Mangrove

Mangroves have the capacity to take far more carbon out of the atmosphere than terrestrial forests; a patch of mangroves could absorb as much as 10 times the carbon of a similarly sized patch of terrestrial forest.

Mangroves act as a form of defence against floods, storms, cyclones, erosion and tsunamis. Mangroves’ roots, trunks and canopy can reduce around 60% the force of oncoming waves.

While people usually classify reefs and coastal forests as distinct ecosystems, nature doesn’t recognize this boundary. In fact, young corals grow among mangrove roots, and healthy mangrove forests could provide shelter for coral species at risk of extinction from coral bleaching. Furthermore, mangroves may even play a role in reducing ocean acidification, which in turn helps prevent coral bleaching.

Mangroves actually hold the coastline in place, giving it its shape. Once they are gone, the land erodes and tides and currents reshape the coastline, making it difficult or impossible for mangroves to grow back in their former habitats.

Fish flock to mangroves: Mangroves, specifically the underwater habitat their roots provide, offer critical nursing environments for juveniles of thousands of fish species, from 1-inch gobies to 10-foot sharks. Mangrove forests are essential nursery grounds for all kinds of marine life including fish, rays, and invertebrates

Mangroves reproduce through a process known as “viviparity”. During this process, the “embryos” will germinate on the trees themselves. These are called “propagules”. During this phase, these propagules gain essential nutrients from the parent tree that prepare them for the next phase of their growth. The propagules will then drop into the water beneath the tree, and may take root there, or they may float for a period of time, dispersing to another area

Mangroves are threatened by sand mining: Sand mining is the most common type of mineral mining in the world. This sand is often mined from developing countries’ coastlines and sent to the developed world for products like concrete and asphalt. Sand mining is environmentally devastating and often destroys mangroves.

Mangroves are the only species of trees in the world that can tolerate saltwater. Their strategy for dealing with otherwise toxic levels of salt? Mangroves have specially adapted aerial and salt-filtering roots and salt-excreting leaves which enable them to occupy saline wetlands where other plant life cannot survive

Some mangroves have unique “breathing roots”, which the plants absorb oxygen. They are not active during high tide, when they are submerged. These delicate lenticels are highly susceptible to clogging by pollutants (such as oil), damage from parasites, and prolonged flooding. Over time, environmental stress can kill large swathes of mangrove forest

It is still a preferred choice of timber for construction due to its strength and high resistance to insects, rot and salt water. The Nipah Palm – the only true mangrove palm in Singapore – has numerous uses. The attap chee used in local deserts are its seeds preserved in heavy syrup, while its sap can be used for making toddy, vinegar or palm sugar (gula melaka).

Pulua Ubin was once a cluster of five smaller islets separated by tidal rivers, it has since been united by the building of bunds for prawn farming to become a single 1,020-hectare island.

In the traditional prawn farming, small ponds are created in the mangrove with bunds built to hold the water in.

The bunds are actually a wall of mud and earth. Some of the original bund which now has been converted into a path for visitors to walk on.

A sluice gate controls the water flowing in and out of the pond. First the sluice gate is kept closed so that little prawns that are found naturally in the water can develop within the pond. A few months later, the sluice gate is opened and the water is allowed to flow out of the pond. A net is placed at the sluice gate to catch any prawns that move out with the water.

Some of the sluice gate are converted to pedestrian bridges

There are still about 45 families living on Ubin. Most are of the older generations who could not bear to leave their homes of decades. The villagers live in attap houses, using electricity from generators and drawing water from wells. The kampong on Ubin is one of the last surviving kampong in Singapore

While the islanders own their structures, the land, acquired by the state in 1993, does not belong to them. The Government has been helping to restore some amenities and kampung houses, but those earmarked for restoration are empty and belong to the state.

To remain on Ubin, households and businesses have to obtain a temporary occupation licence from NParks, and pay a licence fee based on what the site is used for, its location away from the mainland, and its size. This adds to the feeling of uncertainty for many

Being an Ubin native has its privileges. The Singapore Land Authority is not issuing any new licences to live there. Only those who are native to the island can be residents. You can’t buy a house on Ubin even if you have all the money in the world.

