sundarban soil carbon

1 23

National Academy Science Letters ISSN 0250-541XVolume 35Number 3 Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (2012) 35:147-154DOI 10.1007/s40009-012-0046-6

Spatial Variation in Organic CarbonDensity of Mangrove Soil in IndianSundarbans

Abhijit Mitra, Kakoli Banerjee & SaurovSett

1 23

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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Spatial Variation in Organic Carbon Density of Mangrove Soilin Indian Sundarbans

Abhijit Mitra • Kakoli Banerjee • Saurov Sett

Received: 5 March 2012 / Accepted: 19 May 2012 / Published online: 14 June 2012

� The National Academy of Sciences, India 2012

Abstract Soils from intertidal mudflats of mangrove

dominated Indian Sundarbans were analyzed for soil

organic carbon, bulk density and organic carbon density

during 2009 in two different sectors: western and eastern.

Samplings were carried out at 12 stations in four different

depths (0.01–0.10, 0.10–0.20, 0.20–0.30 and 0.30–0.40 m)

through three seasons (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-

monsoon). High organic carbon density is observed in the

stations of western Indian Sundarbans, which is relatively

close to the highly urbanized city of Kolkata, Howrah and

the newly emerging Haldia port-cum-industrial complex.

The mangrove forest in the eastern Indian Sundarbans

exhibits comparatively lower organic carbon density.

Anthropogenic activities are almost negligible in this sector

because of its location almost within the protected forest

area. The bulk density of the mangrove soil increased with

depth, while organic carbon and carbon density decreased

with depth almost in all the stations. We observed signif-

icant spatial variations in soil organic carbon and organic

carbon density in the study area.

Keywords Sundarban mangrove �Soil organic carbon (SOC) � Bulk density �Organic carbon density (OCD) � Spatial variation

Introduction

Human activities have led to considerable emissions of

greenhouse gases [1]. In particular, for the period from 1980

to 1989 carbon dioxide emission from fossil-fuel burning

and tropical deforestation amounted to 7.1 billion tons of

carbon being released a year (Table 1) [2]. Increase in

atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration can account for

about half of the carbon dioxide emission for this period [3].

This has led to study the capacity of carbon sequestration in

forests and other terrestrial and wetland ecosystems. Most

of the studies so far available are related to forest ecosys-

tems and crops, and there is not enough information on

carbon sequestration potential of wetland soil. Wetlands

provide several important ecosystem services, among which

soil carbon sequestration is most crucial particularly in the

backdrop of rising carbon dioxide in the present century.

Wetlands cover about 5 % of the terrestrial surface and are

important carbon sinks containing 40 % of SOC at global

level [4]. Estuarine wetlands have a capacity of carbon

sequestration per unit area of approximately one order of

magnitude greater than other systems of wetlands [5] and

store carbon with a minimum emission of greenhouse gases

due to inhibition of methanogenesis because of sulphate [6].

The reservoirs of SOC, however, can act as sources or sinks

of atmospheric carbon dioxide, depending on land use

practices, climate, texture and topography [7–10].

Vertical patterns of SOC can contribute as an input or

as an independent validation for biogeochemical models

and thus provide valuable information for examining

the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to global change

[11–13]. A large number of biogeochemical models, how-

ever, do not contain explicit algorithms of below-ground

ecosystem structure and function [14]. Most of the studies

primarily focused on the topsoil carbon stock, and carbon

A. Mitra (&) � S. Sett

Department of Marine Science, University of Calcutta,

35 B.C. Road, Kolkata, West Bengal 700 019, India

e-mail: [email protected]

K. Banerjee

School for Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources,

Central University of Orissa, Landiguda, Koraput 764020, India

123

Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154

DOI 10.1007/s40009-012-0046-6

Author's personal copy

dynamics in deeper soil layers and driving factors behind

vertical distributions of soil organic carbon remain poorly

understood [11, 15, 16]. Thus, improved knowledge of dis-

tributions and determinants of SOC across different soil

depth is essential to determine whether carbon in deep soil

layers will react to global change and accelerate the increase

in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration [16, 17].

