Recruitment of invasive plant species in the Sundarbans following tropical Cyclone Aila

The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. Two-thirds of the forest (62%) is in the southwest corner of Bangladesh while the rest is in the West Bengal of India. The out flow of water from Bangladesh is the third highest in the world, next to the Amazonia and Congo basin. Major rivers of Bangladesh flow from north to south, silting up the mangroves delta and draining into the Bay of Bengal. The mangroves delta is also a region of transition between the freshwater of the rivers originating from the Ganges and the saline water of the Bay of Bengal. The ecosystems as well as the luxuriant biodiversity of Sundarbans have strong interactions with marine environments. The environmental parameters with the direct influences on Sundarbans in terms of global climate change are sea-level rise, natural calamities like cyclones, salinity and drought. Almost 26 percent frequency of cyclones was increased over past 120 years in the Bay of Bengal. Five disastrous tropical cyclones originated in the Bay of Bengal since 2006 -- Sidr, Nargis, Bijli, Aila and Mahasen. Cyclones impact Sundarbans through four primary mechanisms: wind damage, storm surge, sedimentation and colonization of invasive species. Many researches were carried out to investigate the wind damages. The invasions of plant species were not documented; this study is the first attempt to do so in a scientific manner. The study area in the Chandpai Range of Sundarbans was classified as ‘less affected’ (LAA) and ‘high affected’ (HAA) areas due to the tropical cyclone ‘Aila’. In total 23 invasive plant species were identified in the Chandpai Range of Sundarbans, out of them 19 species are indigenous and the rest are alien. All species were found in the HAA, where only 09 species were found in the LAA. The abundance, diversity and rate of invasion were higher in the HAA than that of LAA. Proper management must be adopted to control the invasion to protect the endemic species.

Key words: Mangrove, Marine, Delta, Colonization, Endemic, Climate Change