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7.5 Sundarban Mangroves
7.5.1 Area Description
Sundarban happens to be the world’s largest single tract of contiguous mangrove
forest covering a total area of 9630 km
2
situated at the border of two countries
namely India and Bangladesh. Out of which an area of ~4264 km
2
encompasses
dense mangrove cover, whereas, water ways cover ~1781 km
2
(Biswas et al. 2004).
Roughly the Sundarban mangroves cover ~3% of the global mangrove cover.
This forest lies on the lower end of the world’s largest delta as well known as the
Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) Delta. The tail end of River Ganges known
as Hugli River serves as the main source of freshwater in the Indian part of
Sundarban; however, several distributaries like Matla, Saptamukhi, and Bidya have
presently lost its connection in their upper reaches (Sarkar et al. 2004). In the
Sundarban’s counterpart of Bangladesh (which comprises 60% of total Sundarban’s
areal coverage), comparatively more freshwater flow is still being maintained
through Rivers like Padma and Meghna.
Sundarban experiences a typical tropical climate and it is grossly demarcated as
monsoon (June–September), post-monsoon (October–January) and premonsoon(February–May). This region experiences an average annual rainfall of
~1770 mm and 75% of it is poured during the monsoon season. The estuaries surrounding the mangroves are semidiurnal and meso-macro tidal in nature. The spring
tidal amplitude ranges between 4.3 and 4.8 m and in case of neap tide it is found to
vary between 1.8 and 2.8 m (Biswas et al. 2007). The texture of the soil varies from
clayey to sandy loam to silty owing to the deposition of inundated materials in the
deltaic formation.
Sundarban is blessed with a rich biodiversity both in terms of flora as well as
fauna. Sanyal et al. (2008) reported 25 species of true mangroves, 9 semi- mangroves
(grasses), 37 mangrove associates and 22 mangrove commensals from the Indian
part of Sundarban. Avicennia spp., Excoecaria agallocha, Bruguiera spp., Ceriops
spp., Phoenix paludosa are some of the abundant mangrove species available in
Sundarbans. According to the local belief the term ‘Sundarban’ origined from the
name of the Heritiera spp. (colloquially called as Sundari tree – meaning beautiful);
however, at present very few naturally occurring Heritiera spp. is found to thrive in
the Indian part of Sundarbans. Besides mangroves, a multitude of faunal, microbial
and algal species are reported to thrive in the Sundarbans.
7 CO 2 Fluxes in Mangrove Ecosystems
7.5 Sundarban Mangroves
7.5.1 Area Description
Sundarban happens to be the world’s largest single tract of contiguous mangrove
forest covering a total area of 9630 km
2
situated at the border of two countries
namely India and Bangladesh. Out of which an area of ~4264 km
2
encompasses
dense mangrove cover, whereas, water ways cover ~1781 km
2
(Biswas et al. 2004).
Roughly the Sundarban mangroves cover ~3% of the global mangrove cover.
This forest lies on the lower end of the world’s largest delta as well known as the
Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) Delta. The tail end of River Ganges known
as Hugli River serves as the main source of freshwater in the Indian part of
Sundarban; however, several distributaries like Matla, Saptamukhi, and Bidya have
presently lost its connection in their upper reaches (Sarkar et al. 2004). In the
Sundarban’s counterpart of Bangladesh (which comprises 60% of total Sundarban’s
areal coverage), comparatively more freshwater flow is still being maintained
through Rivers like Padma and Meghna.
Sundarban experiences a typical tropical climate and it is grossly demarcated as
monsoon (June–September), post-monsoon (October–January) and premonsoon(February–May). This region experiences an average annual rainfall of
~1770 mm and 75% of it is poured during the monsoon season. The estuaries surrounding the mangroves are semidiurnal and meso-macro tidal in nature. The spring
tidal amplitude ranges between 4.3 and 4.8 m and in case of neap tide it is found to
vary between 1.8 and 2.8 m (Biswas et al. 2007). The texture of the soil varies from
clayey to sandy loam to silty owing to the deposition of inundated materials in the
deltaic formation.
Sundarban is blessed with a rich biodiversity both in terms of flora as well as
fauna. Sanyal et al. (2008) reported 25 species of true mangroves, 9 semi- mangroves
(grasses), 37 mangrove associates and 22 mangrove commensals from the Indian
part of Sundarban. Avicennia spp., Excoecaria agallocha, Bruguiera spp., Ceriops
spp., Phoenix paludosa are some of the abundant mangrove species available in
Sundarbans. According to the local belief the term ‘Sundarban’ origined from the
name of the Heritiera spp. (colloquially called as Sundari tree – meaning beautiful);
however, at present very few naturally occurring Heritiera spp. is found to thrive in
the Indian part of Sundarbans. Besides mangroves, a multitude of faunal, microbial
and algal species are reported to thrive in the Sundarbans.
7 CO 2 Fluxes in Mangrove Ecosystems