Mangroves
What are they?
A mangrove is a type of tree that lives between the sea and the land, in areas that are flooded and drained by tidal waters. There are over 30 species of mangroves in Australia. While most trees would drown in such a salty water-logged environment, the mangrove has adapted to this environment in amazing ways, such as developing pneumatophores (breathing roots).
Mangrove pneumatophores
What lives there?
Mangroves provide a sheltered area for a large variety of marine animals. The floor of the mangrove forest is home to many marine worms, crabs, crustaceans and snails. The juveniles of fish, such as garfish, find shelter and food amongst the mangrove roots. At low tide, fish concentrate in the deeper tidal creeks that drain the mangrove forest. At high tide, larger fish and dolphins are able to move along these creeks, and into the forest itself, to feed.
Where are these habitats?
There is only one type of mangrove, the grey mangrove (Avicennia marina) found in South Australia . Near Adelaide , mangroves can be found along parts of the Port River and Barker Inlet. One of the most visited mangrove forests found along the Adelaide coastline is north of the city at St Kilda, where you can take a guided tour along the boardwalk trail through the mangrove forest.
Click here for a Mangrove Forests fact sheet (PDF 209kb)