With this background the present study was undertaken to

estimate the SOC in four different depths in the mangrove

dominated Indian Sundarbans that sustains some 34 true

mangrove species and some 62 mangrove associate species

[18]. This deltaic lobe together with Bangladesh Sundarbans

constitutes the world’s largest brackish water wetland. Hence

it is essential to establish a base line data of soil carbon pool of

this mangrove ecosystem. In this study, we used our unpub-

lished data of SOC and bulk density to evaluate the spatial

variations of OCD in the intertidal mudflats of western and

eastern Indian Sundarbans that are markedly different with

respect to anthropogenic activities and mangrove vegetation.

Materials and Methods

The Study Area

The Sundarban mangrove ecosystem covering about one

million ha in the deltaic complex of the Rivers Ganga,

Brahmaputra and Meghna is shared between Bangladesh

(62 %) and India (38 %) and is the world’s largest coastal

wetland. Enormous load of sediments carried by the rivers

contribute to its expansion and dynamics.

The Indian Sundarbans (between 21�130N and 22�400Nlatitude and 88�030E and 89�070E longitude) is bordered by

Bangladesh in the east, the Hooghly River (a continuation of

the River Ganga) in the west, the Dampier and Hodges line in

the north, and the Bay of Bengal in the south. The important

morphotypes of deltaic Sundarbans include beaches, mud-

flats, coastal dunes, sand flats, estuaries, creeks, inlets and

mangrove swamps [19]. The temperature is moderate due to

its proximity to the Bay of Bengal in the south. Average

annual maximum temperature is around 35 �C. The summer

(pre-monsoon) extends from the mid of March to mid-June,

and the winter (post-monsoon) from mid-November to

February. The monsoon usually sets in around the mid of

June and lasts up to the mid of October. Rough weather with

frequent cyclonic depressions occurs during mid-March to

mid-September. Average annual rainfall is 1,920 mm.

Average humidity is about 82 % and is more or less uniform

throughout the year. This unique ecosystem is also the home

ground of Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris). The

deltaic complex sustains 102 islands, 48 of which are

inhabited. The ecosystem is extremely prone to erosion,

accretion, tidal surges and several natural disasters, which

directly affect the top soil and the subsequent carbon density.

The average tidal amplitude is around 3.0 m.

We conducted survey at 12 stations in the Indian

Sundarbans region through three seasons viz. pre-monsoon

(May), monsoon (September) and post-monsoon (Decem-

ber) in 2009. Station selection was primarily based on

anthropogenic activities and mangrove floral diversity.

Because of rapid industrialization, urbanization, unplanned

tourism, navigational, pilgrimage and shrimp culture activi-

ties; the western Indian Sundarbans is a stressed zone (Stn.

1–6). On the contrary stations 7–12 (in the eastern sector)

are the areas with rich mangrove biodiversity and have been

considered as control zone in this study. The major activi-

ties influencing the carbon pool in the selected stations are

highlighted in (Table 3).

Sampling

Table 2 and Fig. 1 represent our study site in which sam-

pling plots of 10 9 5 m2 were considered for each station.

Table 1 Anthropogenic carbon fluxes; 1980–1989 (IPCC 1994)

