NARRAGANSETT, R.I. – Dr. Brice Loose of the Graduate school of Oceanography is helping to try and restore the ecosystem on part of the Casamance River in southern Senegal.

 

With the bone dry Sahara dessert to its north, and the more tropical part of Africa to the south, this region experiences a multitude of weather patterns.  Due to shifting climate patterns the region has been experiencing a huge shortage of rainfall since about 1970.

 

This drought, named the Sahel drought, completely upended the ecosystem leaving nearly 80% of it damaged, which has proved harmful to not only the animals, but the humans in the area as well.

 

The native people to the area rely on not just the fish for a source of food and trade, but they also rely heavily on their rice production and growth to survive.  With the prolonged drought, and the salinity of the river rising, both of these resources that were always at their disposal have continued to thin out.

 

Knowing that this pattern needed to be reversed, a Lebanese man who lives in Senegal, decided that with the funding of some major companies, and the help of many volunteers that they would replant the entire ecosystem and all of the mangrove trees that were lost over the years.  In 2006 there were 24 million mangroves planted, and by 2009 100 million new mangroves were planted and introduced to the ecosystem. 

 

The mangrove tree is able to occupy regions that have a broad range of salinity, making it perfect for the job of restoring this dying ecosystem. 

“Effectively they are like a desalinator that can actually lower the salinity in a region,” Loose said in his presentation. 

 

Mangroves accomplish this by secreting the salt they take in from their root system onto their leaves, and when the wind comes it will blow the salt into the air carrying it out of the ecosystem. 

 

Dr. Loose explained this as, “Creating their own microclimate.”

 

By essentially creating their own weather, the hope was that the mangroves would be able to desalinate the area making it possible for rice to be consistently grown again.  A lower salinity would also mean that fish that used to live in the area, but had to migrate away would come back closer to shore allowing for the fishermen to provide for themselves and their community again. 

 

In addition to balancing out the ecosystem, the mangrove trees also have proven to be an important nursery for oyster hatcheries as well as Demersal fish that spend most of their time away from shore at sea.  This provides the native people of the area with even more opportunities to cultivate their shores and provide for themselves.

 

Every part of an ecosystem is important, and each plant, and animal has its own particular role.  Thanks to scientists like Dr. Loose, the ecosystem along a part of the Casamance River in southern Senegal now has a chance to recover, and possibly thrive like it once did all because of a single kind of tree that serves many jobs.