Why are the housed so run down? The residents have no security about the length of their tenure, so they would not put in money to repair the house. To address this, NParks said that it has extended the temporary occupation licence periods from one year to three years.

Ubin residents power their lights and appliances using a generator, and water is still drawn from well

Every morning, Quek Kim Kiang, or Ah Kiang as he is affectionately known, dons a pair of rubber fishing boots, grabs some steel hooks, hops onto his bike and heads towards the island’s dense mangrove forest.

Using a hooking method, Quek patiently pries a crab out of a hole where its hiding — all this while planting his feet deep in the mud. He does this over the next four to five hours, as he goes to various spots on the island in search of the crustaceans. It is all in a day’s work for Quek, who sells crabs for S$25 a kilogram.

On some afternoons, he whiles away time, tossing back a beer or two with friends. On Saturdays, his friends arrive from the mainland to visit him, and they do gardening and exercise together. Possessing a wide knowledge on crabs, Quek willingly dishes out — to anyone who would listen — various tidbits on why these creatures thrive in mangrove forests, how to locate them, and even their breeding patterns.

Hook technique: jabbing a long stick into a crab hole and provoking it to clam down on it with its pincers.

Just like fishing, we need to time the tides to hunt the crabs, the water level needs to be low enough to expose the crab holes.

before when it was only the villagers hunting for crab, they had a self-imposed catch weight minimum of 400-500g per crab, this ensure that the younger crabs have an opportunity to grow and breed. Now with more crabbers visiting the island with a take all policy, there’s not much crab left in the Ubin Mangroves.

Some of original crabbers pivoted from crabbing to driving a taxi around Pulua Ubin.

The mangrove is a major source of food, especially seafood such as fishes, prawns, crabs and shellfish. Some of the well-known seafood found in mangroves include the blood cockle (Anadara granosa), mangrove mud crab (key ingredient for Singapore’s national dish chilli crab)

For many visitors to the island, Wang Xiao San — who is known as Lai Huat So to the islanders — has become a recognisable face. Her Ah Ma Drink Stall, housed in a distinctive blue wooden structure, is one of the first stops along the trail at Jalan Jelutong.

Despite her age, the 76-year-old — who lives alone with her three dogs — cuts a sprightly figure. For the past 22 years, she has been running the drink stall every weekend, earning about S$400 to S$500 a month. In her spare time, she chops firewood, and tends to about 100 durian, rambutan and jackfruit trees in her backyard. She also holds the unofficial title of being the only woman motorcyclist on Ubin, zipping around the island on her old red motorcycle

Wang credits her good health to Ubin’s fresh air and kampung lifestyle. “It’s good here, as compared to living in Housing and Development Board flats, where you’ve got nothing much to do, and nowhere to walk around,” she says in Mandarin.

Born on Ubin, she used to farm vegetables, as well as rear poultry and prawns. Recalling how it was more lively on the island back then, she lamented that her old neighbours had moved out to the mainland after the quarries were shut down.

Wang tells TODAY that her children have been nagging her to move to the mainland. But all this while, she has said no. Her children have to resort to calling her every day on her phone at home to check in on her. But her phone often gets broken, Wang said.

Wang stresses that she has no wish to leave her birthplace. “I’m used to life here, I can just look after the durian trees, or rambutan trees … If I’m able to, I want to stay here as long as I can.”

Ah Ma's Drink Stall, which was given a facelift by National University of Singapore architecture undergraduates. The stall was rebuilt using traditional kampung-style construction methods to retain its rustic character but had to meet modern building and fire-safety regulations.

People and goods get to the island by boat from Changi Point, using boatmen who ply the route from 5.30am to 7pm.

They usually wait until their 12-person boats are full before making the trip

Ms Mary Tan, 45, who is married to an Ubin resident and helps out at the family's bicycle rental shop on the island two to three times a week, said in Mandarin: "If you want to book a boat at night, it is double the price, and it is not as if you can get one even if you pay for it."

Taxi Van in Ubin have green license plates compared to the ones on mainland, the CEO is cheaper

Many taxi van drivers were former Ubin resident who now live on the mainland but commute to the island to provide their service to the quiet tourist trade.

