Mangrove ecosystems are found in tropical and subtropical coastal regions around the world. Mangroves are trees and shrubs that have adapted to grow in saline coastal habitats. They play an important role in buffering coastlines from storms and reducing erosion. However, mangroves are increasingly threatened by human development and destruction of coastal habitats. When mangroves are cut down or degraded, it damages the complex coastal ecosystem and removes natural protections for the shoreline.

1. MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM
Kumpulan 14
Hasilatul Hana Hamzah
Siti Nor Sheereen Maarof
Muhammad Aizad Hassan

2. WHY WE CALL IT AS MANGROVE?
 The word “mangrove’ may have originated
from the Malay word ‘manggi-manggi’ for
the mangrove plant Avicennia and
combined with the Arab word ‘el gurm’, to
become ‘mang-gurm’.

3. MANGROVE FOREST
 Found in coastal areas all over the tropics
 Primarily in brackish water
 salty and fresh mix
 Cover approximately 22 million hectares in
tropical and subtropical coasts

4. DISTRIBUTION OF WORLD MANGROVES

6. DISTRIBUTION OF WORLD
MANGROVES
REGION AREA %
(km2)
South and SE Asia 75,170 41.4
The Americas 49,096 27.1
West Africa 27,995 15.4
Australasia 18,788 10.4
East Africa and Middle East 10,348 5.7

7. DISTRIBUTION OF WORLD
MANGROVES
COUNTRY MANGROVES %
(1000 Ha) Global
Indonesia 4250 30
Brazil 1376 10
Australia 1150 8
Nigeria 970 7
Malaysia 641 5
Bangladesh 611 4
Myanmar 570 4
Vietnam 540 4
Cuba 530 4
Mexico 525 4

8. FUNCTIONS & THREATS
 Serve as an important buffer between sea and
land
 Lessen impact of intense storms
 Reduce erosion and increase sedimentation
 Important coastal pioneer species
 Act as basis for a complex, biologically diverse, and
productive ecosystem
 Increasingly threatened
 Human development is most intense along coasts

9. IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGY
 Mangal
 Is
the place where Community of organisms in the
mangrove habitat
 Mangrove
 Trees that flourish in the mangal

10. So, What is this ?

11. CHARACTERISTICS OF MANGAL
 Inundation with tides
 Increasing salinity towards ocean
 Sandy clay soil
 Nutrient poor
 Nitrogen & Phosphorus are limiting
 Limiting mangrove growth only
 Organic nutrients deposited via siltation
 Fresh water streams & down-shore currents
 Most all are of terrestrial origin
 In sum: Mangal is a harsh place to live

12. MANGROVES?
 Trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and
subtropics;
 They grow in loose, wet soils, salt water, and are periodically submerged
by tidal flows;
 Their distribution throughout the world is affected by climate, salinity of
the water, fluctuation of the tides, type of soil;
 Unique ecosystem generally found along sheltered coasts
 Diverse - about 110 species - only about 54 species in 20 genera from
16 families constitute the "true mangroves",
 TYPES OF MANGROVE PLANT:
The most common tree species are Rhizophora, Avicennia, Bruguiera,
Sonneratia, Xylocarpus and Nypa species

13. HOW ABOUT THEIR ECOSYSTEM?
1. Intertidal ecosystem; anaerobic environment; plants able to tolerate high
salinity.
2. High productivity; place where sediment is collected.
3. Allows organic matter to be transported to other system eg. Coral reefs and
sea grass; via the flushing action of the waves.
4. The mangroves leaves, use the sunlight and convert carbon dioxide to other
organic compounds via photosynthesis.
5. Carbon absorbed by plants via photosynthesis and nutrients from the soil
will be converted to raw materials for the growth of the plants.
6. The living and dead mangrove leaves together with the roots will produce
carbon and nutrients to be used by other organisms in the ecosystem.

14. MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM
 Divided into :
1. Abiotic component
2. Biotic component

15. ABIOTIC COMPONENT
 1. Soil (sand+mud + silt)
- ‘topsoil’ divided to sandy or clayey.
 2. pH
- neutral or slightly acidic due to the ‘sulfur reducing bacteria’
and the presence of acidic silt.
 3. Oxygen
- Dissolved oxygen : low – anoxic area
- can only be home for anaerobic bacteria, which releases
hydrogen sulfide gas (bad smell) when the bacteria bread-down
the organic matter without oxygen.

16. ABIOTIC COMPONENT
 4. Nutrient
- Because the soil is perpetually waterlogged, there is little free
oxygen. Anaerobic bacteria liberate nitrogen gas, soluble iron,
inorganic phosphates, and methane, which makes the soil much
less nutritious.
 5. Wind and waves
- windy and wavy depends on the movement of the sea water.
 6. Light, temperature
- low light and temperature at low ground.
 8. Salinity
- high content of salt.

