THE MANGROVE HABITAT A variety
of organisms utilize mangrove habitats. Marine species inhabitant
the underwater prop root complex and tidal channels. All fish and
shellfish caught commercially, and by recreational means, utilize
mangrove habitat at some point in their life cycle. Amphipods, fiddler
crabs, killifish and minnows live in mangroves and eat detritus.
Lobster larvae floating in the plankton, migrate to the roots of
red mangroves. They consume both plant and animal material. The
sea trout (from the croaker family) tolerate higher turbidity and
feed on fish in mangroves and sea grass beds. Also carnivorous,
snook can be found in the mangroves. In
addition to the marine organisms, both terrestrial organisms and
birds utilize the forest floor, root complex and the canopy. Mangrove
communities are also known to provide habitat for a number of threatened
and endangered species.
Mangroves
reproduce by dropping their 'propagules' into the water which float
across the waters until they lodge into the ground, on perhaps a
distant seashore. There they take root and form a new plant, if
allowed to grow. Propagules contain no seeds. They have already
matured on the plant and are 'ready to go' plants that only need
lodge themselves to send out their roots and leaves. They are viable,
floating in the ocean, for up to a year.
DRY FOREST PLANTS SLIDESHOW
Watch my video of the daytime Mangrove canals
THE BIOBAY HABITAT
The
bioluminescent dinoflagellates 'Pyrodinium bahamense v. bahamense' are
a photosynthesis using plankton who create chemical light at night. They are one celled and measure
about 1/500 th of an inch. The tiny burst of light it gives off
at night is a hundred times bigger than itself. Each dinoflagellate bursts into light when
it feels pressure against its cell wall. When you add the light bursts of
a million dinoflagellates per cubic foot of water together the effect
is spectacular!
Almost
all marine bioluminescence is (greenish) blue in color, for two
related reasons. First, blue-green light (wavelength around 470
nm) transmits furthest in water. The reason that underwater photos
usually look blue is because red light is quickly absorbed as
you descend. The second reason for bioluminescence to be blue
is that most organisms are sensitive only to blue light.
The
luminescence of a single dinoflagellate is readily visible to
the dark adapted human eye. Most dinoflagellates emit about 6e8
photons in a flash lasting only about 0.1 second. Much larger
organisms such as jellyfish emit about 2e11 photons per second
for sometimes tens of seconds. The intensity of luminescence by
photosynthetic dinoflagellates is strongly influenced by the intensity
of sunlight the previous day. The brighter the sunlight the brighter
the flash! Which is only emitted at night.
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Black Necked Stilt
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