West Papua, Indonesia from the Air – Planet Labs PBC

West Papua, Indonesia from the air: Mangrove forests are a natural fortification against storm surges (© Planet Labs PBC, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Medium).

If every image tells a story, high resolution satellite imagery of the earth is the ultimate treasure trove where natural processes is the artist creating works of transcendent beauty that are at once abstract and realistic.

Mangroves: “Superhero” Ecosystems – Frontiers for Young Minds

Positive interactions in mangrove ecosystems: (1) Multi-species plantations can sequester more carbon in sediments and can increase root yields. (2) Microbial communities receive food from mangrove root (3) Mixed stands of mangroves can provide association defense against herbivory. (4) Mangrove roots allow for oyster recruitment and reduce sedimentation stress (5) Mangroves provide carbon to sponges and sponges provide nitrogen to mangroves (6) Mangrove roots provide habitat for sponges and tunicates (7) mangrove pneumatophores trap algae and oysters, which support diverse mollusk communities. (8) Mangrove plantations sequester carbon in sediments (9) Other plant species can increase recruitment of mangroves (10) Higher densities of mangroves allow for more resilience to sea level rise. (11) Nearby coral reefs protect mangroves ((by Julianna J. Renzi, Qiang He and Brian R. Silliman, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia).

Because mangroves live along the land-ocean boundary, they are unique plants that provide several benefits to nature and humans. For example, mangroves provide refuge and food for organisms, hurricane protection, and water filtration; mangroves also promote the release of oxygen into the atmosphere and the uptake and trapping of carbon dioxide, which helps to fight against climate change. To understand mangrove ecosystems, it is important to consider the role of the microorganisms that live there…