CONTENTS
Flora index
Fauna index
guide to the mangroves of singapore
The Ecosystem: Abiotic components
Peter K L Ng and N Sivasothi (editors)
 
Nutrients

Nutrients produced by primary producers are passed on to the community and eventually to the detrital pool via the breakdown of leaf litter and timber. Often this is accomplished by the action of grazing herbivores which accelerates the transfer of energy to detrital feeders.
Mangrove Ecosystem
Abiotic components
Soil
pH
Oxygen
Nutrients
Winds and currents
Light, temperature, humidity
Tides
Salinity

Biotic components
Vegetation
Zonation

However, nutrients are not solely produced internally from within the ecosystem (autochthonous) but are also derived externally (allochthonous), with imports from rivers and the sea. Rain regularly flushes out detritus from rivers to the mangrove, and the sea brings in dissolved and suspended organic matter as well as microscopic organisms which are consumed by filter feeders during high tide.

The receding sea drains through soil which acts as a sieve, leaving a layer of microscopic organisms deposited on the surface. These are grazed by the emerging terrestrial fauna during the low tide.

This is a two way process, with nutrients also expoded to the sea with the receding tide. For a simplified representation of the foodweb in a mangrove ecosystem.
What is mangrove?
Introduction

The Ecosystem

Abiotic
Biotic

Value
Intro
Products
Indirect uses
Potential uses

About Mangroves
in Singapore

History
Mangroves to visit
Conservation
 
From "A Guide to Mangroves of Singapore", Peter K. L. Ng and N. Sivasothi (editors)
Volume 1: The Ecosystem and Plant Diversity and Volume 2: Animal Diversity
Authors: Kelvin K. P. Lim, Dennis H. Murphy, T. Morgany, N. Sivasothi, Peter K. L. Ng,
B. C. Soong, Hugh T. W. Tan, K. S. Tan & T. K. Tan
BP Guide to Nature Series published by the Singapore Science Centre, sponsored by British Petroleum
© 2001 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, The National University of Singapore & The Singapore Science Centre