Adaptations to a flooding land.

[ttyo888]

what kind of adaptations would the animals need on an environment I plan to make in a fiction. But it's rather believable as far as I can see.

 

The island is rather small like the offshore islands of Singapore but the whole island is in fact a very big mangrove swamp. There are also wide spaces filled with seagrasses like those in Shark Bay.

 

Every time the tide rises at least 90% of the island is submerged in water. The flowering plants here are mostly mangroves and small shrubs and saltwater grasses.

[imp]

What plantlife can exist given the repeated inundation with saltwater, that could provide a basis for sustaining animal life? imp

[ttyo888]

Well plants have taken to saltwater but my question is the animals that live there what kind of adaptations will be needed.

 

Webbed feet?

Salt-crying? Some animals have salt glands near the eyes or nose something.

[Mr Skeptic]

Somehow I thought the second post was the first :doh:

 

http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/marine/mangrove/animals.htm

"An enormous variety of wildlife is found in Mangrove swamps. Some organisms live attached to the trunks and lower branches of the mangroves. Others live up in the top branches and others live within or above the muddy sediment between the trees. Animals from both the marine and terrestrial environments can be found in the mangroves."

 

No particularly special adaptations required for the environments, as they occur elsewhere as well. If you know the environments of the creatures, you can guess at the adaptations they would need. Notably, the environment people are suited for (dry land) is absent. A human in a mangrove swamp would make very slow progress, and you could put monsters in the tree tops or underwater to make things even more interesting.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove#Ecology

"Mangroves support unique ecosystems, especially on their intricate root systems. The mesh of mangrove roots produces a quiet marine region for many young organisms. In areas where roots are permanently submerged, they may host a wide variety of organisms, including algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges, and bryozoans, which all require a hard substratum for anchoring while they filter feed. Shrimps and mud lobsters use the muddy bottom as their home[9]. Mangrove crabs improve the nutritional quality of the mangal muds for other bottom feeders by mulching the mangrove leaves. [10] In at least some cases, export of carbon fixed in mangroves is important in coastal food webs. The habitats also host several commercially important species of fish and crustaceans. In Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and India, mangrove plantations are grown in coastal regions for the benefits they provide to coastal fisheries and other uses. Despite replanting programs, over half of the world's mangroves have been lost in recent times."

[ttyo888]

I see well but a rodent with webbed feet is going to look a little odd...

[Donut.Hole]

I came up with a really odd looking creature contemplating this. How about a fish-like creature with furry red gills, frog legs, and a tadpole tail? It'd be like the mudskipper fish. It could also have "air bags" that fill up with O2 from the water, causing it to surface. When it needs to go under, the organism could just let water into the bags, like a submarine.

 

I'm not an expert ecologist, but I thought this would be kinda cool.

 

Hope this helps.

[NeonBlack]

When I read the title, I got a knot in my stomach because I thought you were going to make another water world. Let me take a big sigh of relief.

 

ttyo, haven't you ever heard of a platypus?

Donut hole, I think the majority of fish have something like that.

[CaptainPanic]

Can I translate the question in the first post as: what kind of animals live in mangrove forests?

 

I fail to see the difference between the existing mangrove forests at coastlines and the fictional ones you describe.

 

There are several types of animals:

• those that move in and out with the tides (sea creatures, fish)

• those that live in tree tops and eat fruits (like monkeys, birds)

• those that chill out in the mud (like crabs)

 

And obviously, microorganisms and insects will be present wherever you go.

 

more info (esp. if you click around a bit) at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove

[Glider]

I see well but a rodent with webbed feet is going to look a little odd...

Check out the capybara.

[Mr Skeptic]

Check out the capybara.

 

You mean the mammal that is a "fish"? According to the Pope, that is.

[iNow]

I didn't know the pope had a degree in biology!

 

 

[antimatter]

Off-topic, but there are forests in South America that flood all the way to the tops of the trees during some season, I don't remember the exact name of the forest...although I DO remember it to be a quite well known name...which is embarrassing for me, but you could do a little research and see what animals live there at that time.

[SkepticLance]

I would suspect that, if the island is mostly underwater at high tide, the number of purely land animals would be minimal. You could easily postulate an ecology with large numbers of aquatic animals, and significant numbers of amphibious types, but zero purely land animals.

 

The fun would come from designing all those amphibians. Of course, you need to say why they became amphibious. On a small island, there would be little nutritional point in gaining the ability to go on land. Perhaps it is reproductive? Laying eggs on land would give them protection from marine predators.

[Glider]

You mean the mammal that is a "fish"? According to the Pope, that is.

Heh, yeah, that'd be the one.