Tag: adaptations - mangrove swamps, fast flowing rivers and treetops

The Sunderbans is a natural region in Bengal. It is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. A mangrove is a tree, shrub, palm or ground fern, generally exceeding one half metre in height, that normally grows above mean sea level in the intertidal zone of marine coastal environments and estuarine margins. A mangrove is also the tidal habitat comprising such trees and shrubs.

The Sundarbans contain the world's largest mangrove forests and one of the most biologically productive of all natural ecosystems. Located at the mouth of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers between India and Bangladesh. The mangrove habitat supports the single largest population of tigers in the world.

Halophytes are salt resistant plants. They are the plants of saline habitats, which have not only the ability to tolerate high concentrations of salts in their rooting medium but are able to obtain their water supply from the same. Halophytes grow in saline soils like sea shores and marshes. They have high osmotic pressure and possess succulence as well.

Mangroves are marshy area found in tropical deltas and saline ponds near sea shores, e.g., Rhizophora. It has water storage tissues to dilute salt content in cells. It is a genus of tropical mangrove trees, sometimes collectively called true mangroves.

Halophytes are salt lovers. They are the plants of saline habitats, which have not only the ability to tolerate high concentrations of salts in their rooting medium but are able to obtain their water supply from the same. Halophytes grow in saline soils like sea shores and marshes.

• Mangroves are marshy areas found in tropical deltas and saline ponds near sea shores. An important characteristic of mangrove plants is vivipary or seed germination while fruit is attached to plant. The seedling grows sufficiently before it falls into the saline marsh. Only the radicle part passes into mud or water while the plumule part remains above the surface of water, e.g., Rhizophora, Aegiceras, Ceriops.
• Heterospory is shown by pteridophytes and seeded plants which means the production of different kinds of spores; microspores and megaspores. 
• Parthenocarpy is the process of formation of fruit without fertilization.
• Apospory is the formation of gametophyte directly from sporophyte without meiosis.

Halophytes are plants of saline habitats. Mangroves are marshy areas found in tropical deltas and saline ponds near sea shore. The areas have not only excess salt but also excess water or anaerobic conditions, besides difficulty in anchoring and seed germination. Plants growing in mangroves are halophytes.

Mangroves are plants that live in marshy areas along the seashores as they are adapted to take water inside by filtering out large amounts of salts present in seawater.

The delta which is formed by the confluence of Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal is known as Sunderbans. It is a mangrove area and contains lots of Mangrove forests. Four world heritage sites occur here viz Sundarbans National Park, Sundarbans West, Sundarbans South, and Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuaries. The word 'Sunderbans' means beautiful forests.