Researchers have identified a new reason to protect mangrove forests: they've been quietly keeping carbon out of Earth's atmosphere for the past 5,000 years.
Mangroves thrive in conditions most plants cannot tolerate, like salty coastal waters. Some species have air-conducting, vertical roots that act like snorkels when tides are high, giving the appearance of trees floating on stilts.
A UC Riverside and UC San Diego-led research team set out to understand how marine mangroves off the coast of La Paz, Mexico, absorb and release elements like nitrogen and carbon, processes called biogeochemical cycling.
As these processes are largely driven by microbes, the team also wanted to learn which bacteria and fungi are thriving there.
The team expected that carbon would be found in the...
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