Mangrove Rhizophora Mucronata Research Articles

Effect of water exchange with mangrove enclosures based on nitrogen budget in Penaeus monodon aquaculture ponds

A model experiment in which water was circulated between shrimp aquaculture ponds (Ponds 1, 2, and 5), and mangrove enclosures (Ponds 3 and 4), was carried out at the Samut Songkhram Coastal Aquatic Research Station, Thailand, from March through July 2003. Five ponds with a size of 40m×20m and 1.5m deep were used for this experiment. Ten thousand shrimp larvae Penaeus monodon at the PL-15 stage were stocked in Ponds 1 and 5, and 20 000 larvae were stocked in Pond 2. Mangrove Rhizophora mucronata (476 trees) had been planted in each of Ponds 3 and 4 in July 2002. Approximately 30% of the water in Ponds 2 and 5 was moved to the mangrove enclosures by siphon (Ponds 3 and 4, respectively) every Thursday, and the same amount was returned to the shrimp ponds by pump every Monday over the 136-day experiment. Shrimp incorporated 30.3, 25.6, and 33.7% of the input nitrogen as feed in Ponds 1, 2, and 5. Since 2.02 kg N in Pond 2 and 0.76 kg N in Pond 5 was transported to the mangrove ecosystem, and 4.26 kg N in Pond 2 and 3.98 kg N in Pond 5 was retained in water and mud, it was estimated that between 2.1 and 5.2 unit areas of mangroves is required to remove the nitrogen remaining in the aquaculture pond.

High‐resolution time series of vessel density in Kenyan mangrove trees reveal a link with climate

Tropical trees are often excluded from dendrochronological investigations because of a lack of distinct growth ring boundaries, causing a gap in paleoclimate reconstructions from tropical regions. The potential use of time series of vessel features (density, diameter, surface area and hydraulic conductivity) combined with spectral analysis as a proxy for environmental conditions in the mangrove Rhizophora mucronata was investigated. Intra-annual differences in the vessel features revealed a trade-off between hydraulic efficiency (large vessels) during the rainy season and hydraulic safety (small, more numerous vessels) during the dry season. In addition to the earlywood-latewood variations, a semiannual signal was discovered in the vessel density and diameters after Fourier transformation. The similarity in the Fourier spectra of the vessel features and the climate data, in particular mean relative humidity and precipitation, provides strong evidence for a climatic driving force for the intra-annual variability of the vessel features. The high-resolution approach used in this study, in combination with spectral analysis, may have great potential for the study of climate variability in tropical regions.

Annual cyclicity in high‐resolution stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the wood of the mangrove tree Rhizophora mucronata

ABSTRACTIn the present study, the high‐resolution stable carbon (13C/12C) and oxygen (18O/16O) isotope ratio profiles in the wood of the mangrove Rhizophora mucronata Lam., a tropical tree species lacking distinct growth rings, were investigated. Variations of both isotope ratios revealed a remarkable annual cyclicity with lowest values occurring at the latewood/earlywood boundary (April–May) and highest values during the transition from earlywood to latewood (October–November). Based on the current knowledge of the physiology of this mangrove species, as well as on the current literature available on high‐resolution profiles of stable isotope ratios in tree rings, possible driving forces responsible for this seasonal pattern are discussed. The annual cyclicity, together with a conspicuous isotope pattern appearing in the El‐Niño year 1997, promises great potential for tropical dendrochronology.

Growth rings, growth ring formation and age determination in the mangrove Rhizophora mucronata.

The mangrove Rhizophora mucronata has previously been reported to lack annual growth rings, thus barring it from dendrochronological studies. In this study the reported absence of the growth rings was reconsidered and the periodic nature of light and dark brown layers visible on polished stem discs investigated. In addition, the formation of these layers in relation to prevailing environmental conditions, as well as their potential for age determination of the trees, was studied. Trees of known age were collected and a 2.5-year cambial marking experiment was conducted to determine the periodic nature of the visible growth layers. Annual indistinct growth rings were detected in R. mucronata and are defined by a low vessel density earlywood and a high vessel density latewood. The formation of these growth rings and their periodic nature was independent from site-specific environmental conditions in two forests along the Kenyan coast. However, the periodic nature of the rings was seriously affected by slow growth rates, allowing accurate age determination only in trees with radial growth rates above 0.5 mm year(-1). The onset of the formation of the low vessel density wood coincided with the onset of the long rainy season (April-May) and continues until the end of the short rainy season (November). The high vessel density wood is formed during the dry season (December-March). Age determination of the largest trees collected in the two studied forests revealed the relatively young age of these trees (+/-100 years). This study reports, for the first time, the presence of annual growth rings in the mangrove R. mucronata, which offers further potential for dendrochronological and silvicultural applications.

