Facts for Science Essay

 Facts for Science Essay

by Malachi Church

When water evaporates, it leaves salt behind. Which is usually washed away by rain. However, if there is not much rain, salt will build up and kill plants. So some plants have adapted to brine. There are many ways for plants to adapt to brine.

Mangrove swamps are very salty areas in tropical regions. They are found near the coast. There are tons of salt tolerant shrubs and ferns in mangrove swamps. Pines and palm trees are also very common in the swamp but most of all mangroves are there. You can find these swamps around the equator.

Mangroves are a great refuge for marine life because of their prop roots. Prop roots are like those stakes that hold up tents. The animals live there for the high concentration of nutrients. The marine life can hide from predators and the predators can hide can hide from the prey and snatch them from out of the gloom with other prey not noticing.  Isn't that cool?

Plants have to use special abilities to survive in mangrove swamps. Red mangrove (Rhizophera mangle) has waxy roots to keep the salt out. The salt that gets through gets dumped with the dead leaves. White mangroves take the salt into the leaves and squeezes it out. The leaves get covered with little white flakes which is the reasoning for the name. These types of plants are called Halophytes. Halophytes are plants that are adapted to salty conditions. Saltwater has about 40 grams per litre (g/l) of salt in it usually. Halophytes actually like to grow near salt water. There are other plants that have other ways of dealing with salt.

Mangroves roots are like filters cleaning out the salt but letting the water get in. Mangroves need tides to throw the excess salt away. There are four different kinds of mangrove roots knee roots, prop roots, buttress roots and pencil roots. The prop roots help protect marine life. The knee roots, buttress roots and pencil roots take in oxygen and support the tree as well as feed it. Mangroves stick their roots out of the ground for protection from the salt.  Mangroves can also stop erosion with their thick and sturdy roots. 

Mangroves do not do very well in fresh water but they do thrive in saltwater.  Red mangroves like to live in harsh saline soil of up to 60-65 parts per thousand (ppt). For black and white mangroves, 90 parts per thousand. This is something that regular plants can't do.  Is this awesome? That's what I think anyway.

Most plants don't survive in mangrove swamps. At the most there are 100 plant species in one swamp. It can go down to only two species because of the salt water.  Non-Halophytes can not thrive there.  

Mangroves aren't the only Halophytes. These are different Halophytes. These kinds of plants often get rid of salt through their leaves. Did you know that asparagus and beets are Halophytes? Those are just a few of them.  

There are places where salt resistant plants are needed. Those places are usually near the coast or where salt is used to remove snow on the roads. If we did not have salt resistant plants there would be no asparagus or beets and there would be huge areas with no plant life at all. We are lucky that the plants adapted.   

Works Cited

http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9274743/halophyte
http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/mangrove.cfm
 http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=39
 http://www.pumpsea.icat.fc.ul.pt/main.php?p=4