms. Algae, oysters, breds, sponges, bryozoans need to be attached to something when filtering food. Numerous roots are great for this. Tropical fish, arthropods, snakes live in the water at the root systems. Hummingbirds, frigates, parrots, gulls and other birds settled in the branches of the trees.

Mangrove trees, quickly forming thickets,protect the coast from erosion by sea waves. They, advancing on the sea, win new sites from it. Thickly intertwined roots retain applied sludge, helping to drain the soil. The local population uses reclaimed land, creating plantations of coconut palms, citrus and other crops.