GtC/year

Carbon dioxide sources

Fossil-fuel burning, cement production 5.5 ± 0.5

Changes in tropical land use 1.6 ± 1.0

Total anthropogenic emission 7.1 ± 1.1

Partitioning among reservoirs

Storage in the atmosphere 3.2 ± 0.2

Oceanic uptake 2.0 ± 0.8

Uptake by northern hemisphere forest regrowth 0.5 ± 0.5

Additional terrestrial sinks: CO2 fertilization, nitrogen

fertilization, climatic effects

1.4 ± 1.5

Table 2 Sampling stations in western and eastern Indian Sundarbans

Station Station no. Geographical location

Longitude Latitude

Kachuberia Stn. 1 88�08004.4300 21�52026.5000

Harinbari Stn. 2 88�04052.9800 21�47001.3600

Chemaguri Stn. 3 88�10007.0300 21�39058.1500

Sagar south Stn. 4 88�03006.1700 21�38054.3700

Lothian island Stn. 5 88�22013.9900 21�39001.5800

Prentice island Stn. 6 88�17010.0400 21�42040.9700

Burirdabri Stn. 7 89�01043.600 22�04039.200

Sajnekhali Stn. 8 88�46010.800 22�05013.400

Amlamethi Stn. 9 88�44026.700 22�03054.200

Dobanki Stn. 10 88�45020.600 21�59024.400

Netidhopani Stn. 11 88�44039.400 21�55014.900

Haldibari Stn. 12 88�46044.900 21�43001.400

148 Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154

123


Care was taken to collect the samples within the same

distance from the estuarine edge, tidal creeks and the same

micro-topography. Under such conditions, spatial vari-

ability of external parameters such as tidal amplitude and

frequency of inundation [20], inputs of material from the

adjacent bay/estuary and soil granulometry and salinity

[21, 22] are minimal.

Ten cores were collected from the selected plots in each

station by inserting PVC core of known volume into the

soil to a maximum depth of 0.40 m during low tide con-

dition. Each core was sliced in 0.10 m layers up to 0.40 m

depth. The uppermost 0.01 m, which frequently includes

debris and freshly fallen litter, was not used in this study.

Each core section was placed in aluminum foil and packed

Fig. 1 Map of the study region

showing the sampling stations

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

88°0

8'04

.43"

E&

21°5

2'26

.50"

N

88°0

4'52

.98"

E&

21°4

7'01

.36"

N

88°1

0'07

.03"

E&

21°3

9'58

.15"

N

88°0

3'06

.17"

E&

21°3

8'54

.37"

N

88°2

2'13

.99"

E&

21°3

9'01

.58"

N

88°1

7'10

.04"

E&

21°4

2'40

.97"

N

89°

01' 4

3.6"

E&

22°0

4' 3

9.2"

N

88°

46'1

0.8"

E&

22°0

5'13

.4"N

88°4

4'26

.7"E

&22

°03'

54.2

"N

88°

45' 2

0.6"

E&

21°5

9'24

.4"N

88°

44' 3

9.4"

E&

21°5

5'14

.9"N

88°

46' 4

4.9"

E&

21°4

3' 0

1.4"

N

SO

C%

pre monsoon

monsoon

post monsoon

Fig. 2 Spatial and seasonal

variation of SOC (mean of four

depths each)

Fig. 3 Shoreline changes of Sagar Island (Stn. 4) during 1955–1989

showing erosion of the southern part of the island

Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (May–June 2012) 35(3):147–154 149

123


in ice for transport. In the laboratory, the collected samples

were carefully sieved and homogenized to remove roots

and other plant and animal debris prior to oven-drying to

constant weight at 105 �C for bulk density determination

considering the volume of the PVC core. SOC of the col-

lected samples (n = 10) from each plot was analyzed by

standard method [23] and the mean value was considered

for determination of OCD in (kg/m2) as per the expression:

OCD ¼ % SOC � bulk density BDð Þ � soil depth

Results and Discussion

Organic Carbon

The organic carbon in soil differs significantly between sta-

tions. It is observed that the western Indian Sundarbans (Stn.

1–6) has an average SOC of 0.87 %, whereas in eastern

Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 7–12), the value is 0.55 %. These

figures are average of three seasons and four depths. The

spatial trend of SOC follows the order Stn. 3 (1.05 %) [ Stn.

