FGCU

Vester Marine Station was a blast, and has been my favorite field trip so far. While on the field trip I alot of saw mangroves. I was very surprised at how shallow the water was. Mangroves are plants that live in saltwater. In Florida, there are three different types of mangroves. Those include white, red, and black. The mangroves, pictured below are red, because they live in the lowest elevation. Mangroves help stabilize the soil and protects from storm surge. They also help to protect from flooding. A lot of the mangroves at around Vester, serve as a protection. Another important thing I learned that it serves as a home to oysters, which filter 50 gallons of water a day. The oysters that are at Vester, die and eventually fossilize. The naturalist that was on the field trip talked about the importance of estuaries and how they provide a lot of ecosystem services. A lot of those services are provided for humans.  "Plants, animals, and other organisms in lakes, r...