Mangrove Forest / Swamp Tour

Mangrove forests are a unique habitat of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that grow in brackish ocean water (e.g., wetland areas where freshwater rivers and streams meet salty ocean waters). 

Unlike the root systems of traditional trees, the roots of mangrove trees thrive in shallow salty water and can form a thick network of root "cones" that support much larger trees above water... and mangroves can reproduce asexually by growing new trunks from existing roots or by growing root tendrils down from existing branches to begin new trees. 

None of us had seen a mangrove forest until this trip and I was excited to see it in person. Mangrove forests serve a very important role in Costa Rica as a collector of topsoil sediment runoff from heavy rains and as a barricade slowing erosion of that fertile soil out to sea, while also providing a home to a diverse wetland ecosystem. 

 

On our kayaking trip among the mangroves we saw many hundreds of crabs (Tiger Faced, Mariner crabs) making their homes among the mangrove roots as well as families of capuchin monkeys, and many birds including a Tiger Heron, Yellow Bellied Kiskadees, a Kingfisher, Black Vultures and a Black Hawk. We also saw brown basilisks, black iguanas and massive termite nests.

 

Just as important beyond Costa Rica, mangroves are one of the top carbon-capturing ecosystems on Earth, sequestering more CO2 than traditional wetlands and dry jungles. The root systems of the mangroves provide a support network of hungry organic matter (algae, decomposers, "swamp stuff" and the worms and animals that eat them). According to The Nature Conservancy, mangrove forests sequester more than 10 Billion tons of carbon and they provide an important buffer against sea level rise and storm surge as the climate changes. 

It's not the most beautiful place for a picnic and an impossible place to take a hike, but it's vitally important to the overall ecosystem and an important tool in combating Climate Change.