1 (1.01 %) [ Stn. 5 (0.84 %) [ Stn. 6 (0.81 %) [ Stn. 2

(0.78 %) [ Stn. 4 (0.72 %) [ Stn. 8 (0.61 %) [ Stn. 11

(0.60 %) [ Stn. 9 (0.58 %) [ Stn. 10 (0.57 %) [ Stn. 12

(0.50 %) [ Stn. 7 (0.44 %) (Fig. 2). The significant spatial

variation of SOC between western and eastern sectors

(p = 0.005428) may be attributed to a large extent by man-

grove diversity, anthropogenic activity, accretion and erosion

processes (Table 4). Anthropogenic activities like fish land-

ing, tourism, urban development and shrimp farms contribute

appreciable amount of organic load in stations like Kachu-

beria (Stn. 1) and Chemaguri (Stn. 3). The presence of shrimp

farms at Chemaguri (Stn. 3) along with 12 years old man-

grove vegetation (17 species) may be attributed to highest

organic carbon level in the soil core. The relatively low SOC

at Sagar South (Stn. 4) is due to its location at sea front where

wave action and tidal amplitude is maximum (*3.5 m mean

amplitude). This station experiences the freshwater discharge

from the Farakka barrage (located in the upstream zone),

which is about 40,000 cusec/day. This huge quantum of fresh

water discharge through the Hooghly channel also causes

erosion of the Sagar Island. Continuous erosion of the

southern part of this island may be the reason behind mini-

mum retention of organic matter in the intertidal zone

(Fig. 3). The variation of SOC in the Indian Sundarbans is

thus regulated through an intricate interaction of biological,

physical and anthropogenic activities (Table 3).

The factors governing variation of below-ground carbon

storage in mangrove soils is difficult to pinpoint [24, 25] as

Table 3 Major activities influencing the SOC in Indian Sundarbans

Station Major activity Magnitude

Kachuberia station 1 Prawn seed collection ??

Mangrove vegetation (5 species) ?

Passenger vessel jetties ???

Fish landing activities ?

Market related activities ??

Harinbari station 2 Mangrove vegetation (11

species)

???

Prawn seed collection ?

Fish landing activities ?

Chemaguri station 3 Mangrove vegetation (17

species)

???

Unorganized fishing activities ??

Market related activities ??

Sagar south station 4 Pilgrims ???

Tourism ???

Navigational channel ???

Erosion (sea facing) ???

Mangrove vegetation (11

species)

???

Lothian island station

5

Biodiversity research and study ?


species)

???

Prawn seed collection ?

Prentice island station

6


species)

???

Burirdabri station 7 Mangrove vegetation (17

species)

???

Sajnekhali station 8 Mangrove vegetation (25

species)

???

Tourism ???

Amlamethi station 9 Mangrove vegetation (24

species)

???

Dobanki station 10 Mangrove vegetation (24

species)

???

Netidhopani station 11 Mangrove vegetation (25

species)

???

Haldibari station 12 Mangrove vegetation (25

species)

???

?, ??, and ??? indicate low, medium and high magnitude

respectively for the major activities in the selected stations

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

Western Eastern

SO

C%

0 to 10cm

10 to 20cm

20 to 30cm

30 to 40cm

Fig. 4 Depth profile of SOC in western and eastern Indian

Sundarbans (mean of 3 seasons and 6 stations in each sector)


123


it is not a simple function of measured flux rates, but also

integrates thousands of years of variable deposition,

transformation, and erosion dynamics associated with

fluctuating sea levels and episodic disturbances [26]. The

mean value of SOC considering all the six stations and

seasons in western Indian Sundarbans shows a decrease

with depth (Fig. 4). Similar trend is also observed in

eastern Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 7–12) where there is

almost no anthropogenic impact (Fig. 4). The organic

carbon levels under Rhizophora mangle soil were 2.80,

00.20.40.60.8

11.21.41.6

88°0

8'04

.43"

E&

21°5

2'26

.50"

N

88°0

4'52

.98"

E&

21°4

7'01

.36"

N

88°1

0'07

.03"

E&

21°3

9'58

.15"

N

88°0

3'06

.17"

E&

21°3

8'54

.37"

N

88°2

2'13

.99"

E&

21°3

9'01

.58"

N

88°1

7'10

.04"

E&

21°4

2'40

.97"

N

bu

lk d

ensi

ty in

gm

/cc

0 to 10cm

10 to 20cm

20 to 30cm

30 to 40cm

Fig. 5 Depth wise variation of

bulk density in western Indian

Sundarbans

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.689

°01'

43.6

"E&

22°0

4' 3

9.2"

N

88°4

6'10

.8"E

&22

°05'

13.4

"N

88°4

4'26

.7"E

&22

°03'

54.2

"N

88°4

5'20

.6"E

&21

°59'

24.4

"N

88°4

4'39

.4"E

&21

°55'

14.9

"N

88°4

6'44

.9"E

&21

°43'

01.

