At the transition between sea and land, the mangrove forests with their interwoven root systems offer living space to a number of animals and plants.
Seaweed, snails, shells, fish, birds, crabs, insects and other tiny animals find protection from predators, food and a suitable place for reproduction in the tidal forest.
However, the role of this complex living space in the overall ecosystem has many more aspects:

Food for the smallest animals

As producers of biological "waste" (leaves, blossoms and fruits), mangroves supply primarily the first components of the food chain. A mangrove produces about 1.5 kg of organic substances in a year per one square metre.
Bacteria and fungi decompose substances that would be only hardly digestible for other inhabitants of the mangrove forests, thus increasing the volume of proteins. Zooplankton lives on these substances as well.
Small fish, shrimps and other molluscs eat the smallest rests of leaves, which are laden with colonies of these microorganisms. Small shellfish eat the remnants and secretions of shrimps and fish.

Supplier for reefs and sea grass meadows

However, the mangrove forests do not only provide food for animals in the nearest surroundings. A great deal of organic substances is regularly exported by the tide. Low and high tides wash the mud away to the open sea. Coral reefs and sea grass meadows offshore are constantly supplied with new organic substances.
Sea grass and reefs are food for turtles, sea cows and many fish species. This sub-aquatic world rich in species could not exist without the transport of nutrients.

Mangrove forest as a nursery

Many fish species use the mangroves for reproduction. Protection from the open sea, large predatory fish, as well as a rich offer of food provide ideal conditions. The snapper, an edible fish popular also in Europe, spends his youth in the mangroves of the tropical coastal regions. It is estimated that about two thirds of all fish species living in the sea grow up under the protection of mangroves.
A large number of birds, insects and plants have to rely on these forest regions, too.

Without mangroves, many supply gaps would emerge in the marine ecosystem, which would finally profoundly affect people at the top of the food chain.
The consequences of progressing deforestation are far-reaching...more