The Mangrove

Ecosystem
 What are mangroves???
• They are coastal trees or shrubs that
are adopted to estuarine or even saline
environments

• The term mangrove refers to individual

plants, whereas mangal refers to the
whole community dominated by these
plants
Distribution of Mangroves
Forty species of mangroves dominate approximately 75%
of the world's tropical coastlines between 25° N and 25° S.
In certain locations, this range extends beyond these limits
due to the movement of unusually warm waters from
the equator

occur 10-15° farther extends 5-7° farther

south north
east coast of Africa Japan
Australia Florida
New Zealand Bermuda
Red Sea

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/FISH/southflorida/mangrove/images/mangrovebasemap.JPG
MANGROVE
distribution in
Baybay City
 Species Composition

 80 species worldwide
 65 species occur in SE Asia
 11 species in the New World and
Caribbean
 9 species in Eastern Africa-Kenya
 47 mangrove species in the Philippines
(Melana and Gonzales 1996)
– species belonging to 26 families
– 26 out of the 47 species are true mangrove
tree and palm species
 The most diverse mangrove forest in the
Philippines is in….
• 29 in Pagbilao, Quezon with (Fortes 1989)
• 21 in Misom in Baliangao, Misamis Occidental (Cadiz
and de Leon 1994)
• 15 in Bais Bay, Negros (Calumpong 1992, Baggayan
1992)
• 15 in Cebu (Hamoy and Garciano 1975)
• 7 in Bontoc, Southern Leyte (VISCA team 1996)
• 4 in Inopacan Leyte (VISCA team 1996), 10 species
(latest survey by DBS major students, 2013)
• 5 in Punta, Baybay, Leyte (VISCA team 1996)
• 7 in Palhi, Baybay, Leyte (VISCA team 1996)
Adaptations for mangroves to live in
saline environments
– As facultative halophytes
• do not require saltwater to survive
• capable of growing in freshwater habitats,
although most do not due to competition
from other plants
• changing tides, in combination with salinity
levels, reduces competition from other plant
species

– additional energy spent to adapt allows less

energy to be allocated for growth thus results to
stunted growth (Takemura et al. 2000)
Mechanical adaptations for attachment
•prop roots – from lower part of stem
•rhizopores -drop – from branches and upper part of stem
•Pneumatophores – cable roots (erect aerial roots)
rhizophores and pneumatophores both with well
developed aerenchymas or specialized air systems in the
cortex for gas exchange
•evolution of vivipary – embryo initiate germination from
seed while still on the tree
 Characteristic features that allow
mangroves to live in marine waters

• Shallow roots that spread widely across

substrate, often with extensions called
pneumatophores that project from mud and
allow absorption of oxygen in a rather
anoxic substrates

• have buttresses (prop or stilt roots) from

trunks and/or branches for better anchorage
during strong winds
 Abiotic factors Mangroves
have to deal
• High salinity
• Low oxygen content
• Instability of the flooded substrate
 Approaches to mangrove
ecosystem assessment
• Primary productivity of plant
communities is correlated with
– leaf area index

• Leaf area index can be converted to

net canopy photosynthesis
– leaf area index x average rate of
photosynthesis per unit leaf area

• Useful indicator of environmental

stress
– leaf shedding and leaf growth are
usually sensitive to environmental
factors
 Continue,,,,,

Remote sensing-
e.g, Biña et al. (1979)
using LANDSAT
imagery determined
the mangrove forest of
Leyte to cover 2,576.5
ha.
– UNEP-FAO (1980)
– listed Carigara to have
large and contiguous
mangrove cover
Ground truth surveys

• Transect quadrat method

– quantitatively describe the community
structure and plant biomass of the mangrove
forest
– Permanent plots are established along the
transect through the mangrove forest types or
zones
– permanent plots are suited for long-term
monitoring of changes in community
structure
– Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) can be used
to calculate above ground biomass.
Ecological Features and Zonation
• Tides are important in the
determination of mangrove
association and zonation
– Seaward zone
• daily flooded by tidal inundation including
neap tides
• Species found in here are termed
“frontliners” and are generally true
mangroves
• Soil type ranges from sandy loam, mudflat
or coralline
– sandy coralline: Sonneratia (pagatpat)
• Sandy loam: Rhizophora mucronata
(bakauan-babae), Aegiceras corniculatum
(saging-saging) and A. floridum (tinduk-
tindukan)

• sandy loam to clayey mudflats:

Comptostemom philippinensis (gapas-
gapas)
– Middle zone
• flooded during normal high tide
• soil is generally clayey, silty to silty clay
• species that usually inhabit here include:
Avicennia alba (piapi) A. officinalis (apiapi),
A. corniculatum (saging-saging), A. floridum
(tinduk-tindukan), Bruguiera sexagula
(pototan), Ceriops (tangal), Excoecaria
agallocha (buta-buta), Xylocarpus (tabigi),
• Lumnitzera racemosa (kulasi), Scyphiphora
hydropllacea (Nilad) and Nypa (nipa)
– Landward zone
• back portion of the mangrove swamps
• usually remains unaffected by tidal
movements over a long period of time
except during exceptional high tides called
“spring tides”
• soil is generally clay to silty clay
• vegetation is highly diverse due to presence
of vines, epiphytes and mangrove
associates in addition to Avicennia (api-api
and piapi), Bruguiera (pototan), Excoecaria
(buta-buta), Scyphiphora (nilad) and Nipa
– Riverine
• portions along or bordering the rivers
• at river mouths: Avicennia (bungalon, api-
api), Aegiceras (saging-saging and tinduk-
tindukan), Rhizophora (Bakauan-babae,
bakauan-lalake and bakauan-bangkaw),
• along river banks going inland (soil
generally clayey): Avicennia, Aegiceras,
Bruguiera, Excoecaria, Scyphiphora, and
Xylocarpus
 Mangrove zonation

