3 Review(s)

Mangroves-the threatened coastal inter tidal halophytic flora play very dominant and important roles in the estuarine mouths, sea-land inter phase areas of deltaic ecosystems of both the tropical and sub-tropical zones, especially in the highly populated South-East Asian countries, several Pacific Islands and Australian Coasts. Inspite of their important roles and immense ecological impacts, these mangroves and the mangrove ecosystems have faced both biotic and abiotic threat and these highly productive mangrove zones have been cleared or the mangrove ecosystems have also been degraded very repidly during the last three centuries. Alongwith these, the Mangroves and Mangrove Ecosystems of the World are also highlighted in brief. Excavation of brackishwater fish and shrimp farms in these coastal areas, resulting rapid degradation of these mangals of the Sundarbans and other biotic components of these estuarine environment. All these threatened/endangered flora and fauna need urgent protection and conservation measures and accordingly several important National and International projects have now been undertaken for the conservation of these mangrove ecosystem of the Sundarband. In these perspective, the Mangroves and the mangrove associates of the Indian Sundarbans are described in relation to their morphometric features, anatomical characteristics and also with their distinct halophytic adaptations. Besides their structural and habitat distinctness, their economic importances, distributions in the different mangrove habitats of the Indian sub-continent and the mangals of both Old and New World tropics and sub-tropics are also highlighted based on the pioneer works on the Indian and World mangroves. Adequately illustrated book with important photographs, maps, tables and sketches will be useful to scientist, ecologist and policy makers.  Table of Contents Part-1: Global Status  Chapter 1: Introduction  Chapter 2: Geographical position of the Sundarbans, West Bengal-in the lower Ganga Delta, Geology and land types of the lower Ganga Delta: the Sundarbans  Chapter 3: The major factors governing the mangrove ecosystem  Environmental or climatic factors, Temperature, Rainfall, Humid climate, Wind velocity, Destruction of mangrove forests, Edaphic and geomorphological factors, Geological factors, Biological factors  Chapter 4: Mangrove environment and mangrove distribution  Chapter 5: Sundarbans biosphere reserve-its aims and objectives  Chapter 6: Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem- A brief review  Chapter 7: Mangroves and the distribution of mangroves in the world  Definition of mangroves, World distribution of mangroves, Origin and geological status of mangroves, Mangrove evolution and palynogical studies, The early mention or reports of the mangroves, Salinity tolerance and productivity of mangroves, Osmoregulation mechanism and salt balancing in mangroves, Salt concentration and growth of the mangroves, Salt exclusion, Salt extrusion, Salt accumulation  Chapter 8: Characteristics of the mangrove flora, Protective and economic roles played by these mangroves, Protective and economic roles played by these mangroves  Chapter 9: Mangrove ecosystems, mangroves and mangrove associated flora in the indian sub-continent  Mangroves in the west coast of india, Mangroves of the maharashtra coast, Mangroves of the state of goa, Mangroves of the karnataka coast, Mangroves of the kerala coast, Mangroves of the lakshadweep islands (Atolls), Mangroves in the east coast of india, Mangroves of the tamil nadu coast, Mangroves of the andhra pradesh coast, Mangroves of the orissa coast, Mangroves of the andaman & nicobar islands, conservation strategies for islands  Chapter 10: Present status and stresses on the mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of the indian Sundarbans  Problems of the Sundarbans mangals, Protective and economic roles played by these mangroves  Chapter 11: Present status and stresses on the mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of the bangladesh Sundarbans  Ecological succession of the bangladesh mangals, Mangrove forest utilization of bangladesh, Problems of the Sundarbans of bangladesh, Fish and fisheries in the mangals of the bangladesh Sundarbans, Wildlife and recreation, Research activities of the Sundarbans in bangladesh, Coastal afforestation in the bangladesh  Chapter 12: Comparative studies of the mangroves of the Sundarbans of bangladesh and indian territories  Chapter 13: Present status of management practices, vis-a-vis, mangal destruction in the Sundarbans in indian part  Chapter 14: Early history of the Sundarbans, the past and present, Botanical activities on the mangroves in india  Chapter 15: Root architectures and intertidal adaptations of mangroves in the Sundarbans of west bengal, india  Pneumatophores, Knee roots, Stilt or proop roots, Root buttresses, Pneumatothodes, Flanges, Surface cable roots or plank roots  Chapter 16: Shoot, stem and canopy structures of the Sundarbans mangroves  Chapter 17: Leaf structures of the mangroves  Chapter 18: Flowers, fruits and seed germinations of the major mangroves  Chapter 19: Biological and ecological features of the mangroves and mangrove associates in indian Sundarbans  Major elements of the mangroves, Minor elements of the mangroves, Mangroves associates or back mangals, Other halophytic plants in the intertidal mangrove zones of the Sundarbans, india, Few xerophytic plants on the sand dunes or river bank, Algal flora of the Sundarbans  Chapter 20: Mangroves and mangrove ecosystems of the old world and new world  Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of sri lanka, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of pakistan, Atoll mangroves from the republic of maldives, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of mauritius, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of the republic of seychelles, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of east coast of africa, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of south africa, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of mozambique, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of tanzania, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of kenya, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of madagescar republic, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of thailand, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of singapore, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of malaysia, Mangroves of matang on the west coast of peninsular malaya, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of indonesia, Mangroves in java, Mangroves in sumatra, Mangroves in indonesian kalimantan, Mangroves in the sulawesi, Mangroves in the irian jaya, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of philippines islands, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of vietnam, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of kampuchea, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of burma, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of S W japan, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of other pacific islands, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of fiji, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of papua new guinea, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of australia, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of new zealand, Mangroves and mangrove ecosystem of the new world tropics and sub-tropics  Part- 2  Chapter 21: Morphometric features of the mangroves and associated flora of the Sundarbans  Key to the families, Taxonomic enumeration of the true mangrove families, Other frequent back mangal families  Chapter 22: Anatomical features of the mangroves  Chapter 23: Critical estimation on the anatomical features of mangroves and their halophytic adaptations in the saline zones  Chapter 24: Overview on the mangroves anatomy and sucessions  Chapter 25: Palynology of Mangroves: Its impact on the past and present evolutional, ecological and biodiversity estimation  Chapter 26: Filamentous algal flora of the Sundarbans attached with the soil, mangrove roots and stem or trunk bases  Chapter 27: Selected bibliography on the mangroves.