Mangrove ecosystem

Mangrove ecosystem

1. HABITAT FOR ANIMALS

   • Its part of the supportive service that mangroves do to help the ecosystem. Mangrove systems are critically important habitats for a wide range of aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, molluscs and crabs. It doesn´t really have a monetary value but it proves to act as a home for the fauna, and keep species safe while developing an energy chain.

2. COASTLINE ECONOMY

   • The strong roots and protective buffer zone helps shield coastlines from storm damage and wave action, minimizing damage to property and losses of life from hurricanes and storms. It belongs in the regulating services category and it helps bussinesses save up thousands of pesos that would otherwise be spent on reparations.

3. NURSERY AND REPRODUCTION

   • This goes hand to hand with the mangrove being a natural habitat, in which the fauna can reproduce and develop an extense number of species. Due to its high productivity of resources like food, it becomes clear that mangroves are a great reproductive environment. This factor integrates into the supportive category, because it helps the ecosystem thrive, while not supporting economic value

4. SOIL STABILIZATION / EROSION PROTECTION

   • The stability mangroves provide is essential for preventing shoreline erosion. By acting as buffers catching materials washed downstream, they help stabilize land elevation by sediment accretion, thereby balancing sediment loss. In regions where these coastal fringe forests have been cleared, tremendous problems of erosion and siltation have arisen. It is a regulating service, and it provides great value to the quality of soil as seen, while it is not of great monetary value to humans.

5. WATER QUALITY

   • Mangroves have been useful in treating effluent, as the plants absorb excess nitrates and phosphates, thereby preventing contamination of nearshore waters. It acts as a regulating service, and it makes the water rich in nutrients, which improve the overall health of the ecosystem.

6. FLOOD MITIGATION

   • By the simple fact that mangroves absorb water and have a strong root system, added to the fact that they are great for soil, flood mitigation is a huge contribuition to economy and the ecosystem itself. Such as saving the coastline economy, mangroves save up millions from the government, that would otherwise be spent on figuring how to repair and get the soil on its feet again.

7. CARBON DIOXIDE

   • Mangroves absorb carbon dioxide and store carbon in their sediments, thereby lessening the impacts of global warming. Mangrove forests sequester approximately 1.5 metric tons/hectare/yr of carbon, or 3.7 lbs/acre/day of carbon (1336 lbs/acre/yr). Mangrove substrate may contain 20-25% carbon, which may also help explain the high productivity and biodiversity of these ecosystems. This is huge, because as we know, trees and mangroves help mitigate the effects of the cause destroying the world. Pretty much, mangroves are key to our salvation. Again, is another example of a regulating service that the mangroves provide, and it is a main factor of why we shoud save them

8. PROTECTION OF ASSOCIATED MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

   • Sea grass beds and coral reefs depend on healthy mangroves to filter sediments and provide nursery grounds for resident species. This acts as a supportive system, as it even helps other ecosystems remain balanced.

9. ECOSYSTEM GOODS

   • Traditional and indigenous coastal populations have found sustenance from mangroves, collecting products and resources in a sustainable manner for hundreds or even thousands of years, including: firewood, medicines, fibers & dyes, food, charcoal , construction materials. This helps the economy in a great way, and it is clearly a provisioning service to the community. According to a recent report, these goods and services are conservatively estimated to be worth US$186 million each year.

10. TOURISM

    • Given the diversity of life inhabiting mangrove systems, and their proximity in many cases to other tourist attractions such as coral reefs and sandy beaches, it is perhaps surprising that only a few countries have started to tap into the tourism potential of their mangrove forests. Places as diverse as Bonaire and offer snorkelling expeditions in and around mangroves to witness a marvellous variety of baby fish, jellyfish, and urchins against a magical background of interwoven roots delving deep into the sandy substrate. Great potential exists elsewhere for revenue generation in this manner, which values the mangroves intact and as they stand. This is a cultural service, because it provides an experience, and it has some revenue at the end of the day.