ECOSYSTEMS.
An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants and animals in an area, considered together with the non-living factors of the environment. For example, a lake and all the plants and animals that it contains.
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Three ecosystems are.
A habitat is the locality or external environment where a plant or animal lives. For example, a lake, a forest.
MANGROVE SWAMPS.
Mangrove swamps are found along tropical seacoasts on both sides of the equator. Mangrove swamps, to most people, look like muddy, swampy places filled with insects and snakes. They are a forest community that bridges the gap between land and sea. Mangroves are found along estuaries of large rivers, in sheltered intertidal coastal settings that include lagoons, bays, tidal creeks and inlets - where fresh water meets salt water. They are characterised by salt-loving trees and shrubs and other plants growing in brackish to saline tidal waters.
They are three types of mangroves trees; white mangroves, black mangroves and red mangroves. The white mangrove (laguncularia racemosa) grows inland. They can grow to heights of about 15-18 meters. White mangroves have leathery, oblong leaves and green colour and bear white flowers. They also have no particular root structure.
The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) or is the dominant type of mangrove found in Barbados. There are 120 species of the Rhizophora family and the red mangrove is the only one found in the tropics. They are extremely water tolerant and their thick leaves reduce water loss. The leaves of the red mangrove and thick, dark green and shiny and oval shaped and it is easily recognized by the roots that resemble stilts above water. It produces pale yellow flowers and a leathery cone fruit. The red mangrove is found close to the water's edge.
Black mangroves (Avicennia sp.) typically grows at levels covered by high tide,, but exposed at low tide.
