What is Mangrove?
[[File:Mangroves.jpg|thumb|200px|Mangrove root system]] [[File:Mangrove auf Cayo Levisa, Kuba.jpg|thumb|200px|Mangrove trees can help make [[island]]s.]] [[File:Fossil Mangrove Roots, Wadi Hitan.jpg|thumb|200px|40 million year old [[fossil]] mangrove roots from [[Wadi Al-Hitan]]]] '''Mangroves''' are [[tree]]s or [[shrub]]s that grow in [[salt]]y water in hot places like the [[tropic]]s. Mangroves make a special saltwater [[wood]]land or [[shrub]]land [[habitat]], called a ''mangrove swamp'', ''mangrove forest'', ''mangrove'' or ''mangal''.<ref>Hogarth, Peter J. 1999. ''The biology of mangroves'' Oxford University Press, Oxford.</ref> Mangroves grow on 1/3 of [[tropic]]al shores.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nhmi.org/mangroves/phy.htm|title= Morphological and physiological adaptations: Florida mangrove website}}</ref> They are also found in sub-tropical [[Africa]], [[Asia]], and the southwest [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]].<ref name=fish>{{cite book | last = Sherwin| first = Frank| authorlink = | title = The ocean book| publisher = Master Books| date = 2006| location = P.O. Box 126, Green Forest, AR 72638 | isbn = 0-89051-401-1}}</ref> Their twisted, tangled roots collect [[sediment]]. Over time, the sediment may become islands, or extend the shoreline. == Description == Mangroves live right in the sea, or at the sea edge. Their seeds fall from the [[tree]] and grow roots as soon as they touch any kind of [[soil]]. During low tide, they may fall in soil rather than water and start growing where they fall. If the water level is high, they may be carried far away from where they fell. Mangrove trees are often the beginning of what will one day be a small island. As [[soil]] and other things collect in their roots, little bodies of land are formed – just the right place for other island [[plant|vegetation]] to grow.<ref name=fish/> This is an example of [[seed dispersal]] by water. Mangroves have special root-like structures. They are [[aerial root]]s or ''pneumatophores''. These stick up out of the soil, and a