Costa Rica's Mangroves...Pura Vida!

Mangroves are trees that are very important to the ecosystem. They are important because they fight erosion, natural disasters, and they are stuck to the land and they make that land would not go away. Also because they are home for different organisms, like algaes, small fishes, shrimps, sponges, oysters, sea birds, etc. Inside the water are filters that clean water of silt and salt to make coral reef ecosystem flourished. They form in the shorelines, where salt and sweet water combine. These trees grow in places where any other tree had grown or would grow. This is due to the bad soil they grown on, the lack of oxygen, and the amount of salt in the water. Mangroves have thick branches, so boats cannot navigate through it. They are very big; they measure from 3 to 30 meters. To fight salt, mangroves exclude it by the roots and by their leaves, and their tissues can tolerate more salt than others. Mangroves' roots stuck out of the water so they can get enough oxygen. They live approximately 10 years and die standing up. The mangroves are classified in 5 different kinds, depending on their color, texture, leaves, height, pneumatophores, etc. The kinds of mangroves are: Red Mangrove, Black Mangrove, Tea Mangrove, White Mangrove, and Buttonwood Mangrove.





  We didn't see the mangroves until Friday, the day before leaving Costa Rica. We went there because we were going to make an activity. They were some meters away from the shoreline. When we arrived there we saw trees, water, animals, and sand. It smelled as salt. We were very hot, the sun was heating up so much, and all of us were sweating. The activity was based on identifying the different trees that were in the place. Viviana, an Opepa instructor, gave us a paper so we could make the activity. The paper had the description of the different kinds of mangroves. We saw and identified a Black Mangrove and a White Mangrove. To do this we had to enter the water and it felt moistly and sticky. In the water where tadpoles, little fishes, and some sea birds that were eating. The mangroves were beautiful, we would repeat the experience.

Names: María Bravo, Juan Esteban Cárdenas, and Mateo Vargas O.      6a