Every June 8th is World Oceans Day. People around the world appreciate the numerous resources from the ocean that connects everyone. Also, this day aims to work “together” to protect and restore our ocean for a better future. The significance of the ocean I believe is that the ocean is home for so many ocean species that are so valuable to us. 

When talking about ocean biomes, the global focus is mostly on coral reefs as they are severely being bleached when more than 1 million marine species inhabit and continue their lives on them. However, mangrove is also one of the important biomes that we should be aware of. Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that grow in the intertidal regions of subtropical and tropical coastlines, meaning the seashore is flooded at high tide. They have a pretty simple structure as only mangroves, white, black, and red mangroves, inhabit in their biome, but zonation is known for their unique characteristics. Zonation is the distribution of plants or animals into specific “zones” according to such factors. Mangroves are distributed according to the depth and salinity of the ocean. Figure 1 illustrates how the three types of mangroves grow in different depths of water. 

Figure 1. Zonation of mangroves

Then, what are some significance of mangroves? First, they prevent eutrophication. Eutrophication happens when excessive richness of nutrients get into the ocean, which causes algal bloom. This is normally caused by the excess use of fertilizer on land: fertilizer reaches the ocean, flowing along with groundwater. In light of this, mangroves prevent eutrophication as they take the nutrients in before the nutrients reach the ocean and marine ecosystem. They also prevent sedimentation (soil going into the water) as they hold soils using their roots. This protects coral reefs because sediments prevent them from photosynthesis. Additionally, this helps marine organisms as well since sediments also affect the visibility in the water.

However, due to human activities and climate change, mangroves are being degraded. First of all, they are being cleared to make room for agricultural land, human settlements and infrastructure. This is the major factor of mangrove loss. Recently, mangroves are also being cleared for tourist developments, shrimp aquaculture, and salt farms. Secondly, changes in the river and the ocean affect mangroves as dams and irrigation reduce the amount of water reaching the forests. Furthermore, ocean acidification makes the water of the forest too acidic, which is not a suitable environment for mangroves to grow. Lastly, increased soil erosion due to deforestation massively increases the amount of sediment reaching the mangroves, which can overcome the filtering ability of mangroves. 

The ocean including mangroves has the ability of stabilizing itself. However, it is us who are disturbing their natural system and degrading our ocean. I hope this article helped raise your awareness for mangroves, and we should contribute in any way possible to help our ecosystems.

Work cited

workshop.co, Work-Shop Design Studio. “Mission and History.” World Oceans Day, worldoceansday.org/about/mission-and-history/.

US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “What Is a Mangrove Forest?” NOAA's National Ocean Service, 3 June 2009, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/mang

Gilman, Eric L., et al. “Threats to Mangroves from Climate Change and Adaptation Options: A Review.” Aquatic Botany, Elsevier, 3 Jan. 2008, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030437700800003X.