Where

1.    Identify the spatial scale (global, regional, local) of this ecosystem (or pick one to focus on if it spans more than one scale).

Forests of the Tide

At the intersection of land and sea, mangrove forests support a wealth of life, from starfish to people, and may be more important to the health of the planet than we ever realized.

-By Kennedy Warne

from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/World_map_mangrove_distribution.png

Mangroves are many kinds of trees with medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats within the tropics and subtropics; mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. 

"Mangroves live life on the edge. With one foot on land and one in the sea, these botanical amphibians occupy a zone of desiccating heat, choking mud, and salt levels that would kill an ordinary plant within hours. Yet the forests mangroves form are among the most productive and biologically complex ecosystems on Earth. Birds roost in the canopy, shellfish attach themselves to the roots, and snakes and crocodiles come to hunt. Mangroves provide nursery grounds for fish; a food source for monkeys, deer, tree-climbing crabs, even kangaroos; and a nectar source for bats and honeybees."

from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/02/mangroves/warne-text

From http://library.taiwanschoolnet.org/cyberfair2005/c28093245/taiwan/grap/tainan.jpg

Mangrove forest in Taiwan is locate at the west coast of island, which is sand beach instead of rock beach. 

Taiwan mangroves are distribution around the western estuary. Original six mangrove species, but it only has four dominant plants such as Kandelia obovata Sheue, Liu & Yong, Avicennia marina (Forsk.), Rhizophora mucronata Lam and Lumnitzera racemosa Willd. Moreover Rhizophora mucronata Lam and Lumnitzera racemosa Willd distribution is more limited and are rare populations.

From http://www.springerlink.com/content/k33052r76tpn3013/

Kandelia obovata has higher cold resistance, which has is the most and widely distributed in Taiwan, mainly located in the northern part of the Taiwan  from the Tamsui Jhuwei area to the Guandu area.

Avicennia marina has the most widely distribution area, it from south of Hsinchu to Pingtung (from north of Taiwan to the south of Taiwan).  Rhizophora stylosa and Lumnitzera racemosa mostly distribute around west-south of Taiwan but not much.

Protected mangrove areas are announcement by the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act which is Tamsui River mangroves Nature Reserve, Guandu Nature Reserve, and Wa-zi-wei Nature Reserve. 

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Source:

http://ee.tcc.edu.tw/05country/red/htm/5.htm

"Wikipedia: Mangrove"

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

"Diversity and distribution of the mangrove forests in Taiwan"

Mei-Li Hsueh & Hsun-Hwang Lee Habitats and Ecosystems Division, Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute, Chichi, Nantou, Taiwan 

Received 30 July 1999; accepted in revised form 19 October 1999

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1008454809778?LI=true