Mangroves in the New World

Abstract

MANGROVES have been of interest to botanists ever since the first details were given by morphologists in the eighteenth century, not only to specialists in ecology on account of their somewhat peculiar distribution as shore-line vegetation, but also to the general botanist in view of the unusual morphological and physiological features which they display. It is therefore satisfactory that it has been found possible to give a very full account of the main features of these plants as observed by the 1939 Cambridge Expedition to Jamaica¹. Those of us who have attempted field experiments even a short distance from the laboratory will realize full well the difficulty in assessing requirements beforehand, and it can well be understood that the performance of the Expedition falls short of its members' expectations on this account and in view of the scanty data already in the literature on which they had to rely for guidance. Nevertheless, in spite of these unavoidable difficulties and notwithstanding the cessation of activity due to the outbreak of war, Dr. Chapman presents a most impressive series of three articles ranging over a wide field of endeavour. It is stimulating to find here a clear grasp of the problems involved in attempting to relate morphological character to physiological function, with repeated emphasis on the problems yet to be solved. Work of this kind can clearly not be final, and probably the most useful feature of the Expedition, as it is reflected in these papers, lies in the guidance it gives for more detailed investigation which may become possible in the future.