Mineral Content and Concentration with Fruit Weight from Five Sonneratia Mangroves

Mangrove ecosystems are critical coastal habitats, marked by intricate interactions between environmental factors and plant physiological processes. Managing mineral element concentrations is essential for mangrove plants to adapt to saline coastal wetlands. However, the patterns of mineral element changes during the development of non-viviparous propagules in mangroves are not well understood. To fill this knowledge gap, this study examines Sonneratia species co-existing in the same habitat, focusing on the variations in Ca, Cl, K, Mg, and Na content and concentration as the fruits develop. Our findings show that mineral element concentrations in Sonneratia fruits consistently have a statistically significant (p<0.05) nonlinear negative relationship with fruit weight, with log-log linear model slopes ranging from -0.47 to -0.06. The total content of all mineral elements exhibits a statistically significant (p<0.05) sublinear allometric relationship with fruit weight, with log-log linear model slopes between 0.53 and 0.94. These results indicate that as fruits increase in size, the element concentration decreases more slowly compared to the increase in fruit weight. This study provides deeper insights into the physiological adaptations of Sonneratia mangroves during fruit development.