The Southern Africa mangroves are

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

on the Mozambique's southernmost coast and the eastern coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Location and description

These mangroves grow in the mouths of rivers on the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

coast of South Africa, where the sea is warmed by the

Agulhas Current The Agulhas Current () is the western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong. It is suggested that it is the largest western boundary curren ...

, in many cases they are further sheltered from the ocean by sandbanks. The largest areas are in the estuaries of the

Mhlathuze River __NOTOC__ The Mhlathuze River ( af, Mhlatuzerivier) is a river in South Africa. Located in KwaZulu-Natal, its catchment area has a surface area of 4,209 km2. It rises in the west in the Babanango hills at an altitude of 1,519 m and flows ove ...

and Lake St. Lucia. Mangroves extend as far south as the

Nahoon River The Nahoon River ( xh, Nxaruni) is situated in the city of East London on the east coast of South Africa. Geography It is to the east of the Buffalo River harbour, and is to the west of Gonubie River. The suburb of Nahoon is on its west bank a ...

at 32°56′S., the most southerly occurrence of mangroves in Africa. Mangroves mostly grow in the estuaries of perennial rivers. There are approximately 1921 hectares of mangrove remaining on South Africa's coast. The largest mangrove areas are at Mhlathuze (652.1 ha), Lake St. Lucia (571 ha), Richards Bay (267 ha), Mngazana (118 ha), Mlalazi (60.7 ha), and

Kosi Bay Kosi Bay is a series of four interlinked lakes in the Maputaland area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Ecology The lakes form part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The closest town is Manguzi, some away from it. K ...

(60.7 ha), along with about a dozen smaller sites.

Flora

The ecoregion is home to six mangrove species: ''

Avicennia marina ''Avicennia marina'', commonly known as grey mangrove or white mangrove, is a species of mangrove tree classified in the plant family Acanthaceae (formerly in the Verbenaceae or Avicenniaceae). As with other mangroves, it occurs in the intertid ...

Bruguiera gymnorhiza ''Bruguiera gymnorhiza'', the large-leafed orange mangrove or oriental mangrove,) is a mangrove tree that grows usually to 7-20m high, but sometimes up to 35m, that belongs to the family Rhizophoraceae. It is found on the seaward side of mangrov ...

Ceriops tagal ''Ceriops tagal'', commonly known as spurred mangrove or Indian mangrove, is a mangrove tree species in the family Rhizophoraceae. It is a protected tree in South Africa. The specific epithet ' is a plant name from the Tagalog language. Descrip ...

Lumnitzera racemosa ''Lumnitzera racemosa'', commonly known as the white-flowered black mangrove, is a species of mangrove in the family Combretaceae. It is found on the eastern coast of Africa and other places in the western Indo-Pacific region. It has one accept ...

Rhizophora mucronata ''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium si ...

'', and ''

Xylocarpus granatum ''Xylocarpus granatum'', commonly known as the cannonball mangrove, cedar mangrove, or puzzlenut tree, is a species of mangrove in the mahogany family (Meliaceae). It is found in Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands. It is a commo ...

.'' Mudflats and shallows are dominated by species of ''

Potamogeton ''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis'' ...

Ruppia ''Ruppia'', also known as the widgeonweeds, ditch grasses or widgeon grass, is the only extant genus in the family Ruppiaceae, with eight known species. These are aquatic plants widespread over much of the world. The genus name honours Heinrich ...

'', and ''

Zostera ''Zostera'' is a small genus of widely distributed seagrasses, commonly called marine eelgrass, or simply seagrass or eelgrass, and also known as seaweed by some fishermen and recreational boaters including yachtsmen. The genus ''Zostera'' con ...

''. Beds of the seagrass ''

Thalassodendron ciliatum ''Thalassodendron ciliatum'', the sickle-leaved cymodocea, is a species of plant in the ''Thalassodendron'' genus of seagrasses in the family Cymodoceaceae. Distribution ''Thalassodendron ciliatum'' has a wide distribution throughout the Indo-Pa ...

