GalapagosQuest: Forests at the Edge of the Sea

Mangroves grow along the edge of the sea. The tangle of mangrove roots provides homes and a nesting places to many animals.      RELATED VIDEO Real 28K      MORE REPORTS Day 20:End of a Journey Day 19:Nature Notes Day 18:Our Connection ... Day 17:The real final frontier Day 16:Islands in Danger? Day 15:Forests at the Edge Day 14:Swimming with Day 13:Hellos and Goodbyes Day 12:Journey to the heart Day 11:Learning in a pinch Day 10:Gringo Guides Day 9:Survival Issues Day 8:Gross,Warty.. Day 7:Water Scarcity Day 6:Should I have... Day 5:Arrival and Survival Day 4:The Hood Mockingbird Day 3:Lethal Charm Day 2:Flames in the Ocean Day 1:Off to a Bad Start

March 19, 1999
Web posted at: 2:01 p.m. EST (1901 GMT)

By Jack Grove

(Classroom Connect) -- Nothing smells worse than a horde of reptiles in a tunnel of vegetation. It smells like a combination of dirty feet and rotting bananas.

When we stepped into the mangroves on Fernandina, it was like entering a big green cave of bush. Inside, a hoard of 30 marine iguanas greeted us, looking like globs of prehistoric flesh on the lava. But I wasn't interested in flesh, I wanted to check out the tangle of mangrove trees surrounding us.

Mangroves are a form of wetlands and wetlands are found throughout the United States. There are many different types. Perhaps you've head of the Florida everglades of the Mississippi delta in Louisiana the swamps of Minnesota or esturaries in California. These are all important wetlands.

No matter where you are, wetlands do many important jobs. They provide a place for birds to lay their eggs and and a place for migratory birds to feed.

In coastal areas, wetlands filter the water that runs off the land before it goes into the ocean. They also filter out fertilizers from the runoff to help keep the oceans clean. They protect the coastline from hurricanes, acting as buffers -- which brings us back to the Galapagos.

There are four different kinds of mangroves in the Galapagos: black,

The team found this smelly iguana near a mangrove forest.

buttonwood, red and white. Each of the species has its own ecological requirements. At Fernandiana, we were surrounded by two types of mangroves -- red and white.

Red mangroves grow only where their long prop roots can totally submerge in seawater. The white kind must have some soil and lots of seawater. We didn't see the black or buttonwood mangroves, which prefer soil that is soaked with seawater only at high tide. All mangrove trees must have salt water to survive.

On islands where there are coral reefs, rainstorms can erode soil into the sea. This can kill coral. Here in the Galapagos, fish, crabs, shrimp and other marine life take advantage of the calm waters in the mangrove forest to lay their eggs, or to give their youngsters a place to grow that is very nutrient-rich.

So you see, good things can stink some times.

Fair Winds,

Jack

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