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International Journal of Marine Science 2014, Vol.4, No.58, 1-7
http://ijms.biopublisher.ca
1
Research Article
Open Access
Mangroves and associates in the estuaries of Tamil Nadu coast of India
K. Sakthivel
l
, P. Thirunavukkarasu, K. Kathiresan
Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Annamalai University, Parangipettai: 608 502, Tamil Nadu, India
Corresponding author email:
ksakthi7@yahoo.co.in
International Journal of Marine Science, 2014, Vol.4, No.58 doi: 10.5376/ijms.2014.04.0058
Received: 24 Apr., 2014
Accepted: 13 Jun., 2014
Published: 11 Oct., 2014
Copyright
©
2014 Sakthive et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Sakthive et al., 2014, Mangroves and associates in the estuaries of Tamil Nadu coast of India, International Journal of Marine Science, Vol.4, No.58 1
-
7 (doi:
10.5376/ijms.2014.04.0058
)
Abstract
Mangroves and associated plant species were surveyed in 56 estuaries from Pulicat Lake (
13º25' 955" N; 080º 19' 284" E)
to Manakkudy Estuary (
08º 05' 254" N; 077º 29' 049" E) along 1076 km of coastline in Tamil Nadu, during 2012-2014. The study
area was divided into five groups: West coast of Tamil Nadu, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, South and North Coromandel coasts. A total
of 16 mangrove species, belonging to nine families and 11 genera, were recorded along with 23 mangrove associates belonging to 17
families and 21 genera. The mangrove species,
Avicennia marina
and associate species,
Pongamia pinnata
,
Ipomoea pes-caprae
and
Calotropis gigantea
were found to be prevalent along the North Coromandel coast. The mangrove species,
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza
was only recorded in the Ariyankuppam and Thengaithittu estuaries while
Avicennia alba
was only found in the Palayakayal Estuary
in the Gulf of Mannar. Two mangrove associates
Acrostrichum aureum
and
Fimbristylis ferruginea
were reported in the Manakkudy
estuary. The mangroves along the North Coromandel Coast were represented more number of mangrove species.
Avicennia marina
was the dominant species almost all collect sites. Few mangrove plants only available in some species of mangroves in particular
study areas, further investigation about mangroves plnats diversity or continue monitoring is necessary. Field studies are wanted for
unexplored minor estuaries and hence the present work was undertaken. The aim of the study to identify the more number of rare
mangrove species by survey more number of collection sites.
Keywords
Mangroves; Coromandel coast;
Avicennia
;
Rhizophora
; Gulf of Mannar; Palk Bay
Introduction
A mangrove refers to the tidal forest or individual
plant or both
1, 2
. The term “mangroves” is used for
intertidal plants and plant communities of the intertidal
forest community called ‘Mangal’
3
. Different workers
considered ‘mangrove’ to refer to plants growing in
the highest and lowest tidal areas
1,4-12
.
Mangroves are
a taxonomically diverse group of salt-tolerant, mainly
arboreal, flowering plants
13
.
Mangrove are present
around 118 countries and spread 137,760 km
2
during
the year 2000 in the tropical and subtropical regions of
the world, Asia (43%) followed by Africa (21%),
North and Central America (15%), Oceania (12%) and
South America (11%). In the world 15 countries
(Indonesia 22.6%; Australia 7.1%; Brazil 7.0%;
Mexico (5.4%; Nigeria 4.7%; Malaysia 3.7; Myanmar
3.6%; Papua New Guinea 3.5%; Bangladesh 3.2%;
Cuba 3.1%; India 2.7%; Guinea Bissau 2.5%;
Mozambique 2.3% Madagascar 2.0% and Philippines
1.9% occupied 75%
14
. Total global mangrove areas
ranges from 110,000 to 240, 000 km
2 15,16
.
They grow in extreme temperature, high salinity, high
sedimentations, high tides and muddy anaerobic soils.
Mangroves are an important ecosystem, contributing
to energy flow between land and sea and also
providing vital ecosystem services; including waste
processing, coastal protection, biodiversity enrichment
food production and recreation
17,18
. The mangroves
also strongly influence the structure of neighboring
marine communities by increasing the biomass of
commercially important fish and invertebrates that
spend part of their life cycles in the mangrove
environment emphasizing the nursery function of
mangroves
19,20,21
.
Tamil Nadu has an extensive coastline and a vast
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with Pulicat Lake in
the north and Kanyakumari in the south. Mangroves
have not been surveyed in all parts of Tamil Nadu,
especially in estuarine systems. Hence, in the present
study the mangroves and associates were surveyed
along 56 estuaries of Tamil Nadu. For survey of many
estuaries, the number mangroves species may increase.