100 Places To Remember: Mahajamba Bay, Madagascar
Geschreven op 16-3-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in NatuurA Delicate Balance in the Mangrove. The Republic of Madagascar is slightly bigger than France its former colonial master and is the fourth largest island in the world. Madagascar is in the Indian Ocean, some 800 km off the east coast of Africa. Separated from the mainland 80 million years ago, the island is home to a unique mix of plants and animals, many of them found nowhere else on Earth.
The central mountains protect the 3,300 square kilometres of mangrove wetland along the western coastline from the eastern trade wind and the monsoon winds. Coral reefs protect it from the ocean swells of the Mozambique Channel.
Endless communities of molluscs, crustaceans, turtles and tropical fish thrive among the entwined roots of the mangrove, providing food for rare indigenous birds like the Madagascar Teal, the Madagascar Plover, the Madagascar Kingfisher and the Madagascar Fish Eagle. The mangrove is also an important habitat for migratory birds such as plovers, the African Spoonbill and the Great White Egret.
With a tidal range of up to four metres and an influx of fresh water from the numerous rivers that flow down the mountains, the mangroves ecosystem not to mention the commercial shrimp farms established there are at the mercy of a very delicate saline balance. Any rise in sea levels or seawater temperature, both of which are happening as a result of global warming, could tip that balance. Higher temperatures combined with increased acidity might eventually destroy the coral reefs that protect the mangrove, further exacerbating saline intrusion.
The outcome could be a drastic reduction in the size of the mangrove, which would pose a severe threat to the shrimp farms and to the habitat that supports such a wide diversity of animal life.