The water relations of three mangrove ecosystem species, Rhizophora mangle, Conocarpus erectus and Coccoloba uvifera were investigated in an intertidal zone of the Venezuelan coast. The influence of a salinity gradient (from seashore to inland) and seasonal fluctuations in salinity were studied. Daily courses of leaf water and osmotic potentials and other water relations characteristics were estimated from pressure-volume curves. All species exhibited a decrease in osmotic potential of leaf tissues during the dry season when salinity levels increased in ground water. This osmotic adjustment was due to changes in either the symplasmic water fraction, the osmotically active solutes in leaf cells, or both. Changes in cell wall elasticity were also observed. The cell walls were more rigid during the dry season in all three species. Rhizophora mangle, the species that grows closest to the sea, had much more rigid cell walls than the other two species. The adaptive significance of these mechanisms for turgor maintenance and water uptake in mangrove habitats is discussed.