Narragansett Laboratory, NOAA Fisheries -

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Home: USES: Human Settlements on the Coast: Types of Habitats at Risk: Mangroves

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Mangroves

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Mangrove forests live in the harsh and unpredictable interface between land and sea. They are composed of salt-tolerant trees and other plant species and they provide critical habitat for both marine and terrestrial life. Mangroves have specially adapted aerial and salt-filtering roots and salt-excreting leaves that enable them to occupy the saline wetlands where other plant life cannot survive.

Mangroves protect coastal embankments from wave action, provide plenty of food and resting places for birds and marine creatures, help reduce pollution from inland rivers by acting as a filter for sediments, as well as protect biodiversity in coastal wetland. Their loss can prove disastrous in terms of coastline ecosystem functions and for people that rely on coastal resources.

Typical red mangrove with prop roots - characteristic of high salinity area , Mangroves roots serve as critical habitat for many species and nutrient filters. South Florida. Photo courtesy of OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP), NOAA.

Mangrove forests are regularly felled to make way for aquaculture, development, beaches, and many more. As populations by the coast increase, particularly in developed countries, more mangrove is cleared to build water front properties. However globally, as much as 50% percent of mangrove destruction in recent years has been due to clear cutting for shrimp farms.

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Title

Narragansett Laboratory, NOAA Fisheries ( Institutional Contact )

Short Institution Name

NMFS

Description

The Narragansett Laboratory conducts research on the effects of changing oceanographic and ecological conditions on the productivity and health of the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf ecosystem in relation to the recovery of depleted fish stocks. Studies are also conducted on the demography and ecology of shark populations in response to oceanographic conditions to provide information for shark management plans for sustaining those populations. The studies are conducted in support of two major objectives of NOAA’s Strategic Plan - Build Sustainable Fisheries and Sustain Healthy Coasts.

Keywords

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT;

SHARKS;

OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH;

ECOSYSTEMS

Geography Keywords

NORTHWEST ATLANTIC;

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Institution

Research Institution

Contact

Dr Kenneth Sherman