Back in the 60s and 70s, fights regularly broke out at the jetty as boatman touted to get customer to board their boats. it was only when they forms an association to create a fair an orderly way to manage the guests boarding the boat. The boat that comes first gets to have the customer first.

The association is not accepting any new members, so when the last operator retire, the government is likely to take over the operation

In Chinese chess or xiangchi, one player has two elephants, among other pieces, and his opponent, two ministers, because the two words sound alike (xiang). They are roughly the equivalent of the bishops in chess, except that the elephants and ministers cannot cross the half- line of the xiangshi board, which is marked by a river.

An age-old proverb has come out of this rule: fei xiang bu guo he, or "flying elephants do not cross the river". There are just some things that one cannot do.

But in 1990, two elephants swam across the strait from Johor to Pulau Tekong, and in the following year, another one swam across to Pulau Ubin. I remember a former colleague laughing about it then - another truism turned on its head."

two Frenchmen who were on the island for birdwatching sighted the elephant five times. The elephant went after them, causing some light scratches on one of the man’s arms as he fell while escaping. A nearby taxi driver drove off with the two men after the elephant hit the right rear side of his car

the elephant was transported back to its habitat in the jungles of Johor. It was sedated and chained between the two trained elephants used in the Pulau Tekong incident, then guided onto a truck and later loaded on a barge which carried them back to mainland Singapore. The elephant was released in Endau Rompin National Park in northern Johor. (so it doesn’t swim back)

Often described as a smelly fruit with heavenly taste, a durian’s aroma is so strong that the thorny fruit is banned in MRT trains and the airport

If there's one food that unites Singaporeans, it's durians. However, it appears the king of fruits has been causing conflict between mainland Singaporeans and residents of Pulau Ubin

Some claims the best durians can be found on the island, and are known to be the most "tender, creamiest and flavourful" of all.

Another Straits Times (ST) article on June 8 stated the durians on Ubin were reportedly popular as they were organic, with no pesticides added.

Ubin Residents also shared several tales of how she and family would excitedly wake up in the night to the loud thuds of durians dropping from the trees, and quickly run out to savour the freshest durians.

The durian season would apparently see an increased number of mainland Singaporeans, equipped with helmets, gloves and gunny sacks, flocking to the forests to hunt for the fruit. However, durian trees on Ubin do grow inside residents' gardens and backyards, and unaware durian pickers often trespass these areas to steal the fruits

Singaporeans from the mainland reportedly leave with huge sacks of the fruit, which they sell commercially back on Singapore, leaving little left for Ubin residents to enjoy, ST also reported.

You don’t get your branded durians like Mao Shan Wang, Ang Hei, Dragon Phoenix etc etc. We call them “Kampung Durians” as they are a hodgepodge of uncultivated durians breeds

The durians in Pulau Ubin are free for the picking if you bother to camp there overnight. If you do, then this is when your reservist helmet can finally be put to good use.

It is the whole experience of playing durian jackpot that made it quite fun, some have worms, some taste like shit, some are really good.

Durian Season is June to September, and also in December. It depends on the rainfall too.

When buying durians: Prospective customers examine, sniff, and shake the fruits, while sellers usually have a special padded tapping stick with which they strike each durian to demonstrate its particular "thunk" sound, almost like musicians testing some kind of natural jungle percussion instrument

in many other countries the side of a knife works well enough. If the durian sounds slightly hollow, it means the flesh has softened enough to recede from the shell, and the durian is at least edible. Various levels of hollowness correlate to levels of softness. Know what you like..

How do does it breathe out of water? Just as divers breathe underwater through tanks of air, the mudskipper carries 'tanks of water' in its gill chambers. These chambers are enlarged which give the fish their cute puffy-faced look. Just as air tanks give divers only limited breathing time underwater, the mudskipper also has to go back to the water to refresh the 'tank of water' in its gills. They can also absorb oxygen through their skin like a frog does but to do this they need to keep their skin wet and often roll around in the mud to achieve that end.

During low tide Mudskippers cruise the land looking for food, They like to stay close to their burrow to make a quick escape from predators such as birds, crabs and snakes. During high tides they spend much of their time in their burrows safe from predatory fish

Some mudskippers can climb tree branches and mangrove roots by using their front flippers to grasp a tree's stems and branches. There are other fishes which walk on land, like the walking catfish, but the mudskipper is the only one that climbs trees.

