Laguna de la Mancha, near Veracruz, Mexico Photograph by Dr. Eduardo Galante   Veracruz, Mexico, along the Gulf of Mexico coastal plains Mangroves   1,700 square miles (4,500 square kilometers) -- about the size of Delaware Vulnerable

· Gone Fishing
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

Gone Fishing

If you were a heron or an egret, the Alvarado Mangroves ecoregion would be a fishing paradise. Here, plants float freely among red, white, and black mangroves. Numerous fish and invertebrates find protection among the trees’ network of roots, which act as barriers to large predatory species. These smaller creatures are an abundant food source for other marine and land species. Not only are these mangroves centers of biodiversity, but they also perform many important ecological roles. They filter nutrients, stabilize lagoon shores, provide protection for commercially important fish, help form soil, and serve as an important feeding and rest stop for many migrating birds.

Special Features

The Alvarado Mangroves are influenced mostly by the Tonala and Pánuco Rivers, which deposit rich sediments that help create deep soils rich in organic matter. The mangrove trees flourish in the region’s tropical climate of fairly constant temperature, high humidity, and frequent summer rains. During hurricane season, these mangroves buffer and protect inland beaches and forests from serious erosion caused by large sea swells and heavy winds.

	Two thirds of the fish populations worldwide depend on mangrove ecosystems during one or more stages of their lives.

Wild Side

The Alvarado mangroves are teeming with life, from mangrove roots covered with snails to rays slowly gliding through calm waters. Mangrove warblers chirp anxiously at the approach of an Aplomado falcon. In the shallow waters below, majestic birds such as reddish egrets, tricolored herons, and wood storks wade among the free floating plants to feed on the mangroves’ abundant fish. Green, belted, ringed, and Amazon kingfishers perch quietly on branches hanging low over the water, watching carefully and waiting for young fish to venture away from the protection of the mangrove root system.

Cause for Concern

Many of these mangroves here have been destroyed, and those that remain are under intense pressure from human exploitation. These pressures include logging, clearing for agriculture, and oil extraction and spills. Logging leads to erosion of topsoil, which washes into the rivers and eventually ends up in the mangroves. These excessive sediments cover submerged vegetation, clams, mussels, and anything else that can’t get out of the way. Oil spills, which occur frequently here, are particularly harmful to mangrove trees because they block pores in the trees’ roots and prevent nutrient exchange. When oil spills occur, they can destroy entire mangrove communities.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.