Roots of the mangroves
The soil that mangroves inhabit is anaerobic meaning it has low oxygen content therefore the aveicennia or grey mangrove adapted pneumatophores through which gaseous exchange occurs allowing the plant to obtain oxygen. Pneumatophores act almost like straws that allow the plant to breathe. Pneumatophores are aerial roots which also provide structural support for the grey mangrove in the soft muddy setting. The height of the pneumatophores depends on their location and distance from water. The closer to the water a pneumatophore is, the taller it will be allowing it to penetrate over the changing water level.
At the Home bush mangroves, an experiment was conducted whereby the height of pneumatophores an their distance from the creek was studied. It was supported through this investigation that as the proximity to the the creek increased, the height of the pneumatophores increased. This hypothesis is depicted in the image below which shows the increasing height of the pneumatophores are the distance towards the creek increases.