 AIMS home
About AIMS
Research
Facilities
News
Search
Site map
Site index
Topics index
|
Links between mangroves,
seagrass beds and coral reefs
Mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs are linked
together by the water masses that move in and out with the tide, and by the animals that move between these habitats. Many fish and prawn species that
are usually found offshore inhabit mangrove areas during part of their life cycle. Mangroves
are important nursery grounds for commercial species such as king prawns, Barramundi, snapper,
bream and mackerel. Some smaller, non-commercial species also spend their juvenile stages in
the mangroves and become the food source of larger fish like billfish and marlin when they
migrate to the open ocean.
Other species, such as mud crabs, spend most of their lives in the
mangroves and move to the open sea to spawn. Coastal habitats are also linked by water flow.
Tides and currents transport nutrients from the mangroves to seagrass beds and
inshore coral reefs.
These nutrients enrich the seagrass and reef environments which are important habitats for
turtles, dugongs and fish. The degree of linkage between the mangroves and offshore
habitats
is dependent on the proximity of the habitats to one another.
|