4"N

Bu

lk d

ensi

ty in

gm

/cc

0 to 10cm

10 to 20cm

20 to 30cm

30 to 40cm

Fig. 6 Depth wise variation of

bulk density in eastern Indian

Sundarbans

Table 4 ANOVA for spatial variation of SOC and OCD

Source of variation SS df MS Fobs P value Fcrit

SOC

Between western and eastern sector 0.302961 1 0.302961 21.91293 0.005428 6.607891

Between stations 0.037367 5 0.007473 0.540547 0.742047 5.050329

OCD

Between Western and Eastern sector 0.607181 1 0.607181 18.1139 0.008045 6.607891

Between stations 0.108846 5 0.021769 0.649437 0.676359 5.050329

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

0 to 10cm 10 to 20cm 20 to 30cm 30 to 40cm

Car

bo

n d

ensi

ty in

kg

/sq

m

western

eastern

Fig. 7 Depth profile of OCD in

western and eastern Indian

Sundarbans (mean of 3 seasons

and 6 stations in each sector)


123


2.70 and 2.70 % in the 0.01–0.05, 0.05–0.10 and

0.10–0.15 m depth respectively [27]. Similar decrease of

SOC with depth was also observed under Avicennia soil

[27]. Report of decreasing mangrove SOC below 1 m was

also documented in several mangrove ecosystems [28].

Seasonal variation of SOC (pre-monsoon [ post-

monsoon [ monsoon) in the present study area (Fig. 2) is

attributable to the climatic conditions that influence the

physical processes like waves, tidal amplitude and current

pattern. Heavy rainfall in monsoon (80 % during July–

September) coupled with high tidal amplitude (4.8–5.2 m

during spring tide and 2.1–2.8 m during neap tide) erode

the top soil and wash away the deposited organic matter

and mangrove litter to the adjacent aquatic system.

It is interesting to note that SOC in western Indian

Sundarbans is 57.21 % higher than the eastern sector. The

stations in the eastern Indian Sundarbans are within the

Reserve forest area, with almost minimum or no anthro-

pogenic activities. The SOC in these stations is almost

exclusively contributed by mangrove vegetation (through

litter and detritus). The stations in western Indian

Sundarbans are highly stressed due to intense anthropo-

genic activities. The high values of SOC in stations like

Chemaguri (Stn. 3) and Kachuberia (Stn. 1) are due to

organic load contributed from market wastes and decom-

posed fish wastes. Thus anthropogenic factors act as

additive to increase the SOC level in the deltaic complex of

Indian Sundarbans.

Bulk Density

The bulk density of mangrove soil is attributable to the

relative proportion of sand, silt and clay and more specif-

ically to the specific gravity of solid organic and inorganic

particles and porosity of the soil. The compactness of

mangrove soil increases with depth both in western and

eastern Indian Sundarbans due to which the bulk density

exhibits higher values with depths in all the stations

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

88°0

8'04

.43"

E&

21°5

2'26

.50"

N

88°0

4'52

.98"

E&

21°4

7'01

.36"

N

88°1

0'07

.03"

E&

21°3

9'58

.15"

N

88°0

3'06

.17"

E&

21°3

8'54

.37"

N

88°2

2'13

.99"

E&

21°3

9'01

.58"

N

88°1

7'10

.04"

E&

21°4

2'40

.97"

N

89°0

1'43

.6"E

&22

°04'

39.2

"N

88°

46'1

0.8"

E&

22°0

5'13

.4"N

88°4

4' 2

6.7"

E&

22°0

3'54

.2"N

88°4

5'20

.6"E

&21

°59'

24.4

"N

88°4

4' 3

9.4"

E&

21°5

5'14

.9"N

88°4

6' 4

4.9"

E&

21°4

3' 0

1.4"

N

carb

on

den

sity

in k

g/s

qm

pre monsoon

monsoon

post monsoon

Fig. 8 Spatial and seasonal

variation of OCD (mean of 4

depths each)

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7E

stua

rine

ocea

nic

soil

Rai

nfor

est i

n O

hio,

US

A

Wet

land

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the

sout

heas

tern

US

A

Man

grov

es in

Oki

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a, J

apan

Wet

land

s at

the

sout

heas

tern

Aus

tral

ia

Wes

tern

Indi

anS

unda

rban

s

Eas

tern

Indi

anS

unda

rban

s

Car

bo

n d

ensi

ty in

kg

/sq

m

Ber

nal a

nd M

isch

(20

08)

