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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 21753555" data-attributes="member: 218596">Mangroves Are Nurseries for Reef Fish, Study FindsMangroves—forests of tropical trees and shrubs rooted in saltwater sediments between the coast and the sea—are crucial nurseries for coral reef fish, according to a new study.    The finding highlights the importance of the rapidly dwindling habitats to reef communities.  "Beyond showing they are important, we showed they are much more  important than even assumed," said Peter Mumby, a marine biologist at  the University of Exeter, England.    Mumby and his colleagues found that mangroves serve as a vital,  intermediate nursery as coral reef fish journey from their cribs in  seagrass beds to the large coral reef ecosystems that fringe coastal  communities.    Coral reef fish were up to twice as abundant on reefs adjacent to  mangrove forests compared to reefs that weren't, researchers found. They  also learned at least one species, the rainbow parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia), depends on mangroves for its very survival.    The study will appear in tomorrow's issue of the science journal Nature and was supported by a grant from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration.     Mangrove Conservation    Mumby and his colleagues believe that conservation efforts are necessary  to protect connected corridors of mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral  reefs to maintain the resiliency of coral reef ecosystems—and their  productivity for fisheries. Ivan Valiela, a marine biologist with Boston University's Marine  Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, agrees. He said the  research reinforces the concept that individual ecological  units—mangroves, reefs, land—are crucially intertwined.   "Maintenance of these important environments therefore has to be done  from a wider perspective," he said. "This whole set of concepts bears on  the issue of setting up coastal reserves, national parks, maintaining  commercial stocks, and a host of other management issues."    Nursery School  Mangrove forests are home to an abundance of wildlife. Above water,  butterflies, birds, and mosquitoes zip around the canopy. Snakes,  crocodiles, and crabs scurry and swim about the forest floor. And in  India, Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris) laze in forest branches. <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0204_040204_mangroves.html" target="_blank">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0204_040204_mangroves.html</a></blockquote>

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