This paper studies the ecophysiology of the inland grove, Avicennia officinalis L. and presents data of its leaf physiology. Leaf is the most plastic part of the plant, and its chemical composition is affected by both hereditary, physiological and environmental factors. Leaf analysis affords an indicator for edaphic and other conditions, which is, therefore, used to assess soil conditions, fertilizer requirements, hunger signs, and such other points in the physiology and ecology of plants. As revealed by CO2 (¶13C -24.1%) values, the plant exhibits Calvin cycle, i.e., it is a C3 plant.
Kachchh
(also spelled as Kutch) is a district of Gujarat state in
western India. Covering an area of 45,612 km2,
it is the largest district in the state of Gujarat and the
second largest district of India after Leh. An inland grove
of Avicennia officinalis L. is located near
Shravan Kawadia Temple (Plate 1). Shravan Kawadia is in
the Bhuj Taluka of Kachchh District of Gujarat state. The
side of inland mangrove patch of Avicennia is about
43 km away from Bhuj, Kachchh. The side is in the south
of Great Rann of Kachchh and north-east of Bhuj (Figure
1). The Indian mangrove, Avicennia officinalis L.,
is very similar to the the Grey mangrove, Avicennia marina,
in appearance, especially, the seeds, but differs completely
in the leaves. The Indian mangrove is much larger than the
Grey mangrove, though they have almost the same heights.
This type of mangrove can be found in the interior parts
as well as directly on the coast. It has a high tolerance
to salinity and can adapt easily to freshwater too (as almost
all mangrove species). Because this mangrove is very rare,
it is not easily found like the more prevalent Grey mangrove
(Avicennia marina). Mangroves are salt-tolerant forest
ecosystems of tropical and sub-tropical inter-tidal estuarine
regions of the world. The best mangrove formations are seen
where the tidal regime is normal with a constant mixing
of seawater and freshwater and where the temperature does
not optimally go below 20 °C. Typical mangroves are
plants which have partly reached the sea-estuarine interphase
on silts or props with adaptations like viviparous germination
and pneumatophores for survival in the partly saline and
partly submerged coastal ecosystem. In India, mangrove covers
are regularly studied and monitored employing remote sensing
techniques. The physiological studies on the inland mangrove
are very meager or less, and these works are only from the
coastal area—Solanki (1997) and Solanki and Vora (1999,
2003) and Singh (2001) studied the only inland mangrove
patch in Rann of Kachchh of India. The vegetations of this
region are convergent in nature, though they have had dissimilar
evolutionary history. Inland mangrove survival in arid environment
is nature's wonder and a matter of scientific investigation
(Solanki, 1997 and Singh, 2001). |
