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We have been collecting Mud from many types of mangrove stands during the last 5 years. The mud from Mexico sites is populated with organisms that will add to the genetic bank. We have been using Mud Filters for over 30 years, and we have collected many organisms that bring MUD to LIFE!
We have reports from people who are using dry MudTM from Carib Sea and they are very pleased. We are currently collecting as many filter organisms as possible to use to inoculate Mud filters with life. This approach goes back to our firm believe in the DIVERSITY = STABILITY rule of Biology and Economics.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO TO MAKE
YOUR MUD FILTER WORK IS THE INTRODUCTION OF MUD ORGANISMS
A teaspoon of mud from an Australian mangrove stand contains more than 10 billion bacteria. These densities are among the highest to be found in marine mud anywhere in the world and are an indication of the immensely high productivity of this coastal forest habitat. We have added new mud collections from two parts of Mexico, Hawaii, and Florida. Each of these collections have added to the population of filter organisms in our systems.
MANGROVES A NATURAL MODEL
The Mangrove ecosystem traps and cycles various organic materials, chemical elements, and important nutrients.
Dissolved substances are used by plankton, bacteria,and fungi.
This material, in nature, is deposited over the seabed. Here bacteria densities are almost as high as those in the mangrove mud and they do much the same job, breaking down the litter to be consumed by botom-living fauna.
Mangrove roots act not only as support and physical traps but provide attachment surfaces for various marine organisms. Sponges are very common in these areas. Many of these attached organisms filter water through their bodies and, in turn, trap and cycle nutrients.
MANGROVES - HOW DO THEY LIVE IN SALTWATER?
Do mangroves have to live in saltwater ? NO. Some species have been kept in greenhouses where they grew and flowered regularly when given only fresh water. However best growth occurs where the plants live in brackish sea water.
So how do mangroves thrive in an environment which would kill most other plants'.' The first way many mangroves cope is to stop much of the salt from entering at all by filtering it out at root level. Some species can stop more than 90 per cent of salt in sea water. The leaves of many mangroves have special salt glands which are among the most active salt-secreting systems known.
WE USE MANGROVE PLANTERS MADE OF ARAGOCRETETM
TO GROW MANY OF OUR MANGROVES
Roots
Roots perform a number of functions for a plant. They support it and they obtain essential nutrients and oxygen.In unstable, sometimes semi-fluid, soil an extensive root system is necessary simply to keep the trees upright. As a result, most mangroves have more living matter below the ground than above it. Mangroves do not seem to grow deep tap roots, probably because of the poor oxygen supply below the surface.
There are three types of roots with different functions. Radiating cable roots punctuated by descending anchor roots, provide support. From this framework sprout numerous little nutritive roots which feed on the rich soil just below the surface. The third type of roots collects the oxygen.
The Red MangroveRhizophora mangle
This Mangrove is probably the most well-known. It typically grows along the water's edge. The red mangrove is easily identified by its tangled, reddish roots called "prop roots." These roots have earned mangroves the title, "walking trees." The mangrove appears to be standing or walking on the surface of the water.
Members of the Rhizophoraceae family (Rhizophora, Bruguiera and Ceriops species have an intriguing method for successfully reproducing themselves. The fertilised seeds do not drop from the plants but begin to germinate, growing out from the base of the fruits to form long spear-shaped stems and roots, called propagules. They may grow in place,
attached to the parent tree, for one to three years, reaching lengths of up to one metre, before breaking off from the fruit and falling into the water.
These seedlings then travel in an intriguing way. In buoyant sea water they lie horizontally and move quickly. On reaching fresher (brackish) water, however, they turn vertically, roots down and leaf buds up, making it easier for them to lodge in the mud at a suitable, less salty, site. Some species of these floating seedlings (Rhizphora) can survive, in a state of suspended animation, for up to a year in the water. Once lodged in the mud they quickly produce roots and begin to grow.
Vivipary
The production of live seedlings (known as vivipary) is very rare in plants other than mangroves and a few seagrass species and the reason for it is unclear. It is possible that the well-developed seedling has a greater chance of surviving, once it has taken root, in a situation where it is likely to be battered by water-bourne objects.
THIS MANGROVE FILTER IS USED IN SALT LAKE TO FILTER A 120 GALLON SPS CORAL REEF BY TIM WEIDAUER.
 This Red Mangrove is growning many complex roots in the filter substrate. The water quality is higher than when Tim used large skimmers. The sps coral growth is very good. The polyp extention is better than before.
FUTURE RESEARCH
Numerous medicines are derived from mangroves. Skin disorders and sores, including leprosy, may be treated with ashes or bark infusions of certain species. Headaches, rheumatism, snakebites, boils, ulcers, diarrhoea, haemorrhages...and many more conditions are traditionally treated with mangrove plants.
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