Bre

vik

and

Hom

burg

(20

04)

Kha

n an

d co

labo

rato

rs (

2007

)

How

e an

d co

labo

rato

rs (

2009

)

our

stud

y

our

stud

y

Don

ato

et a

l. (2

011 )

Fig. 9 Comparison of our

study with that of others


123


(Figs. 5, 6). Basically the bulk density in the present study

area is regulated by sediment texture and deposition/

erosion which is the effect of current pattern, tidal ampli-

tude and wind action.

Organic Carbon Density

OCD being a direct function of SOC and bulk density

exhibits almost similar spatial variation to that of SOC.

The OCD differs significantly between stations and sectors.

It is observed that the western Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 1–6)

has an average OCD of 1.19 kg/m2, whereas in eastern

Indian Sundarbans (Stn. 7–12), the value is 0.74 kg/m2.

These figures are average of three seasons and all four

depths. The spatial trend of OCD is in the order Stn. 3

(1.55 kg/m2) [ Stn. 1 (1.36 kg/m2) [ Stn. 5 (1.14 kg/m2)

[ Stn. 6 (1.09 kg/m2) [ Stn. 2 (1.03 kg/m2) [ Stn. 4

(0.99 kg/m2) [ Stn. 10 (0.84 kg/m2) [ Stn. 8 (0.83

kg/m2) [ Stn. 9 (0.79 kg/m2) [ Stn. 11 (0.73 kg/m2) [Stn. 12 (0.66 kg/m2) [ Stn. 7 (0.61 kg/m2). The significant

spatial variation of OCD between western and eastern sec-

tors (p = 0.008045) (Table 4) may be attributed to man-

grove diversity and nature of anthropogenic activities as

mentioned in Table 3. It is observed that the OCD of western

sector is 60.26 % higher than that of the eastern sector

confirming the fact that anthropogenic factors significantly

contribute to OCD value (Fig. 7). The seasonal variation

(pre-monsoon [ post-monsoon [ monsoon) can be related

to heavy rain and high water current that washes away the

organic matter from the intertidal mudflats (Fig. 8).

We compared our carbon density data (ranging from

0.61 to 1.55 kg/m2) with several global reports published

between 2004 and 2011. OCD of 3.03, 0.033, 5.73, 6.61

and 0.38 kg/m2 were observed in rain forest of Ohio, USA

[29]; wetlands at the southeastern USA [30]; mangroves in

Okinawa, Japan [31]; wetlands at the southeastern Aus-

tralia [32] and estuarine oceanic soil [28] respectively

(Fig. 9). Even though our study area does not have highest

OCD, it neither has the least. The relatively higher OCD

value in the western sector is the effect of anthropogenic

activities, which is non-existent in the stations of eastern

sector because of their location within the protected reserve

forest.

The present study is significant from the point that the

area has not yet witnessed the light of documentation of

soil carbon content although above ground mangrove bio-

mass (AGMB) and carbon storage have been studied by

several workers [33, 34]. A thorough study has been done

on the whole-ecosystem C storage in mangroves across a

broad tract of the Indo-Pacific region, the geographic core

of mangrove area (40 % globally) and diversity and the

study sites comprised wide variation in stand composition

and stature spanning 30� of latitude (8�S–22�N), 73� of

longitude (90�–163�E), and including eastern Micronesia

(Kosrae); western Micronesia (Yap and Palau); Sulawesi,

Java, Borneo (Indonesia); and the Sundarbans (Ganges–

Brahmaputra Delta, Bangladesh) [28]. The study, however,

left out the lower Gangetic region sustaining the Indian

Sundarbans. The present approach is thus an attempt to fill

this gap area and establish a baseline data of SOC and OCD

in the mangrove dominated Indian part of Sundarbans.

Acknowledgments The financial assistance from the National

Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Govt. of India under the programme

ISRO-GBP/NCP/SVF is gratefully acknowledged. The infrastructural

support from the Forest Department, Govt. of West Bengal is duly

acknowledged.

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