Knowra Mangrove Mangrove A salt-tolerant tree or shrub that grows in tropical and subtropical tidal zones. Mangroves form forests adapted to flooding, salty water, and oxygen-poor sediment.
Prop root : An aboveground support root that grows from a trunk or branch into the soil. Red mangroves use prop roots to brace themselves in soft, wave-washed sediment.
Intertidal zone : The coastal area alternately covered and exposed by ocean tides. Mangrove forests occupy shorelines where water levels regularly rise and fall.
Coastal protection : Measures and natural processes that reduce erosion, flooding, and damage along shorelines. Mangrove trunks and roots can reduce wave energy and help stabilize coastlines.
Mangrove crab : A crab that lives in mangrove habitats and feeds on leaves, detritus, or other organisms. Crabs move and consume mangrove material, linking trees to sediment and food webs.
Red mangrove : A tropical mangrove tree, Rhizophora mangle, recognized by its arching prop roots. Its conspicuous prop-root system is a familiar example of structural adaptation to tidal shores.
Pneumatophore : An upward-growing root that extends above waterlogged soil to take in oxygen. Black mangroves expose pneumatophores at low tide to aerate submerged roots.
Estuary : A coastal water body where river freshwater mixes with seawater. Many mangrove forests grow along estuaries, where salinity changes with tides and river flow.
Blue carbon : Carbon captured and stored by coastal and marine ecosystems. Mangrove forests store carbon in biomass and in deep, waterlogged sediments.
Mangrove ecosystem : A coastal community of mangroves and the organisms and physical processes associated with them. The trees structure a wider habitat whose food webs and shoreline functions depend on them.
Black mangrove : A mangrove tree, Avicennia germinans, native to tropical and subtropical Atlantic coasts. Its upright pneumatophores and salt-secreting leaves illustrate two common mangrove adaptations.
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