Vegetation analysis of restored and natural mangrove forest in Sagar island, Sundarbans, east coast of India

Abstract

Ecological conditions were similar in the restored and natural mangrove forests, though they differed in age and elevation. The restored forest experienced total diurnal inundation, but the natural forest was not fully inundated. Thus the former was dominated by Avicennia alba, Avicennia marina and Porteresia coarctata, while the latter was dominated by Excoecaria agallocha, Ceriops decandra, Acanthus ilicifolius and Derris trifoliata. Similarity and diversity for tree and shrub layers were low and the dominance-diversity curves approached geometric series.