Avicennia

Seaward Zone Middle Zone Landward Zone

– flooded even by neap tide – flooded by normal high tide – flooded by spring tide only
– associated species
Are mangroves
important???
• Ecological Importance
– Habitat, nursery and feeding ground of
various animals
– above tide forest: formed by trunks and
leaf canopy
• inhabited by birds, bats, lizards, tree snakes,
snails, land crabs and mangrove crabs
(keystone species) spiders, insects (most most
diverse and abundant)
• 5% of leaf production here by terrestrial
grazers, the rest enter the aquatic systems
as debris and becoming available for marine
detrivores, either fish or invertebrates
– Intertidal swamp
• offers a variety of different substrates and
different microhabitats to support a more
diverse community of marine species
• organisms attach to mangrove roots ,
others in or on mudflats or mudbanks
• barnacles and oysters are common
epifauna on roots with the latter often the
dominant contributor to community
biomass
• Nematode, periwinkles,polychaete worms,
sea cucumbers, fiddler crabs, amphipods,
shrimps, mudskippers and other fish
species are also common
 • leaf fall is a major source of nutrients and energy
in the intertidal swamp
– subtidal zone
• high organic content
• subtidal mangrove roots support a rich epifauna
and epiflora of algae, sponges, tunicates,
anemones, hydroids and bryozoans
• turtle grass (Thalassia) may be dominant benthic
plant that stabilize mud bottom
• burrowing animals (crabs, shrimps, worms) are
common and their burrows facilitate oxygen
penetration into the mud and ameliorate anoxic
conditions
• fish, crabs, lobsters and shrimp form basis for
local fisheries
Complex root system trap
sediment and help build
land mass as well as protect
shore lines from erosion
• Economic Importance
– a wide variety of marine organisms are
harvested for food and income by
coastal residents

– Mangrove trees provide direct

economic benefit
• (table 1)
Table 1. Mangrove utilization by species and part of plant (Central
Visayas Techno Guide)
Species Wood Part Flower/Fruits/Seeds/Ro
ots/Resin/Sap/Leaves
Acanthus Leaf juice applied to
ebracteatus scalp to preserve hair
(Tigbau)
A. Good for firewood and
corniculatum charcoal
(saging-
saging)
A. alba (Piapi) Good for firewood, rice Resinous substance can
mortar and small cabinet be tapped and used for
work, bark used as birth control purposes,
astringent ointment from seeds is
useful for relieving pox
ulceration
A. marina Good for firewood, rice Flowers are source of
(bungalon) mortar and small cabinet pollen and strong
work, ash from wood is flavored supporting bee
used in soap making colonies
Bruguiera Good for firewood, charcoal, Fruit can be
gymnorrhiza (busain) sleepers, house posts, eaten
and B. sexangula furniture, bark source of tannin
(pototan) (tanning agent, dye stuff)

B. parviflora (langarai) Good for firewood and

charcoal, substitute for
petroleum coke used in the
manufacture of calcium carbide
and ferro-alloys which in turn
are utilized in various chemical,
plastic and metal industries
Ceriops tagal (tangal) Good for firewood, charcoal,
house posts, poles, bark is
used for tannin and used for
batik and mat-making, also
yield plywood adhesives
Rhizophora Good for firewood, Fruits are scraped and eaten in
mucronata charcoal, furniture, bark the Philippines, light wine is
(bakauan-babae) source of tannin, prop fermented from fruits, honey is
roots are used as produced from nectar
mosquito repellent (in
Indonesia)
Sonneratia Firewood, charcoal, Air roots used as net floats,
caseolaris furniture, bridge and manufacture of inner soles for
(pagatpat) wharf building etc, bark shoes and substitute for cork or
source of tannin pitch, sap is applied to skin as
cosmetic
Nypa (nipa) Young seeds are eaten raw or
made into sweetmeats, sap
source of vinegar, sugar and
wine, leaves made into nipa
shingles for roofing
 Threats to Mangrove Ecosystem

• Environmental disturbance
– cutting for land reclamation
– garbage and sewage dumping near
populated areas
– accumulation of pesticides (used as
insect control) in estuarine sediments
and mangrove food chains
– over cutting/over harvesting for fuel and
charcoal
 Status of the Philippine Mangrove
Forest
• Mangrove forest in the Philippines has
diminished steadily due to overharvesting
• Mangrove had been regarded as “worthless”
that can only be made productive if
developed to aquaculture
• such “worthless” concept” has led to
wholesale destruction of the ecosystem
• Original mangrove forest=500 000 (1920)
• left is 100 000 ha (1996)
 What can be done???
• Environmental education
• include mangrove in municipal utilization
zoning
• strict implementation of ordinance
prohibiting illegal cutting of trees
• reforestation/mangrove transplantation
• promote sustainable utilization of the
well managed forest
– not harvesting mother trees
– selective harvesting/thinning