Education

Mangroves are tidal forests (trees and shrubs) that have developed a number of unique and specialised features that allow them to live in the intertidal zone. Living on the edge of the ocean they have developed strategies to cope with high salinity, unstable and waterlogged soils, tides and waves. But mangroves are not only amazing habitats with fascinating plants and wildlife, they are also very important coastal ecosystems.

Mangroves are particularly important ecosystems because they provide numerous ecological services, such as carbon storage and erosion control on unstable coastlines. They also provide valuable habitat for a wide range of marine and terrestrial species. Mangroves teem with life – every square metre of mud can support an abundant variety of organisms and the trees are alive with birds and other animals. Each tide brings with it a host of marine life, ready to feed and shelter within these  rich tidal forests.

Mangroves are also important because of their high primary productivity – they are actually comparable with rainforests in terms of the rich amount of organic material they produce. The leaf litter shed by mangroves breaks down into rich organic matter called detritus, which is the basis of vast food webs (both within the mangroves and the sea beyond).

Not surprisingly, mangroves are habitats for an extraordinary diverse range of wildlife and are considered to be biodiversity ‘hotspots’. For this reason, they are a very important feeding ground for both land and marine species. Many people are increasingly aware of these links – especially that healthy mangroves means healthy fisheries.

Living at the interface of the land and the sea, mangroves also provide a number of important ‘free services’ that are often not recognised, including shoreline protection and stabilisation, stormwater filtration and recycling of nutrients – keeping our harbours clean. Importantly, mangroves are of increasing economic importance due to their extremely high carbon storage capacity. The deep anoxic muds on which mangroves grow can store up to ten times more carbon than terrestrial forests, and for very long periods of time.

Nearly half of Australia’s total mangrove area occurs along the NT coastline and these mangroves have been described as perhaps the most healthy and least impacted in the world. Consequently we are the custodians of a very important national and global resource that should be managed wisely.