Ecology of Sundarban, Bangladesh

Abstract

Sundarban is the largest mangrove wetland in the world. It covers an area of about 1mha, of which 60% is located in Bangladesh and the remaining western portion, comprising 40%, lies in India. Mangrove ecosystems are of great ecological significance in the tropical and sub-tropical coast. They protect our coast from heavy wind, tidal waves, coastal erosion and sea water intrusion, generate substantial quantities of fishery resources and provide many useful forestry products. The Sundarban ecosystem supports rich fisheries diversity. This ecosystem support 27 families and 53 species of pelagic fish, 49 families 124 species of demersal fish, 5 families and 24 species of shrimps, 3 families and 7 species of crabs, 8 species of lobster. A total 334 plants, 165 algal, 13 special orchids, 17 fern, 87 monocotyledon and 230 dicotyledon belonging to 245 genera and 75 families from the sundarbans and adjacent area are found available. The principal tree species is Sundry (Heritiera fomes) which covers about 73% to total landmass and the second species is Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha) which covers about 16% of total forest area. The plant species include 35 legumes, 29 grasses, 19 sedges, and 18 euphorbias. Of the 50 true mangrove plant species recorded throughout the globe, the Sundarbans alone contain 35 species. The magnificent among the animals on land is Royal Bengal Tiger, Spotted deer, barking deer and wild boars are there in plenty. Besides those jungle cats, fishing cat, civet cat, monkey, bengal fox, jackle, water monitor, monitor lizard and snakes are important faunal spp. Moreover, abundant of the Sundarbans are purple heron, pond heron, cattle egret, little egret, open billed stork, smaller adjutant stork, brahmini kite, spotted dove, rose ringed parakeet, crow pheasant, wood pecker, bee eater, drongo, pide myna, jungle myna, bulbul, tailor bird, magpie robin, sparrow etc., Otherwise, recorded that wild Buffalo, 2 species of deer, javan rhinoceros extinct and presently 2 species of amphibians, 14 species of reptiles 25 species of birds and 5 species of mammals are considered as endangered species. This paper is to produce a new assessment of the mangroves ecology of Sundarbans.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jsf.v8i1-2.14618

J. Sci. Foundation, 8(1&2): 35-47, June-December 2010