Mangroves of Indian Sundarbans: Nature Based Buffer Against Estuarine Acidification

Abstract

The ecosystem services of mangroves are well known and can be subdivided into provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting. The regulating services of mangroves are extremely crucial to combating the effect of climate change on the estuarine ecosystem. The present study reveals that there are five widely available species of mangroves that are found to be dominant in the study area, namely Sonneratia apetala, Avicennia marina, Avicennia alba, Avicennia officinalis, and Excoecaria agallocha, that are present in all 24 selected stations to assess the impact of mangrove Above Ground Biomass (AGB) on the pH level of the surrounding estuarine water. It is evident from the investigation that the biomass of mangroves has a potential to retard the rate of acidification in the estuaries of the Indian Sunderban. The present study was therefore conducted during the pre-monsoon season of 2023 based on the ground-level pH and Above Ground Bionmss (AGB) of dominant mangrove species obtained from 24 stations along the estuaries of the Sunderban Delta Complex. The significant positive correlation found between these two variables (r = 0.9588; p<0.01) reveals that mangroves effectively buffer and mitigate the adverse impact of acidification.

Keywords: Above Ground Biomass (AGB), Aquatic pH, Estuary, Indian Sunderban, Mangroves

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References

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Ghosh, V., Pramanick, P., Zaman, S., & Mitra, A. (2024). Mangroves of Indian Sundarbans: Nature Based Buffer Against Estuarine Acidification. International Journal of Advancement in Life Sciences Research, 7(3), 130-139. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.31632/ijalsr.2024.v07i03.012