Does the Wood-borer Sphaeroma terebrans (Crustacea) Shape the Distribution of the Mangrove Rhizophora mucronata?

Field surveys were conducted to evaluate the occurrence of the isopod borer Sphaeroma terebrans (Crustacea) in aerial roots (prop roots) of the red mangrove Rhizophora mucronata on several different spatial scales (m to 100 km) in East Africa. In 6 out of 17 sites studied in Kenya and on Zanzibar Island, Tanzania, no signs of the isopods were found. When the isopods were present the frequency of infestation was high. Trees in muddy substrates in the lower intertidal, in particular at fringing channels or the open sea, showed high prevalence and intensity of infestation, with large part of their roots damaged or dead. Trees at the upper range of Rhizophora, in sandy and muddy areas, showed no signs of isopod infestation. This pattern recurred in mangrove forests on large spatial scales and there was no indication that island forests differed from the mainland forests. This indicates that sediment characteristics, vertical height in the tidal zone, and direct exposure to incoming water are the major factors controlling the abundance of S. terebrans. The isopod may play an important role in determining the lower intertidal limits of R. mucronata. Trees with numerous dead or nongrowing roots, as result of Sphaeroma attack, are likely to tumble due to a lack of root support and this is most likely to occur along channels at the lower, muddy intertidal. Tumbled trees were frequently observed along channels in the lower, muddy intertidal, but rarely in the mid or high intertidal. Implications for management of mangrove forests are discussed.

Responses of the mangrove Rhizophora mucronata to high salinities and low osmotic potentials

The effect of solutions of seawater or non-saline polyethylene glycol (PEG)-6000 on dry mass, tissue water potential, stomatal resistance and inorganic solute uptake were investigated in the mangrove, Rhizophora mucronata Lam. Plants were treated with solutions of seawater or PEG-6000 at osmotic potentials of − 0,05, − 0,5, − 1,2 and − 2,4 MPa for three weeks. Generally, effects of salinity and PEG-6000 were similar. Low external osmotic potentials decreased root mass, lowered tissue water potentials, increased stomatal resistance and influenced distribution of Na, K, Ca and Mg in tissues. The similarity of the responses of the plants to salinity and PEG-6000 suggests that the effects of salinity are mediated primarily through low osmotic potentials and not by salinity per se.

Salt Regulation in the Mangroves Rhizophora Mucronata Lam. And Aegialitis Annulata Rbr

The mangrove Rhizophora mucronata grows in an intertidal region and exchfdes salt from its xylem (17 m�equiv. chloride per litre of sap) more efficiently than does the salt� secreting mangrove AegialitiB annulata (85-122 m�equiv. chloride per litre of sap). From the transpiration stream each leaf of Rhizophora receives about 17 p.�equiv. chloride each day, but the chloride concentration of the growing leaf remains approximately constant (510-560 m�equiv. chloride per litre of sap water). In Aegialiti8 input of chloride to a mature leaf is about 100 p..equiv. per day and this input is balanced by secretion (mainly of sodium chloride) from the salt glands. Secretion collected under oil contains chloride, 450 p.-equiv/ml, sodium, 355 p.-equiv/ ml, and potassium, 27 p.-equiv/ml. Secretion rates from leaves on the tree, based on leaf area, vary from 93 p-equiv. cm-2 sec-1 during the day to 3 p-equiv. cm-2 sec-1 in darkness; the secretion in light, based on an effective gland area, is about 25,000 p-equiv. cm-2 sec-I. The water potential of the secretion is close to that in the leaf suggesting that secretion involves active transport of salt and passive movement of water by local osmosis.