• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Mangrove Hub

Mangrove Adventure and Fun

  • What are Mangroves?
  • Free Resources
  • About Us

What Does Garbage do to Mangrove Plants Part 1

February 29, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

What Does Garbage do to Mangrove Plants Part 1

There is lots of information out there about what garbage does to the overall mangrove community. But not much information about its affect on the actual mangrove trees!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In order to fully understand the effect of garbage on the mangrove plant, we need to consider something very important. What is garbage? For the sake of this post, garbage is waste or any matter that is no longer wanted or needed and has been disposed of legally or illegally. Because the term garbage is such as limiting one, I will refer to all garbage as waste. And waste can be either liquid, solid or gas. So we will look at three types of waste including;

1. Liquid waste
2. Oil waste
3. Metal waste

So with that in mind, let us look at the specific types of waste and what they do to the mangrove plants.

Liquid Waste

Liquid waste can originate from households, golf courses, gullies, and sewage treatment plants. The liquid waste can take the form of sewage material, fertilizers, detergents and pesticides to name a few. In many parts of the world this waste is released directly into the water.

When liquid waste comes in contact with mangrove plants, the major concern is over-nutrition. In other words, there is the risk of too much nitrogen and phosphorus entering the mangrove community.

The soil in the mangroves can do a pretty good job of trapping phosphorous but not so with nitrogen. The short term affect of the wastewater is little to no affect on mangrove tree growth, its thickness or structure of the community. However, there are some areas with little to no tidal action. If wastewater is continually flowing in these areas, the long term affect can be detrimental to the plant. High amounts of nutrients can cause disease and death to the mangrove plant.

It only takes one plant species to suffer and the entire composition of the mangrove plant community is rearranged. So for example, if the Black mangrove has suffered damage to its above ground roots, the plant will not be able to carry out respiration and the growth will be retarded, hence making way for a new type of mangrove plant to grow in its place.

Continue reading part 2 of this post where we look at what oil waste does to the mangrove plant.

Filed Under: Mangrove Education

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Get Your E-book – Bahamas Plants & Animals

New to the Site? Start Here

Recent Posts

  • What are the Arguments For and Against Saving Mangroves? Part 2
  • What are the Arguments For and Against Saving Mangroves? Part 1
  • Animals in the Mangroves
  • What Does Garbage do to Mangrove Plant Part 3
  • What Does Garbage do to Mangrove Plant Part 2

Tags

animals in the mangroves blue holes mangrove ecosystem mangrove ecosystems mangrove fish mangrove forests mangrove myths mangrove snappers mangrove trees

Useful Sites

  • Mangrove education

Footer

What are Mangroves provides informal education about Mangroves and the mangrove environment. Our tools and support provide simple yet effective ways for you to learn more about these amazing plants and animals.

  • Shop Resources
  • Blog
  • About us
  • Get in Touch
  • Facebook

Join Other Mangrove Enthusiasts as we Explore More

When you sign up for our community, you'll get first access to our growing library of mangrove flora and fauna education and resources.

  • What are Mangroves?
  • Free Resources
  • About Us

Copyright © 2023 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in