During a field trip in May 2023 to the Cubatão mangroves in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, a cluster of white flowers puzzled biologists Geraldo Eysink and Edmar Hatamura. They bloomed from trees unlike any they had ever seen in the area in 30 years of research. They gathered samples, and with the expertise of oceanographer and mangrove specialist Yara Schaeffer-Novelli, identified the plant as Sonneratia apetala, a species native to South Asian mangroves. It was the first time this species had been recorded anywhere in the Americas. The significance of the discovery quickly became clear. S. apetala was an invasive species with the potential to wreak havoc on this ecosystem. Over the following months, Eysink and Hatamura found 80 more of these trees. Now, that number has soared past 250, with new specimens emerging each time they explore the mangroves. “Mangroves are nurseries for many species of fish, crabs, oysters and mussels. If Sonneratia apetala spreads, it could harm the reproduction of all this fauna and the lives of more than 400,000 fisher-people along the Brazilian coast,” Eysink told Mongabay. Native to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, S. apetala was introduced to China in 1985 for mangrove restoration. Researchers believe it reached Brazil through ballast water from ships traveling from China to Santos Port, just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the mangroves. Ballast water, used by ships for stability, is emptied when they load cargo, releasing foreign organisms into the surrounding ecosystem. It’s thought that the released…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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South Africa Today – Environment
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