Mangrove resources

Abstract

There has been an increasing awareness among the scientific community that the mangroves are an im portant component of the tropical marine ecosystem and apart from the economic uses of their vegetation, the mangrove areas are potential grounds for coastal aquaculture. It is generally recognised that mangrove areas form the feeding and nursery grounds for the juvenile stages of many commercially important species of prawns and fishes. The high productivity resulting from mangrove leaf fall supports a host of detritus feeding animals such as amphipods, mysids, harpacti- coid?, molluscs, crustacean larvae, prawns and fishes. The mangrove vegetation acts as a buffer against tidal currents, floods, storms and cyclones and the network of creeks and channels provide shelter to aquatic life especially in the critical stages of their life history. The vegetation also helps in preventing soil erosion in the coastal zone.