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Mangroves, trees that grow in salt water on tropical coasts, protect shorelines by slowing waves and store large amounts of carbon in the mud beneath them.

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Mangrove roots, some sticking up out of the mud like snorkels to take in air, slow waves, trap sediment and limit erosion, and their tangle of underwater roots shelters fish, crabs and young sea creatures. Mangrove forests also hold large amounts of 'blue carbon', the name for carbon stored by coastal and ocean ecosystems. Much of it lies in the waterlogged, oxygen-poor mud, where dead plant matter rots so slowly that carbon can stay buried for centuries. Studies of tropical forests have found that, area for area, mangroves are among the most carbon-rich forests on Earth. Clearing them for shrimp farms or building therefore releases carbon as well as destroying habitat and natural coastal defences.

Türkçe oku
Mangrovlar, tropik kıyılarda tuzlu suyun içinde yetişen ağaçlardır. Dalgaların gücünü kırarak kıyıyı korur, altlarındaki çamurda da büyük miktarda karbon saklarlar.

Mangrov köklerinin bir kısmı, hava almak için çamurdan şnorkel gibi yukarı uzanır. Kökler dalgaları yavaşlatır, tortuyu tutar ve kıyının aşınmasını azaltır; su altındaki sık kök ağı da balıklara, yengeçlere ve yavru deniz canlılarına sığınak olur. Mangrov ormanları ayrıca bol miktarda “mavi karbon”, yani kıyı ve deniz ekosistemlerinin depoladığı karbonu tutar. Bunun büyük kısmı suya doymuş, oksijeni az çamurdadır; ölü bitki kalıntıları orada öyle yavaş çürür ki karbon yüzyıllarca gömülü kalabilir. Tropik ormanlarla ilgili araştırmalar, alan başına bakıldığında mangrovların dünyanın karbonca en zengin ormanları arasında olduğunu gösteriyor. Bu yüzden karides çiftlikleri ya da yapılaşma için mangrovları kesmek, hem yaşam alanlarını ve kıyının doğal korumasını yok eder hem de karbonu atmosfere salar.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Mangrove
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