Virtual Field Trip to the Florida Keys

Mangroves

Some of the sedimentary and ecological functions of mangrove swamps

This list is not exhaustive:

• trapping and baffling fine sediment between complex root systems
  
  
• stabilizing sediment by binding with roots
  
  
• roots provide substrate for carbonate-secreting organisms, which later contribute carbonate grains (see locality 5)
  
  
• roots provide protected environment for juvenile and larval stages of a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate organisms (protected from physical environment, and from large predators)
  
  
• the complex of mangroves, tens to hundreds of metres wide, gradually absorbs energy from waves, storms and hurricanes, protecting the coastline. Destruction of mangroves for development, fish or shrimp farming etc. removes this vital natural protection, sometimes with disastrous effects
  
  
• fallen leaves and branches contribute to the organic content of the sediment
  
  
• falling mangrove seedlings drift to new positions to start a new area of sediment trapping, a new island...
  
  
• acidic conditions around the roots of mangroves dissolve the underlying limestone surface, enhancing karstification

Mangrove links

• Sedimentation in Mangrove Forests (abstract)
• The importance of mangrove flocs in sheltering seagrass in turbid coastal waters
  
• Impacts and Recovery to Mangrove and Seagrass Ecosystems [after Hurricane Mitch in 1998]
• The Mangrove Ecosystem
• Mangrove links