CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Some say the Black Mangrove is a vital part of our Coastal Bend erosion protection system, while other believe it's an invasive plant that threatens the wildlife habitat of many animals, including the whooping crane.
3NEWS spoke with Mission Aransas Reserve Stewardship Coordinator Katie Swanson, who is one of 50 researchers from along the Gulf Coast who took part in a Black Mangrove study.
"The reason why we were interested in studying them is there range and distribution seem to be expanding. With that freeze in 2021 it definitely caused a major die back," she said.
Swanson said that she now estimates that perhaps up to 40% of the plants have returned. That's a big concern for those who are working to protect the whooping cranes. The mangroves can quickly take over the salt marsh environment the birds thrive in due to their ability to remove salt from the water they live in.
"One of the adaptations for why they do so well in this salty environment as they were able to excrete the salt out of their leaves. Yeah, you can see it right there," she said.
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi biology professor Ed Proffitt was also one of those scientists who contributed to the study. He said another research project he's involved in has shown that when the mangroves died off during the big freeze it also killed off that areas soil erosion prevention system.
"So in places where there are a lot of mangroves you could see a lot of erosion and sediment change. A loss which is going to be exacerbated if any storms come through. It'll take all of that sediment away more rapidly," he said.
Proffitt said he believes the plants play a vital role in protecting the coastline whenever the next hurricane rolls through like Harvey did exactly 6 years ago.
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