800 Sq. Miles Of Critical Mangrove Habitat At Risk In 3 States From BP Gusher

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PARIS (AFP) – The BP oil slick menacing the US Gulf Coast poses a direct threat to vast expanses of mangrove forest critical to many of the region's fragile ecosystems, experts say. Some 2,000 square kilometres (800 square miles) of US coastal mangrove habitat are concentrated in three states most threatened by the estimated 5,000 barrels-a-day of crude oozing into the Gulf: Louisiana, Texas and the southern tip of Florida.

"The oil will basically kill the trees," said Jerry Lorenz, a marine biologist and head of research at Audubon of Florida.

Found in both tropical and subtropical zones, mangrove swamps are a thick tangle of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that thrive in brackish tidal waters. Their signature maze of exposed roots serve as a nursery for many commercial and recreational fisheries species, including shrimp, spiny lobster, red fish and snook. They are also the main nesting and foraging area for dozens of species of wading and other fish-eating birds.

Under pressure from upstream damming and development, mangrove forests along the Gulf Coast have diminished by nearly 30 percent in the past three decades, according to a world survey of mangroves published in 2007 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

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