They are also called as walking trees and, accurately, they are. Mangroves are essentially woody shrubs or trees and are characteristic of riverbanks or coastlines in tropical areas. Florida is a big mangrove habitat due to its peculiar climatic feature. Mangrove habitats spread by sending down roots from its branches that form a breeding place for marine life and aid in building up dry land. Everglades in Florida is the home of a large, probably the largest mangrove forest in the United States. Malaysia and Brazil are two other countries, which have large areas of mangroves, which are probably larger than the one at the Everglades. But mangroves can be found in many places around the world. Their species are many. But in essence their functions are the same.

To understand mangroves better you will have to understand what a wetland is. Well, in the simplest term, whenever you see a waterlogged area, which has started to flourish some flora and aquatic life, becomes a living wetland. These wetlands are good breeding grounds and responsible for some of the larger mangrove forests in the world. Some wetlands are natural and some are man-made. Florida in its past was wholly a wetland. When the human-habitats began to spread, a large part of this humungous wetland was drained to allow human encroachment. This was seen as a real sign of progress of mankind. Surprised? Well, that is the truth. Florida is also known for the large variety of bird spices that migrate here every year. Some years after the drainage activity started a huge reduction in migrating bird populations was noticed. The aquatic life started to show stress. Thus, any further drainage of that wetland was brought to a stop. Thankfully! Thus came the present existence of the Everglades National Park, which is really a huge wetland, populated with mangroves.

Mangrove habitats are highly productive eco-systems that provide invaluable environment for various spices of marine life and birds. These walking trees fall in the category of something called halophytes, which essentially means that they can tolerate high volumes of water for a long time. They can also survive the high salinity conditions, which are common in the coastal environments that are influenced by tides.

The murky water and a stale stench are two classic features of a mangrove habitat. To a layman the murky water and the stench both can cause to squirm and think of the water to be toxic. However, contrary to that belief those two features are a sure sign of a healthy mangrove habitat. Mangrove habitats help the environment in many ways; some of the many benefits of mangrove habitats are listed below:

1. Provide habitat for wild and aquatic life.
2. They allow useful bacteria to flourish and enrich the soil.
3. Filter nutrients or filter through their unique network of roots.
4. Trap sediments and control soil erosion.

Believe it or not, today these mangroves are under high threat due to water pollution. To a very large extent the shift of population in the recent years in Florida is directly or indirectly responsible for it. My husband and I work in the water-quality area and are doing some research related to the water pollution. So we have come to see the environmental problems up-close. Although our work is not directly related to the Everglades or the mangroves, it is not hard to guess that nothing in the environment exists independent of other factors and environmental entities. So we do get in that area from time to time, when dealing with our own researches and findings. On a daily basis we discover that maintaining a good water quality has become more challenging than ever, in Florida. The water table is very high in this land and due to sandy soil strata the filtering capacity of the soil, to hold back nutrients (pollutants) is very poor. And existence of the mangroves can help us achieve those difficult environmental goals. As said earlier, in Florida a great emphasize is on water quality and its improvement. Many federal, state, and volunteer agencies, like Audubon Society, are actively participating in the restoration of the Everglades and revival of the mangrove habitats.

So next time when you are visiting a mangrove forest, do not cringe from the smell or the mosquitoes, believe it or not prevalence of mosquito population is good indicator of a healthy wetland ecosystem too. They also are part of the food chain, and very important one too. So as I was saying do not get scared of the crocodiles and wrinkle your nose at the many spices of fish, which may or may not look as pretty as seen in an aquarium in downtown. Appreciate these mangroves, which are not here to live just their own lives but to provide shelter to many other live forms, microscopic and macroscopic. And more than that they form the natural system to keep the environment clean and nurtured.