First time report on the weather patterns over the Sundarban mangrove forest, East Coast of India

766-770In order to understand the current weather pattern of the Sundarban, a comprehensive data base of meteorological parameters were collected from Satjelia Island of Sundarban and analyzed for a one year period and a long term set up has been commissioned to understand the climate change patterns of the region

Mangrove inventory of India at community level

Mangroves are salt tolerant plants that occur between 32°N and 38°S latitudes. Mangroves play an important role in stabilizing shoreline and protect the coast against storm surges and heavy tides. Though the mangrove inventory has been done earlier in India using satellite data but no systematic attempts has been made to map the mangroves at the community level for the entire country. The present paper reports the mangrove inventory at community level for India using Resourcesat-1 satellite data. State wise inventory on the mangrove area and the dominant communities are presented. Total area under mangrove based on the satellite data of 2005–2007 is 495,620 ha. West Bengal has the highest area under mangrove