Mangrove

Today we went and visited mangroves!! It was really cool! So mangroves are certain plants and shrubs that grow in tropical or subtropical coastlines and estuaries, basically in the water, and use their roots for support themselves and getting air. These mangroves are found in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia (all on the coast).. We found many on the Florida coastlines, with really cool roots that branched into the water. Those roots had A LOT of animals growing in them, making a "diverse ecosystem," as my teacher said. Some animals we saw in there were: algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges, bryozoans, mud lobsters, shrimp, mangrove crabs... fishes also liked to swim through the roots... yep, there were a lot. 
Apparently, the mangroves are REALLY important for their ecosystem, cause they retain the soil from eroding, and in that way, basically form the banks and coastlines. Of course, they also give a home to many animals, especially baby animals (like a nursery). Mangroves ALSO filter out nasty chemicals from the water, helping the estuaries and shore lines...


There are also 3 types of mangroves: Red Mangrove, Black Mangroves, and White Mangroves.
We saw that the Red Mangroves, who had roots that stick up the most, and were the closest to the water. Black mangroves were the second closest, and had roots that went under and stuck up like fingers. White Mangroves grew the farthest away; we saw many in the parking lot as we pulled in.

Yep, that's about it!