Mangroves

Category: Environment | Ecology | Climate Change

UPSC Notes

Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees and shrubs found in tropical and subtropical coastal intertidal zones. They have specialised adaptations that enable them to survive waterlogged, saline and oxygen-poor soils.

India's mangroves occur along both eastern and western coasts, in island territories and in estuaries and deltas.

Key Pointers

  • Major Indian regions: Sundarbans, Bhitarkanika, Gulf of Kachchh, Gulf of Khambhat, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and parts of the east coast.

  • Adaptations: Pneumatophores, specialised roots, salt regulation and, in many species, vivipary.

  • Ecological services: Shoreline stabilisation, nursery habitats for fish, nutrient cycling and carbon storage.

  • Blue carbon: Carbon stored in coastal ecosystems, including mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows.

  • Disaster mitigation: Mangroves can reduce wave energy and coastal erosion, although protection depends on forest width, condition and storm characteristics.

  • Threats: Aquaculture expansion, coastal construction, pollution, altered freshwater flows and sea-level rise.

  • Indian initiative: MISHTI — Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes.

UPSC relevance: Wetland conservation, coastal resilience, blue carbon and nature-based solutions.