Coastal Environments:

Valuable Coastal Areas (GW 2 Text Book Pg 33 to pg 55)

Coastal areas are valuable and are being used for various
purposes. People use the coastal areas near them for a large
activities like:
 Fisheries and Aquaculture
 Housing and Transportation
 Tourism and Recreation
 Ports, Harbours and Piers
 Wind Farming
 Desalination
 Sand Mining and Salt Extraction
 Waste Disposal Operations
 Oil Refining
 Coastal Ecosystems:
An ecosystem is the interaction between plant and animals
and their environment. There are two different and valuable
ecosystems that exist on the coastal areas are Coral Reefs and
Mangrove Forests. We will now learn about them.

Coral Reefs Mangrove Forests

Coral Reef Ecosystem: Distinct and Valuable

 Coral Reefs are called the living museums and reflect
thousands of years of history.
 Coral reefs are structures that develop slightly below the
surface of the sea level.
 They are made up by thousands of tiny animals called
coral polyps which secrete rock like deposits of calcium
carbonate to protect the soft and delicate body of the
polyps.
 Coral reefs are home for many organisms such
as sponges, fish including large nurse sharks and reef
sharks to groupers, clownfish, eels, snappers,
 and parrotfish, jellyfish, anemones, crustaceans, other
invertebrates and algae.
 Corals contain algae within their tissues. The
brilliant colours of the corals are because millions of algae
live and produce pigments. These pigments are visible
through the clear body of the polyp and give colours to
the coral reefs.
 Coral reefs also set a good example of a symbiotic
relationship. The polyps provide algae a protective shell
and nutrients to live and the carbon dioxide for
photosynthesis. In return algae produce oxygen and help
corals to remove wastes.
 As the colonies of coral polyps die, new polyps continue to
breed and the calcium carbonate skeletons accumulate as
limestone.
Environmental conditions for Corals to grow:
(pg 43 TB)
Values of Coral Reefs:
(pg 44 TB)
Pressures on Coral Reefs:
(pg 45 TB)
Mangrove Ecosystem: Distinct and Valuable
 A mangrove commonly refers to a tidal swamp ecosystem
found in tropical deltas, estuaries, lagoons or islands within
the tropics and the characteristic tree species populating
this ecosystem.
 Trees are type of halophytes, with a unique ability to grow
in saline environment.
 Mangroves are found in sheltered coastlines and river
estuaries with muddy and waterlogged areas. Such areas
experience less energy waves and allow sediment
accumulation.
 The mud, plant litter and nutrients in the sediments help
mangroves to thrive.
 Mangrove swamps are unique ecological communities that
link freshwater and oceanic ecosystems and host a rich
diversity of animal species.
Adaptation to the environment:
 Mangrove trees have developed unique adaptation to the
saline and oxygen deficient soil in the tidal environment.
Due to this reason the mangrove forests have very few
species of plants and trees.
 The root system is well developed to cater to needs of the
trees to survive in the saline conditions. Roots are able to
grow both upwards to the surface and downwards into the
soil.
  Some trees have aerial roots that grow upwards to take in
oxygen in waterlogged conditions.
 Some trees have prop or stilt roots to anchor the tree
firmly into the soft muddy soil to ensure that the tree is
not uprooted or swept away during strong waves.
 Some fruits of the trees are javelin shaped so that they can
pierce into the soft mud to germinate and grow into a
sapling.
 Some fruits are buoyant, and allow themselves to float
away and germinate on the other parts of the coasts.
 Being salt tolerant, some mangroves secrete excess salt from
the underside of the leaves while others may keep it in their
tissues.
Zonation of the Mangrove Forests:
The mangroves show a pattern of horizontal zonation where the
structure and the dominant species vary due to environmental
conditions.
 Coastal Zone: The seaward front of the mangroves is
subjected to regular strong tidal effects and sediment
changes. To maintain the stability and remain anchored the
trees in this zone have pencil roots.
Example: Sonneratia, Avicenna
 Middle Zone: The mangroves are dense and consist of a
wider variety of species. Sedimentation is important for the
mangroves to maintain greater heights, therefore the trees
develop prop roots to support their heights.
 Examples: Rhizophora
 Inland zone: Species in this zone trap sediments and soil
between their roots. This sediments and soil provides
nutrients for the mangroves and also is a habitat for
shellfish. The mangroves in this zone are submerged by tides
for fewer number of days.
Example: Bruguiera

Value of Mangroves:
(pg 51 TB)
Pressures on Mangrove Forests:
(pg 52 TB)

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