Their protruding eyes are capable of moving independently of each other. Because of this independent movement of their eyes, the mudskipper fish are very much capable of looking below water surface and above water surface at the very same time.

Mudskippers mate out of water. Because their front fins are used in getting around they perform their courtship displays with the long fins that run down their backs. Normally the back fins of the male lie flat. During the mating season they become erect, sometimes revealing bright colors. Male mudskippers sometimes leap into the air so they can be seen at a distance.

Fierce battles between males occur over the best burrowing spots.

Fiddler crabs are seen by the hundreds in mud flats. They make slurping noises as they take in mud, extract organic material and eject little balls. They rarely venture more than a meter or two from their burrow. Somehow in their brains they count their steps and use triangulation to figure out where they are in case they have to make a run for it to the relative safety of their burrows.

Fiddle crab life revolves around its burrow. Douglas Fox wrote in Natural History: “A crab's most precious resource is its burrow. That's where the animal hunkers down at hide tide, hides from birds, mates. And other crabs that leave the safety of their own burrows in search of a larger or better-positioned burrow are often the biggest threat. When a crab ventures even a few crab steps from its burrow to slurp some mud, other crabs are constantly trying to steal its burrow, forcing it to dart back time and time again to defend its home."

Fiddler crabs are usually found in big groups, though they live alone in their own watery hole, or burrow, that they dig out. But don't be fooled by that little hole. Some fiddler crabs' burrows can go down as far as 3 feet into the sand. When the tide rolls in, the fiddler crab puts a mud plug in its burrow hole, the way you close your front door, to keep the water out. When its low tide and the water level goes back down, the fiddler crab moves the plug and comes out for a meal.

Female fiddler crabs have two pincers that are the same size. Males have one pincer like the female’s. The other is very large and conspicuously colored pink, red, blue, purple or white. The large claw looks fearsome but actually they are virtually useless in catching prey and defending the crab from predators, Its primary purpose is to attract mates.

The large claw is waved (the fiddling) by the male, often accompanied by a little dance, to signal females that he is ready to mate. Responsive females follow the male to his hole.

Fiddler crabs also have gills, like a fish, so they can live underwater. But they have a basic lung that lets them breathe on land, too.

Although feared for its strength and frequently portrayed as the bully in folklore, the king of the jungle did not enjoy its status for long in Singapore. Faced with the loss of habitat to plantations, they turned to humans as food and killed an average of one human being a day. The tiger became a victim of its own fearsome reputation and due to resultant human-tiger conflict the big cats were eventually hunted to national extinction around 1930.

However, tiger sightings were still reported up to the 1950s. In 1997, rumours of a tiger in Pulau Ubin led the police to issue a public advice to keep away from the island. The presence of the tiger was never confirmed and was thought by conspiracy theorists as a ruse by villagers to teach bumboat operators a lesson for raising boat fares!

Host plant for Pteroptyx tener beetle (Malaysian Firefly) which flocks to tree and flashes synchronously at night. Tree's exact relationship with firefly unknown, but Pteroptyx tener is thought to be attracted to the open crown (where the males' mating flashes can be easily seen

Fiery Tree: According to the NParks Flora and Fauna website, Berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris) is where adult "fireflies" flock and flash in a synchronised manner, famous in places such as Selangor. These animals are actually a bettle (Pteroptyx tener). The Berembang's exact relationship with firefly is unknown. The adults is believed to feed on either the tree's sap, young leaves, flower nectar or scale insects specific to the tree, and prefer the open canopy of the tree which allows their flashing displays to be seen from long distances.Their larvae are carnivorous and amphibious, nesting in the vegetation below tree, feeding on aquatic snails (Cyclotropis carinata) and nematode worms.

Many tourist resorts situated in the South of Sri Lanka where the trees grow abundantly alongside rivers, offer fresh fruit drinks made from the fruit. In the Maldives the fruits are used as a refreshing drink and also eaten with scraped coconut & sugar.

No durians without mangroves! According to Tomlinson, a study in west Malaysia found that Durian flowers are pollinated almost entirely by a single species of bat Eonycterus spelaea. This bat roosts primarily in limestone caves and are fast flyers that range up to 50km each night in search of pollen and nectar from a wide variety of plants. Their range include mangroves and Sonneratia species especially S. alba are important sources of food for these bats.

