Mangrove Case Study

Mangrove Case Study A mangrove ecosystem is a general word that covers trees that are able to live in the conditions of shallow water area. There are many different plat families and these plants are able to survive regular flooding as well as fresh and salt waters. The mangrove trees must withstand being submerged twice a day by saltwater tides. The soil in which these trees grow in maybe sand but it is mostly rich mud. This rich mud is high in nutrients but low in oxygen. Mangroves have these aerial and salt filtering roots and salt excreting leaves that help them occupy the fluctuating wetlands.Salinity, temperature and oxygen are all abiotic factors used to help with the growth of this ecosystem. Salinity is a measurement of the amount of salt in the water. To measure the amount of salinity you would use a salinity meter. Using a data logger you can measure the temperature of the water. You set the data logger to record the temperature at what interval is required. It can then be imputed into a computer which is downloaded to a program and then graphed. Oxygen is a measurement of the amount of oxygen in the water. You would measure the oxygen using an oxygen meter.Salinity meter data logger oxygen meter Mangroves can grow in both fresh and salty water, whichever one is available to them. They not only tolerate, but thrive under saline conditions. In order for the mangrove to do this they either prevent salt from entering the tissues in their roots or excrete excess salt that are taken in. Oxygen is an important abiotic factor in the ecosystem. Roots of the mangrove need the oxygen to carry out respiration. In order for the roots to get oxygen, they expose during low tide.They can also store extra oxygen in the roots for when it is high tide. Site| Temp ? C| Salinity | Dissolved O? | 1| 16| 24. 2| 61%| 2| 17| 3. 5. | 47%| 3| 15. 5| 0. 2| 75%| Producers, consumers and decomposers Producers| Consumers| Decomposers| Mangrove| Nipper| Bacteria| Seagrass Zosterea | Leather jacket| Fungus| Sargassum| Bream| | Phytoplankton| Whiting| | | Heron| | | Cormorant| | | Ibis| | | Oyster| | | Soldier crab| | | Zooplankton | | Sewage overflows. Since we are building houses close by to the mangrove ecosystem, the sewage from the house is flowing into the environment.The sewage releases extra nutrients into the environment and we are building roads and drains for the sewage to run out which then this could result in freshwater entering the system. Sewage causes pollution and what come with pollution are chemicals, acidic, dangerous chemicals. These chemicals damage the mangrove trees. The amount of sewage that flows down to the mangroves ecosystem takes away what little oxygen the trees already have to use to grow. The more pollution the goes into the environment the less species of mangroves we will have.