Does this cache contain a clue to A Mystery of Nature ?
Mangroves Defined
A mangrove is a tree, shrub, palm or ground fern, generally exceeding one half metre in height, that normally grows above mean sea level in the intertidal zone of marine coastal environments and estuarine margins. A mangrove is also the tidal habitat comprising such trees and shrubs.
The word ‘mangrove’ refers to the habitat in the same way as we think of ‘rainforest’ with its mixture of plant types. Sometimes the habitat is called a ‘tidal forest’ or a ‘mangrove forest’ to distinguish it from the trees that are also called mangroves.
MANGROVES AND OTHERS
Mangrove plants are not a single genetic entity because the plant types represented in the tidal zone are not all closely related. So, while they sometimes look the same, and have similar function, this tells us more about the environment they live in, rather than their family relationships. The plants growing in the tidal zone also require serious adaptations for their continued survival in this habitat. However, this does not preclude other plants from occasionally being found within the tidal zone. Some are grouped as ‘associates’ where they only occasionally occur in intertidal sediments and most of the time they are found elsewhere. Others do regularly also share the tidal niche, like saltmarsh plants, but these are smaller in size. A number of others, the epiphytes and plant parasites, perch in the branches and stems of mangroves. All these plants shape and define mangrove habitat.