Ecosystems

Ecosystem Mangrove trees are the basic and most visible component of the mangrove ecosystem growing in the intertidal zone. The term "mangrove" is used to name both the trees and the community that is composed of a wide range of organisms belonging to different systematic groups. They include bacteria, fungi, microalgae, invertebrates, birds, and mammals. The mangrove ecosystems cover roughly 60-75% of tropical and subtropical coastlines. All countries in Latin America, both on the Atlantic and the Pacific, have mangroves covering about 4,000,000 hectares. Baja California Sur, Mexico is the northern distribution area on the Pacific side of the Americas. The importance of mangroves for fisheries is not because of the total biomass of organisms captured within the ecosystem but the role of the mangrove as breeding, growing, refuge, and feeding zones for marine organisms that may later migrate to adjacent coastal waters or to the ocean.