Red Mangrove
Rhizophora mangle · Plant
The red mangrove grows in salty tidal water on arching prop roots. Mangrove forests shelter young fish, protect coasts from storms and store large amounts of carbon.
Key facts
- Scientific name
- Rhizophora mangle
- Kind
- Plant
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN LC)
- Habitat
- Tidal coasts · estuaries
- Range
- Tropical coasts of the Americas and West Africa
- Size
- Usually under 10 m; up to 25 m
- Lifespan
- Decades to a century
- Diet
- Photosynthesis
- Activity
- Evergreen · tidal
- Population
- Widespread
Diet
Its roots filter out most of the salt from seawater before it reaches the tree.
Behavior
Seeds sprout while still on the tree; the young plants drop into the water and can float for months before rooting on a new shore.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Malpighiales
- Family
- Rhizophoraceae
- Genus
- Rhizophora
- Species
- R. mangle
Conservation
Not threatened as a species, but mangrove forests worldwide are being lost to coastal development and shrimp farming.
Main threats
- Coastal development
- Aquaculture
- Pollution