Mangrove Investigation

We went to two sites of mangroves and took measurements of the biotic and abiotic factor. The type of mangrove that we investigated was the red mangrove. By using a continuous belt transects, the population of each species sighted was accounted for. The abiotic factor of each site was also measured. Abiotic factors that were measured included the temperature, DO, pH, TDS, substrate, water quality, turbidity, depth of water, and light intensity. To further strengthen the accuracy of our data, we were divided into teams, and each team had their own data. I was in the Pink Dolphin’s team, and was therefore responsible for the data, and the data shown below will be of Pink Dolphin’s property.

Table 1: Abiotic Factor for Mangrove Site A

 Table 2: Abiotic Factor for Mangrove Site B

The mangrove ecosystem according to the abiotic factors collected, is a humid ecosystem with a pH of around 7. Total dissolved solid’s number was high, and so was the turbidity of the water, making the water’s appearance to become murky. There was a great deal of sediment inside the water, and as a result, the light intensity through the water wasn’t very high as the sediments blocked the sunlight. I learned that there were more than one type of mangroves. There were red mangroves, and mangroves that were colored in bright yellow, and ones that was smaller in size compared to the other mangroves. All of these different kind of mangrove ecosystem had their very own biotic and abiotic factors making them unique individually.

Figure 1: Biotic Factor for Mangrove Site A 

Table 3: Species’ names for Mangrove Site A

 As an example, a bar graph of the biotic factors for Mangrove Site A has been created. Mangrove Site A is the ecosystem belonging to the Red Mangroves. Even though the ecosystem belongs to the Red Mangroves, their population are equal or smaller than other organisms because of their size. One red mangroves has roots called prop roots, which covers a lot of space due to its size. In contrast, the number of lichen (both yellow, and green) is numerous in their population. Lichens are indicators, indicating that the area has a decent air quality, as they only flourish in such environment. Other organisms were also sighted, however due to the limitation of our mobility due to the preservation of mangroves, we were unable to dig further down to investigate and account for smaller organisms hiding out underground.

 Here is a picture of fellow pink dolphins investigating the mangroves.