MANGROVES : The Tidal Forest

The word "Mangrove" may be a combination of the Portuguese word "Mangue" and also the English word "grove". Mangrove may be a term accustomed to describing various groups of plants adapted to a wet, saline habitat. The term might also, typically, visit a personal species. Mangrove plants are thus, salt-tolerant plants of tropical and subtropical intertidal regions of the globe. This diverse group of plants has been categorized as (i) true mangroves and (ii) mangrove associates.

  Mangroves establish coastal wetlands forests at the intertidal zones of estuaries, backwaters, deltas, creeks, lagoons, marshes, and dust fields of tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. the precise regions where these plants occur are termed mangrove ecosystems. Despite these divisions, it's sometimes difficult to exactly define a mangrove species.

Terms like mangrove community, mangrove ecosystem, mangrove forest, mangrove swamp, and mangal are used interchangeably to explain the whole mangrove community. Mangrove forests include taxonomically diverse plants but these species exhibit certain common special adaptive features. Besides mangroves, the ecosystem also harbors other plant and animal species. These are highly productive but extremely sensitive and fragile areas.

 The Greek explorer Nearchus first mentioned the mangrove kind of vegetation as far back as 325 B.C Theophrastus, the daddy of Botany, also described mangroves saying, "The trees are all washed by the ocean up to their middle and that they are delayed by their roots sort of a polyp". Pliny in his Historia Naturalis mentioned the mangroves present within the sea An account of the Indian Ocean mangroves was provided by Van Rhlede in his Hortus Malabaricus.

However, most of those, and later, descriptions were taxonomical in nature. Though the unique growth characters and therefore the adaptability of mangrove organisms were recognized a protracted time back, details of functional relationships began to be found out only within the previous few decades. it's likely that several other explorers and naturalists were acquainted with the mangroves, but avoided them thanks to their unwholesome reputation. this is often likely to possess been the results of the persistent if the ill-conceived notion that mangrove forests have a grimy smell, squishy and oozing mud, and harbored unpleasant animals like crocodiles.

 

It is believed that the earliest mangrove species originated within the Indo-Malayan region and even today, there are much more mangrove species present during this region than anywhere else. These early mangrove species spread westward, borne by ocean currents, to India and geographical region, and eastward to land, arriving in Central and South America during the upper period and lower Miocene epoch, between 66 and 23 million years ago. During that point. mangroves spread throughout the Caribbean across an open seaway that after existed where Panama lies today. Later, sea currents may have carried mangrove seeds to the western coast of Africa and as far south as New Zealand. This might explain why the mangroves of geographic area and also the Americas contain fewer, but similar colonizing species, whereas those of Asia, India, and geographic region contain a far fuller range of mangrove species.

 

 It is very interesting to notice that mangroves aren't absolutely and dedicatedly salt-loving (obligate halophytes, as scientists call such salt-lovers) but also are capable of growing in habitats irrigated by fresh water. However, under such circumstances, they exhibit growth considerably below their potential. the variation to salinity gradients influences the distribution of mangrove plants within and between estuaries.

"Zonation" often characterizes mangrove forests. Certain tree species occupy particular areas, or niches, within the ecosystem. Some mangrove species occur near shore, fringing islands, and sheltered bays; others are found further inland, in estuaries influenced by tidal action.

The distribution of mangroves establishes the existence of two groups of mangroves. The first group of mangroves exhibits broad tolerances against salinities which will even be two or thrice that of seawater. the opposite group is restricted to salinities but seawater. Adjusting to, and managing the inherently inimical nature of the environment nature has bestowed some astounding biological characteristics on these plants.

Mangrove species are hardy. they have to be so to be ready to survive inundation by saltwater twice every day. They even have to thrive in "soil" which is unstable and poor in oxygen (anaerobic). additionally, they even have to cater to swollen rivers carrying silt during the wet season, yet as violent storms hit the coasts. Such qualities deserve a better look as they hold the keys to understanding the tricks of survival.

 Apart from addressing scientific curiosity, there are inherent advantages too if one understands the mangrove ecosystems. Experience has proved that the presence of mangrove ecosystems on the coastline can save lives and property during natural hazards like cyclones, storm surges, and erosion. Besides, these ecosystems are economically important. they're breeding, feeding, and nursery grounds for several estuarine and marine organisms. Hence these areas are used for captive and culture fisheries. The ecosystem contains a very large unexplored potential for natural products useful for medicinal purposes and also for salt production, apiculture fuel, and fodder, etc and so merit study.

It is fortuitous that interest in mangroves has been triggered. It comes not daily ahead of time because anthropological pressures are emerging as enemies of the ecosystem. Expansion of commercial areas along the coastlines and discharge of domestic and industrial sewage are polluting these areas a detailed study of the mangroves is imperative if conservation efforts are in real fruit.