Mangroves
Mangroves have recently become a new addition to the reef aquarium.
Is it because of the photo's and articles written by Julian Sprung, or
the belief that they will help remove nutients ? Could it be an attempt
to rival those European freshwater planted aquariums, or possibly some
way that we can increase the dynamics of our reef ecosystem ? What ever
the reason Mangroves offer the marine aquarist some new challenges.
There are 15.9 million hectares of Mangrove Forests in the tropical
oceans around the world. In the Atlantic they are found from Florida to
Argentina, and both the western and eastern coasts of Africa. They stretch
into India, Burma and to south-east Asia. Mangrove forests are also found
in New Zealand and Australia, although Indonesia hosts over a quarter of
the world's mangrove population.
Mangroves provide not only shelter and homes for a number of organisms,
both above and below the water, but some organisms are indigenous specifically
to these shoreline forests. Additionally mangrove forests help control
erosion by dissipating the pounding of waves on shorelines and thus stabilizing
embankments.
Want to know more about Mangroves ? Follow these links ;
Mangrove
Replenishment
Small Scale Mangrove Farming
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