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  Online Guide to Chek Jawa
mangroves
 
Mangrove tree adaptations
Mangrove forests form along sheltered coasts particularly where rivers meet the sea. Mangrove trees grow in this intertidal zone that is covered with seawater at high tide and where the ground is covered with soft, oxygen-poor mud. Here they are also exposed to dry, coastal winds. The unusual features of mangrove trees are adaptations to these challenging conditions.

Mangrove trees can grow partially submerged in water. You can see where the water usually comes up to the tree by the change in the colour of the bark and the animals that encrust the tree roots and trunk. How do the trees do this?

Breathing Roots: There is little oxygen in the fine mud usually found in mangroves. Mangrove trees have special breathing roots to absorb oxygen from the air. These roots also help mangrove trees to stay upright in the soft mud.

Fresh water from salty water: Mangrove trees also have ways to extract freshwater from salty water. Some block out the salt at the root level, others get rid of excess salt on their leaves. Much like desert plants, mangroves store this precious extracted freshwater in thick leaves. Hairy or waxy leaves help reduce evaporation in the drying coastal winds.

Mangrove trees are good mothers: Some mangrove trees give their seeds a headstart in this harsh habitat. The seeds germinate on the mother tree instead of simply dropping off when ripe. For example, long green seedlings develop on the Bakau tree. Other trees provide a large food store for their seeds before sending them off.

Mangrove seeds and seedlings are dispersed by water. Ideally, the seedling would float and settle far away from the mother plant. The seedling will probably not do well if it grows under the shade of the mother tree. 		 

Mangrove seeds
washed ashore


Salt on leaf
 
See also ...
Mangroves in general.

Links
A salty snippet by Mike Samworth on the Microscopy UK website: close-up photos on the effects of salt on plant cells...quite dramatic!
Drift Seeds And Drift Fruits Seeds That Ride The Ocean Currents on Wayne's Word: A Newsletter of Natural History Trivia: a delightful and informative article with lots of information for the layman.
How does saltwater affect plants? on the Mad Scientist website: Keith McGuinness explains in easy terms how mangroves deal with too much salt and too much water.

Other references
  • Mastaller, Michael, 1997. Mangroves: The Forgotten Forest Between Land and Sea. Tropical Press, Malaysia, 200 pp.
  • Field, Colin, 1995. Journey among Mangroves. International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, 139 pp.
  • Stafford-Deitsch, Jeremy, 1996. Mangrove: The Forgotten Habitat. Immel Publishing, London. 277 pp.
  • Ng, Peter K. L. & N. Sivasothi, 1999. A Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore II (Animal Diversity). Singapore Science Centre. 168 pp.
  • Ng, Peter K. L. & N. Sivasothi, 1999. A Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore I (Plant Diversity). Singapore Science Centre. 168 pp. online version of the biotic components of mangroves and how plants cope with conditions in the mangroves
 

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