Page 135 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

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CICHLID INVASION

Since 1983, the Mayan cichlid,
an exotic fish species from Central
America, has been spreading
and nesting site for several mammals, The Florida mangroves are sometimes rapidly through the
including swamp rats, and numerous damaged by the hurricanes that hit mangrove swamps and other
bird species, such as herons, egrets, the region, hurricanes Katrina and wetland areas of the
gallinules, anhingas, and brown Wilma in 2005 being examples. Everglades. No one yet
pelicans. While much of the region Hurricanes damage mangroves in knows what effect it may
has an abundant alligator population, two ways: strong winds may defoliate have on the region’s ecosystem.
the swamps are the sole remaining them, and storm surges harm them There are worries that it may
stronghold in the US for the rare and by depositing large quantities of silt displace native fish species;
endangered American crocodile. Also on their roots. Fortunately, mangrove alternatively, it could be
occasionally spotted in the channels forests are resilient ecosystems, and occupying a new “niche” that
between the mangroves are West they usually regenerate fully from no other fish species has filled.
Indian manatees (sea cows). hurricane damage within a few years.

rivers and trapping sediment, the
ATLANTIC OCEAN WEST
mangroves also protect the clarity of
Belize Coast the coastal waters, helping the coral
Mangroves reef to survive. Numerous cays—small
islands composed largely of coral or
sand—along the coast are covered
PRINCIPAL SPECIES
Red, black, white, and with mangroves and form a habitat
button mangroves for birds. In all, more than 250 bird
AREA species share the swamps with West
600 square miles Indian manatees and a variety of
(1,500 square km)
reptiles, including boa constrictors,
American crocodiles, and iguanas.
LOCATION Eastern Belize, on the western margins of
the Caribbean Sea
MANGROVE ROOTS
ATLANTIC OCEAN WEST GREATER FLAMINGOS The mangrove swamps here are a A tangled maze of mangrove roots
Large numbers of these colorful birds live in nursery ground for many fish species extends beneath the water’s surface
Zapata Swamp the swamp, feeding off algae, shrimp, associated with the huge Belize all along this coast, providing refuge
mollusks, and insect larvae that inhabit the Barrier Reef. By filtering runoff from for a variety of juvenile fish.
PRINCIPAL SPECIES mud at the bottom of the shallow waters.
Red, black, white, and
button mangroves
900 plant species have been
AREA
1,500 square miles recognized in the swamp, and all but
(4,000 square km) three of the 25 bird species endemic to
Cuba breed there. All together, about
LOCATION Western Cuba, 100 miles (160 km) 170 bird species have been identified
southeast of Havana in the swamp, including the common
black-hawk, the greater flamingo, and
The Zapata Swamp is a mosaic of the world’s smallest bird, the bee
mangrove swamps and freshwater and hummingbird. It also contains the OCEAN ENVIRONMENTS
saltwater marshes that form the largest remaining few thousand Cuban
and best-preserved wetland in the crocodiles. Mammalian residents
Caribbean. The swamp was designated include the Cuban hutia, a gopher-
a Biosphere Reserve in 1999 and forms like rodent, and the West Indian
a vital preserve for Cuban wildlife, manatee. The manjuari, or Cuban gar,
a spawning area for commercially is an unusual fish found only in the
valuable fish, and a crucial wintering swamp. Adjacent to the swamp is the
territory for millions of migratory Bay of Pigs, where millions of land
birds from North America. More than crabs breed each spring.