According to Tomlinson, in Malaysia, several species of nectar-feeding bats are responsible for the pollination of Sonneratia. One of them, the Common long-tongued nectar bat (Macroglossus minimus) is said to be dependent on Sonneratia as its main food source, and this bat has never been recorded away from mangroves. In Singapore, this bat is known in the mangroves of Pulau Ubin, Pulau Tekong and also at Sungei Buloh where it feeds on the nectar of Berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris) and Perepat (Sonneratia alba) trees, as well as durian, jambu and banana trees. The bat feeds on the nectar with its brush-like tongue, in the processing getting dusted by pollen which it transfers to the next flower that it feeds o

the fruits are sour but edible

Sour young fruits used to make vinegar, and as flavouring in chutneys and curries. Mature fruits eaten raw or cooked, said to taste like cheese

Grey mangrove (Avicennia marina) is an important salt-loving tree that is used extensively to prevent coastal erosion. It is also extremely important to the fishing industry, particularly in Australia, where it provides protected waters for the young of many commercial species. It is not only ecologically important but economically too -- the bark is used to make dark red and brown dyes, while the wood has many crafting uses. Take care, as the seeds of gray mangrove are toxic.

The grey mangrove can experience stunted growth in water conditions that are too saline, but thrive to their full height in waters where both salt and fresh water are present. The species can tolerate high salinity by excreting salts through its leaves.

This plant with delightful heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers that attract red bugs is often seen on many of our wild shores. It is also often planted in our seaside parks.

Nature Teamwork:
Each of three veins on the underside of the leaf near the stalk have a small slit. A sweet substance is secreted from these slits, and ants of all sizes can be seen drinking from them. Among these, are the fierce Weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), which may help keep off insect pests. Some insects that feed on the plant include the Cotton stainer bug (Dysdercus decussatus) that feeds on its seeds.

Flower a typical hibiscus-shape. the flower blooms at about 9am, long after sunrise and close in the afternoon at about 4pm. The petals usually fall off the same evening or the next morning. Usually, every flower sets fruit

this shrub has been "one of the most important fibre-plants among the inhabitants of Malaya" and were planted wherever the Malays went. The fibres from the plant is used to make cords as well as to caulk boats. Cords are made into fishing lines and nets as well as bags. Cords were also used for harpoons to catch dugongs, and in elephant gear for dragging timbers.

Medicinal: the leaves are considered cooling in Malaysia and Indonesia and used to control fevers.

This tree has been widely used as a bonsai in many Asian countries, particularly in Taiwan.

Wood is used for light boat and canoe construction, planking, firewood, wood carvings, fishing nets, household implements, carts and canoe floats, sailing spars and axe handles.

The mahoe is often planted to stabilize sand dunes and, on muddy shores, to trap soil to reinforce the coastline. In India it is planted to prevent erosion on the banks of rivers and reservoirs.

Native to: Indonesia, New Guinea, Northern Australia

Grown on wastelands as it contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria which can rejuvenate soils poor in nutrients.

Prevents soil erosion due to extensive dense roots and heavy leaf litter. Popularity waning in Singapore due to large amount of fallen leaves.

The Acacia was widely cultivated by the then Parks and Recreation Department (now National Parks Board). In 1988, it was most abundant cultivated tree in Singapore, numbering up to 54,216 individuals (Aggarwal, 1988). However, it was abandoned because of it generated considerable amount of leaf litter (Wee, 1989)

By then, it had already naturalised and is often a dominant species in young secondary forests.

Singapore’s Experiment with plants

Fruit globular and large (10-25cm in diameter) like a cannon-ball or bowling-ball, brown with corky seeds. There are usually 8-10 seeds in a single fruit, although 20 seeds have been recorded. The fruits develop rapidly, usually only one fruit per inflorescence. The ripe fruit can weigh 2-3kgs!

When ripe, the fruit splits open and/or drops off the tree and shatters, releasing the seeds which float away. The seeds may start to germinate as they float. 'Granatum' means 'full of seeds'. The angular seeds fit perfectly inside the round fruit. But once spilled from the fruit, the seeds are hard to fit back together. So the tree is sometimes called the 'Puzzle nut' mangrove or 'Monkey puzzle' tree.

