Mangroves in the context of "Seaweed farming"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Mangroves in the context of "Seaweed farming"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Mangroves

A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen and remove salt, allowing them to tolerate conditions that kill most plants. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse due to convergent evolution in several plant families. They occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator. Mangrove plant families first appeared during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene epochs and became widely distributed in part due to the movement of tectonic plates. The oldest known fossils of mangrove palm date to 75 million years ago.

Mangroves are salt-tolerant (halophytic) and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions. They contain a complex salt filtration system and a complex root system to cope with saltwater immersion and wave action. They are adapted to the low-oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud, but are most likely to thrive in the upper half of the intertidal zone.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Mangroves in the context of Seaweed farming

Seaweed farming or kelp farming is the practice of cultivating and harvesting seaweed. In its simplest form farmers gather from natural beds, while at the other extreme farmers fully control the crop's life cycle.

The seven most cultivated taxa are Eucheuma spp., Kappaphycus alvarezii, Gracilaria spp., Saccharina japonica, Undaria pinnatifida, Pyropia spp., and Sargassum fusiforme. Eucheuma and K. alvarezii are attractive for carrageenan (a gelling agent); Gracilaria is farmed for agar; the rest are eaten after limited processing. Seaweeds are different from mangroves and seagrasses, as they are photosynthetic algal organisms and are non-flowering.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Mangroves in the context of Dominance (ecology)

Ecological dominance is the degree to which one or several species have a major influence controlling the other species in their ecological community (because of their large size, population, productivity, or related factors) or make up more of the biomass. Both the composition and abundance of species within an ecosystem can be affected by the dominant species present.

In most of the world's ecosystems, biologists have repeatedly observed a rank-abundance curve in which ecosystems comprise a handful of incredibly abundant species, but more numerous, rarer species that are few in number. Danish botanist Christen C. Raunkiær described this phenomenon as his "law of frequency" in 1918, in which he recognized that in communities with a single species accounting for most of the biomass, species diversity was often lower.

↑ Return to Menu

Mangroves in the context of Cerbera manghas

Cerbera manghas (formerly Cerbera tanghin), commonly known as the sea mango, tangena or bintaro is a small evergreen coastal tree growing up to 12 metres (39 ft) tall. It is native to coastal areas in Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific islands. It is classified as one of the three species in the genus Cerbera that constitute mangroves. Despite its name, it is not closely related to the mango (Mangifera indica).

↑ Return to Menu