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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2016 3:58:09 GMT
Found an Animal Planet move about mangroves, in a series called "Bahama Blue", called "Mangroves". It runs about 45 minutes, and will prolly never air on commercial tv. The show is a lot not about the mangrove tree, but more about the larger animals living in the forests. A few things said made me look up mangroves on Wikipedia, which points out that the plants grow where they can in the intertidal zone, with different mangrove species living in different bands between the shore and the low tide line. This means the mangrove requires the tides, the rise and fall of water on it's roots. You will be unable to grow the trees on a floating raft that keeps a steady constant waterline. Some of the other living species of plant and animal in the typical mangrove also requires the daily waterflow. Being that the mangrove cannot control where there is suitable bottom, it is not a controlling method of where the sandy bottom exists (or collects sand). The mangrove cannot keep the sand there either, but the normal operation of a living biota can hold sand down, by deposition of leaves and branches, algae growth, burrowing animals, etc.. Further, the mangrove roots are no more of a impediment against hurricane waves than you holding a similar sized stick in the water. What does make a difference is the normal wave doesn't wash up over the mangrove trees, and the presence of the tree above the normal wave zone does slow the taller non-normal hurricane waves, but only compared to the trees not being there at all.
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Post by bobdohse on Dec 5, 2016 6:08:49 GMT
Several species of mangrove can obtain nutrients solely from the water. The red mangrove is sometimes grown by hobbyists in aquariums by rooting it on a rock.
The problem of a mangrove growing without soil in nature is that, without a structure to hold the mangrove above water, the lenticels cannot breath and the plant will rot.
Hobbyists solve that problem by providing an artificial support structure (e.g., the rock).
The purpose of a mangrove forest wouldn't be to stop a hurricane, but to dissipate surface wave energy. But it would need a floating scaffold.
Richie Sowa's floating island grows mangroves that aren't rooted to the bottom soils. They get their nutrients from the ocean water. He would improve his project by placing old wood under his island, but he's successful even without it.
But - to poke at Elmo's criticisms of "homestead" laboratories and private experimentation - this would be the perfect situation for a personal research project.
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Post by bobdohse on Dec 5, 2016 6:12:23 GMT
I wish that video was available on YouTube. 😢
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