17. Clayey-type topsoil

18. Sandy-type topsoil

19. BIOTIC COMPONENT
 Divided to :
1. Vegetation
2. Zonation

20. VEGETATION
- Mangroves are ‘obligate inhabitants’, which
cannot be found anywhere else
Adapted to survive in swampy area

21. HOW DO THE VEGETATION
ADAPTED TO THE MANGROVE
AREA ?
WHAT DO THEY NEED TO
ADAPT TO?

22. -HIGH SALINITY
-HIGH SEDIMENTATION
-REPRODUCTION

23. SALT WATER PROBLEM
 If a normal plant is watered with sea water, it
will die because the sea water will extract the
water from the plant
 High salinity will increase the salt concentration
in the plant tissues and this will damage the
metabolic processes and leads to death.

24. ADAPTATION TO HIGH SALINITY
 1. Waxy Leaves
Leaf that has coated
on the outer side
with a waxy cuticle
that prevents water
loss.

25. ADAPTATION TO HIGH SALINITY
 2. Salt exclusion at leaves
ability of a mangrove to exclude salt at the
surface of their leaves. So, that the salt
content in the plant can be regulated.

26. ADAPTATION TO HIGH SEDIMENTATION
 1. Prop roots
An adventitious root that arises
from the stem, penetrates the soil,
and helps support the stem

27. ADAPTATION TO HIGH SEDIMENTATION
 2. Pneumatophores
Pneumatophores or breathing roots
(Sonneratia) are roots from the
underground root system, which appear
laterally. These roots are used for
respiration of the plant.

28. ADAPTATION TO HIGH SEDIMENTATION
 3. Buttress root
Buttress roots (Bruguiera) are roots
from the tree trunk and expanded
to a structure which looks like a
‘flattened blade’. These roots
provide mechanical support for
plants that grow in soft and instable
substrates.

29. ADAPTATION TO HIGH SEDIMENTATION
 Stilt roots
Stilt roots (Rhizophora), are roots from
the tree and grow into the substrate.
These roots are mechanical support for
plants growing in silt and muddy
substrate.

30. ADAPTATION TO REPRODUCTION
 1. Vivipary normal
 Reproduction and growth while still attached to plant
 Fertilization
 Propagule growth (a ready-to-go seedling)
Mature
propagule
Young propagule a.k.a. Hypocotyl

31. ADAPTATION TO REPRODUCTION
 2. Maturity -> Drop off maternal plant
 3. Float horizontally initially
 Dispersal to novel environments ideally
 4. Float vertically with appropriate environmental conditions
 5. Rooting and growth

32. Germination cycle of a mangrove seedling

33. ADAPTATION TO REPRODUCTION
 6. Pollination
Pollination method varies by species
 Wind (Rhizophora)
 bat or hawk moth (Sonneratia)
 birds and butterflies (Bruguiera)
 bees (Acanthus, Aegiceras, Avicennia, Excoecaria,
Xylocarpus)
 fruit flies (Nypa)
 other small insects (Ceriops, Kandelia)

34. ZONATION
 Intraspecific Differences in Environmental
Tolerances
 1. Salinity variations and adaptations for excreting salt
 2. Tidal Inundation and adaptations for gas exchange
 3. Low soil stability, Shore morphology, and adaptations for
rooting
 4. Sedimentation rates and types

35. MANGAL HABITAT TYPES
 Riverine
 Often found in river deltas
 Constant influx of freshwater
 Great changes in salinity levels
 Basin Mangroves
 Inland, behind coastal mangroves
 Little change in tides, no wave action
 Often higher salinity than others (evaporation)
 Tide-Dominated
 Coastal front habitats
 Frequent sedimentation
 Unstable morphology due to coastal erosion

36. MANGROVE SPECIES ZONATION
Bruguiera
gymnorrhiza
Ceriops
australis Rhizophora
stylosa
Avicennia
marina
All increase toward shore
Salinity
Decreasing Soil Stability
Sedimentation Rate

37. MANGROVE ANIMALS ADAPTATION
Migratory Shorebirds.
Different species of
migratory shorebirds have
different bill shapes and
lengths allowing each
species to probe the mud at
different depths to find food.
For the reason, large number
of different shorebirds can
feed on the same mudflat
without competing with each
other for food.

38. MANGROVE ANIMALS ADAPTATION
The mudskipper is really a fish.
It has modified fins which help
it to move on land. When on
land, it breathes through its
damp skin and by holding water
in its mouth. Huge eyes on top
of it to see better, allowing it to
hunt for prey and also to
escape from predators. These
structural adaptation help the
Mudskipper cope with the
mangrove environment, catch
prey and escape predators!

39. MANGROVE ANIMALS ADAPTATION
Tree-climbing Crabs.
During high tide, the Tree-climbing Crab climbs up a tree avoid being
eaten by predatory fish. Once out of the water, it must remain still to
avoid being spotted by predators like the kingfishers and water
monitor lizards. The above behavioural adaptations help the Tree-
climbing Crab escape predators.

40. THREATS TO MANGROVES
Degradation and Destruction of Mangroves

41. CAUSES OF MANGROVE DEGRADATION
 Degradation : change of a chemical compound
to a less complex compound.
 Nature‐induced changes, tropical storms and
tsunami.
 Diseases.
 Biological pests and parasites.

42. CAUSES OF MANGROVE DESTRUCTION
 Destruction : The action or process of causing
so much damage to something that it no longer
exists or cannot be repaired.
 Urbanization
 Agriculture
 Cutting for timber, fuel and charcoal
 Oil pollution