At a nature center in Ding Darling preserve I finally got an answer to my question about what those bean looking things are that are often found on the beach on Sanibel and Captiva. The first picture is a poster showing the germination of mangrove seed. the flowers are pollinated by bees and the seed actually germinates and elongates through the fruit. It finally drops off into the water and floats away. Eventually one end of the propagule as the germinated seed is called becomes waterlogged and drops down in the water so that the propagule floats in an upright position.It will hopefully touch a suitable site and root there. the last picture shows the propagules floating vertically.
Mangrove roots form the basis of a nursery for many marine organisms including oysters, crabs, and shrimp. In the second picture you can see the shells clinging to the roots. Mangroves help prevent erosion by stabilizing and actually building land.
The area around the mangrove roots is very smelly as the root zone is usually anaerobic and produces such things as methane and sulfides. There are also a lot of mosquitoes and no-see-ems that are laying in wait for you if you get too close. so look quick and move on, but they have an important job to do for our world.
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