'' are found in shallow waters. Mangrove diversity generally increases from south to north. In the Nahoon estuary (32°56′S), only ''Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza'', and ''Rhizophora mucronata'' are present. At Kosi Bay on the South Africa–Mozambique border (27°S), six species are present – ''Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Rhizophora mucronata, Ceriops tagal, Lumnitzera racemosa'', and ''Xylocarpus granatum''.

Fauna

The mangroves are an important habitat for sea life, birds and animals such as turtles and

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s. Sea life includes

fiddler crab The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than th ...

s, mud crab ''(

Scylla serrata ''Scylla serrata'' (often called mud crab or mangrove crab, although both terms are highly ambiguous, and black crab) is an ecologically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australasia, and Asia. In their ...

)'',

mudskipper Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestrial locomotion and ...

s, ''(Periophthalmus kalolo)'' and many species of sea snails and sea slugs. Some marine fishes use the mangroves as mating and spawning grounds. Resident species of birds include the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

mangrove kingfisher ''(Halcyon senegaloides)''. The mangroves are a breeding area for at least 48 species of birds, including

lesser flamingo The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered Vagrancy (biology), vagrants. Charac ...

''(Phoeniconaias minor)'',

great white pelican The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes. ...

''(Pelecanus onocrotalus)'',

pink-backed pelican The pink-backed pelican (''Pelecanus rufescens'') is a bird of the pelican family. It is a resident breeder in the swamps and shallow lakes of Africa and southern Arabia; it has also apparently extirpated in Madagascar. Taxonomy The pink-backe ...

''(Pelecanus rufescens)'',

grey-headed gull The grey-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus''), also known as the gray-hooded gull, is a small species of gull which breeds patchily in South America and Africa south of the Sahara. It is not truly migratory, but is more widespread i ...

''(Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus)'',

Cape shoveler The Cape shoveler or Cape shoveller (''Spatula smithii'') is a species of dabbling duck of the genus ''Spatula''. It is resident in South Africa, and uncommon further north in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, ...

''(Spatula smithii)'',

yellow-billed duck The yellow-billed duck (''Anas undulata'') is a 51–58 cm long dabbling duck which is an abundant resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa. This duck is not migratory, but wanders in the dry season to find suitable waters. It is h ...

''(Anas undulata)'',

pied avocet The pied avocet (''Recurvirostra avosetta'') is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. It is a ...

''(Recurvirostra avosetta)'',

saddle-billed stork The saddle-billed stork or saddlebill (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis'') is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south to ...

''(Ephippiorhychus senegalensis)'', yellow-billed stork ''(Mycteria ibis)'', and

Caspian tern The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

''(Hydroprogne caspia)''. The mangroves are also visited by large numbers of migratory bird species.

Threats and preservation

Many areas of mangrove in southern Africa have been cleared for timber, urban and industrial development, including tourist facilities, and this is ongoing. Further damage to habitats is caused by pollution of rivers, while forest clearance inland causes rivers to bring down larger quantities of soils and the rivers and estuaries to be blocked. About 24% of the ecoregion's area is protected (229 km²), and another 13% is relatively intact but unprotected.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b

/ref> Protected areas include

Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve is located at the mouth of the Umgeni River in Durban North, a suburb of Durban, South Africa. The nature reserve, proclaimed in 1977, protects 76 hectares of a natural estuarine system, and was declared a n ...

near

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

and

iSimangaliso Wetland Park iSimangaliso Wetland Park (previously known as the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park) is situated on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about 235 kilometres north of Durban by road. It is South Africa's third-largest protected area, ...

(formerly Greater St Lucia Wetland Park).

References

External links

* {{Biodiversity of South Africa, ecoreg Mangrove ecoregions Ecoregions of South Africa * Forests of South Africa Afrotropical ecoregions Temperate Southern Africa