The Southern Africa mangroves are

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

on the Mozambique's southernmost coast and the eastern coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Location and description

These mangroves grow in the mouths of rivers on the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

coast of South Africa, where the sea is warmed by the Agulhas Current, in many cases they are further sheltered from the ocean by sandbanks. The largest areas are in the estuaries of the Mhlathuze River and Lake St. Lucia. Mangroves extend as far south as the Nahoon River at 32°56′S., the most southerly occurrence of mangroves in Africa.Naidoo, Gonasageran (2016). "The mangroves of South Africa: An ecophysiological review". ''South African Journal of Botany'', Volume 107, November 2016, Pages 101-113 Mangroves mostly grow in the estuaries of perennial rivers. There are approximately 1921 hectares of mangrove remaining on South Africa's coast. The largest mangrove areas are at Mhlathuze (652.1 ha), Lake St. Lucia (571 ha), Richards Bay (267 ha), Mngazana (118 ha), Mlalazi (60.7 ha), and Kosi Bay (60.7 ha), along with about a dozen smaller sites.

Flora

The ecoregion is home to six mangrove species: '' Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Ceriops tagal, Lumnitzera racemosa,

Rhizophora mucronata ''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium si ...

'', and '' Xylocarpus granatum.''Rajkaran, A. (2011) A status assessment of mangrove forests in South Africa and the utilization of mangroves at Mngazana Estuary. Ph.D. Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. 140 pg Mudflats and shallows are dominated by species of ''

Potamogeton ''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis' ...

, Ruppia'', and '' Zostera''. Beds of the seagrass ''

Thalassodendron ciliatum ''Thalassodendron ciliatum'', the sickle-leaved cymodocea, is a species of plant in the ''Thalassodendron'' genus of seagrasses in the family Cymodoceaceae Cymodoceaceae is a family of flowering plants, sometimes known as the "manatee-grass fa ...

'' are found in shallow waters.Burgess, Neil, Jennifer D’Amico Hales, Emma Underwood (2004). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment''. Island Press, Washington DC. Mangrove diversity generally increases from south to north. In the Nahoon estuary (32°56′S), only ''Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza'', and ''Rhizophora mucronata'' are present. At Kosi Bay on the South Africa–Mozambique border (27°S), six species are present – ''Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Rhizophora mucronata, Ceriops tagal, Lumnitzera racemosa'', and ''Xylocarpus granatum''.

Fauna

The mangroves are an important habitat for sea life, birds and animals such as turtles and

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

s. Sea life includes

fiddler crab The fiddler crab or calling crab can be one of the hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. These crabs are well known for their extreme sexual dimorphism, where the male crabs have a major claw significantly l ...

s, mud crab ''( Scylla serrata)'',

mudskipper Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family (biology), family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestria ...

s, ''(Periophthalmus kalolo)'' and many species of sea snails and sea slugs. Some marine fishes use the mangroves as mating and spawning grounds. Resident species of birds include the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

mangrove kingfisher ''(Halcyon senegaloides)''. The mangroves are a breeding area for at least 48 species of birds, including

lesser flamingo The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered vagrants. Characteristics The lesse ...

''(Phoeniconaias minor)'',

great white pelican The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or simply white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow ...

''(Pelecanus onocrotalus)'', pink-backed pelican ''(Pelecanus rufescens)'',

grey-headed gull The grey-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus''), also known as the grey-hooded gull, is a small species of gull which breeds patchily in South America and Africa south of the Sahara. It is not truly migratory, but is dispersive, becomin ...

''(Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus)'', Cape shoveler ''(Spatula smithii)'', yellow-billed duck ''(Anas undulata)'', pied avocet ''(Recurvirostra avosetta)'', saddle-billed stork ''(Ephippiorhychus senegalensis)'', yellow-billed stork ''(Mycteria ibis)'', and Caspian tern ''(Hydroprogne caspia)''. The mangroves are also visited by large numbers of migratory bird species.

Threats and preservation

Many areas of mangrove in southern Africa have been cleared for timber, urban and industrial development, including tourist facilities, and this is ongoing. Further damage to habitats is caused by pollution of rivers, while forest clearance inland causes rivers to bring down larger quantities of soils and the rivers and estuaries to be blocked. About 24% of the ecoregion's area is protected (229 km²), and another 13% is relatively intact but unprotected. Protected areas include Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve near

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

and iSimangaliso Wetland Park (formerly Greater St Lucia Wetland Park).

References

External links

* {{Biodiversity of South Africa, ecoreg Mangrove ecoregions Ecoregions of South Africa * Forests of South Africa Afrotropical ecoregions Temperate Southern Africa