MANGROVE

Mangrove trees, known scientifically as Rhizophora Mangle and in Hawaiian terms as Kukuna-O-Ka-La, are trees and shrubs that grow in tropical and subtropical tidelands throughout the world. Mangroves grow exclusively in these tidal areas in large stands or groves to where these areas are referred to as their own ecological community, collectively called mangroves.
 
Mangrove roots are adapted to survive many challenges, especially since some of the conditions they thrive in include inundation by salt water twice a day, unstable and poor soils, swollen rivers carrying silt during the wet season, and violent storms that hit the coast.  To deal with the salt situation, all mangrove roots exclude some salt, and all trees can tolerate more salt in their tissues than "normal" plants, often in quantities that would kill other plants.  In addition, mangrove roots provide support in unstable soils to withstand currents and storms.  Amazingly, they also breathe air.  To avoid suffocation in the oxygen-deprived mud, mangrove trees must snorkel for air. They develop aerial or air-breathing roots. These take in aboveground air.  Mangrove roots contribute to the environment by penetrating and aerating soil and by preventing mud and sand from being washed away with the tide and river currents.  As the mud builds up and soil conditions improve, other plants are able to take root.
Mangrove trees are quite beneficial to their habitats.  For one, they provide refuge.  Animals such as crabs and sea snails climb up their aerial roots at high tide to avoid aquatic predators. The roots provide a surface for all kinds of creatures from algae to shellfish. Moreover, their branches provide shelter for creatures from Proboscis Monkeys and large herons to insects and other tiny organisms.  Underwater, a huge number of filter-feeders are fastened on the tangle of roots: barnacles, sponges, shellfish. These filter feeders clean the water of nutrients and silt. As a result, clear water travels out into the sea, allowing the coral reef ecosystem to flourish.
About 70 species of trees and shrubs are considered principal or true mangrove forms. These belong to 19 families, but of these only 2 are exclusively mangroves. Mangroves occur in numerous areas worldwide including the west coast of Costa Rica, southern coast of Pakistan, many Caribbean Islands, and intermingled within the Madagascar dry deciduous forests. The highest diversity of mangroves are found in the region from Malaysia to New Guinea. Because of their sensitivity to sub-freezing temperatures, mangroves in the continental United States are limited to the coastal Florida Peninsula from Cape Canaveral on the east around the keys and up to Tampa Bay on the west.
References:
http://www.lee-county.com/DCD/Environmental/Mangroves.htm
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/mangrove_trees.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove

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