This is the wonderful world of Rhizophora , Avicennia and Laguncularia , where what appear to be branches actually are roots the trees growing as much downward as up some of the trees 100 years old, yet barely knee high. Here, the meeting between land and sea is more of a courtship than a confrontation, the one giving way to the other gradually. As the water shallows, the mud underfoot becomes more perilous for its slickness than its suction and seems to vibrate with the perpetual, scuttling motion of crabs the size of quarters. On this research trip, Lovelock, a plant ecophysiologist, is accompanied by Ilka Feller, an insect ecologist. Md. Today, they are checking the progress of an experiment that measures the effect of added nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers on the growth of dwarf red mangroves, Rhizophora mangle.
Mangroves are prevalent along the world s tropical and subtropical coastlines.
In the Atlantic, they range from Miami to Rio de Janeiro and, in the Pacific, from Hong Kong to Sydney. Rather, it is used to describe a group of trees and shrubs that share characteristics that allow them to live in the warm, salty waters of the intertidal zone. Even the relatively rich Indo-Pacific coasts boast only about 40 mangrove species along their entire length. In the Western Hemisphere, only eight or so mangrove species can be found. And of this small set, just three kinds of mangrove tree are truly common.