The massive trunk is intertwined with a mass of thick long stalks bearing large showy flowers and large rounded fruits, with the latter looking very much like cannon balls. This is unusual as most trees bear their flowers and fruits on the branches, rather than along the trunk.

This species is native to Trinidad and the northern regions of South America. The name Couroupita comes from the South American plant name; and 'guianensis' means from The Guianas.

The Hindus in Singapore use the flowers for worship while in Sri lanka, they are used as offerings at Buddhist shrines and temples. In India, the flowers are offered to Lord Shiva by devotees. In its native country the shell of the fruit is made into utensils.

Cannonball fruits are only edible when ripe and should not be consumed when unripe as some consumers may experience an allergic reaction to young fruits. The mature fruits will typically fall off the tree when ripe and will crack open, revealing the fru’s pungent flesh. While the flesh of ripe Cannonball fruit is considered edible when raw, it is primarily consumed in times of famine as the flesh has a rancid, putrid odor

Cannonball trees are known as Shiv Kamal or Kailashpati in India and are considered a symbol of Shiva, the well-known deity that is a part of the Hindu triumvirate. Shiva is often depicted in images with a cobra around his neck, and there are many diffent meanings of the symbolic snake, ranging from a manifestation of ego to Shiva’s love and dominion over animals. Many Hindus believe Cannonball flowers resemble a hooded cobra, a symbol of Shiva, and the trees are often planted in temples dedicated to Shiva throughout India. When the trees are in bloom, the flowers are also offered to Shiva and are used as decoration around shrines..

Story can be about how this tree got to Singapore and the rest of the world.

The Tumu (Bruguiera gymnorhiza) is a nationally common mangrove tree from the family Rhizophoraceae.

It is commonly found in most, if not all, the mangrove forests of Singapore. It is usually found nearer to the landward side of mangrove forests, and grows best on well-aerated soil, though it can also be found growing in muddy areas.

Vivipary is observed in this plant, as with the other mangrove species from the family Rhizophoraceae. This is a condition whereby the embryo grows and break through the seed coat and the fruit wall while still attached to the parent plant. Hence, the thick and cylindrical structures seen hanging from the trees are the seedlings, not fruits. The calyx usually remains pink or red.

However, in shady areas and depending on the other environmental conditions, the calyx may be greenish, yellowish or even brownish. The seedling is dispersed by water. It floats horizontally for a few weeks, during which the root (lower part) will absorb water and become heavier, eventually causing the seedling to tip and float vertically. As the tide goes down, the vertically-oriented seedling will sink into the mud or other suitable substrates. Most of the seedlings, however, end up being washed ashore or eaten by animals.

Aerial roots: Instead of having tap roots deep underground, Rhizophoreae develop roots that branch out from the stem some distance above the soil surface.[8] Underground roots, like all plant tissues, require oxygen for respiration.[8] In underground soils of terrestrial habitats, gas exchanges take place at the interstitial pores among the soil particles.[8] In waterlogged soils, the diffusion rate of oxygen is extremely low. Rhizophoreae adapts to the anaerobic soils by having extensive roots above the ground which increases the surface area for gas exchanges.[8] The surface of arial roots carry numerous gas exchange pores called lenticels, through which oxygen could diffuse into the underground tissues with air-filled spaces

Its flowers are pollinated by sunbirds. It is the preferred local food plant for caterpillars of the moth, Olene mendosa. Talk about the sunbird adaptation like a hummingbird.

The fruit develops within the calyx tube and becomes enlarged when ripened. The single seed germinates within the calyx tube while attached to the parent plant, forming a green hypocotyl tipped by the radicle that emerges from the calyx, known as a propagule. The propagule is cigar-shaped, long, stout, ridged, 19–25 by 1–1.7 cm, and maturing from green to dark purple.

It is propagated by the propagules. Washed up propagules may be collected from the shore or directly from the tree when mature (purplish) and planted straight into the potting medium. They do best with slightly alkaline soils and high-nitrogen fertilizers, e.g., urea. This mangrove species is able to thrive in freshwater conditions.