Species diversity and distribution of seagrasses from the South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
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M. Savurirajan
M. Savurirajan is a research scholar of the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, working on seagrass ecosystems. He is monitoring seagrass distribution in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and their diversity and taxonomy. His area of interest is marine plant ecosystems.
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Jawed Equbal
Jawed Equbal is a PhD scholar. His research area focusses on the soft bottom benthic communtiy, coastal pollution and habitat quality assessment. Over the years, Mr. Equbal has developed expertise in taxonomy, community ecology and structural responses of tropical benthic community in stressed environments. He has also developed research interests in seagrass ecology and associated macrozoobenthic communities. His research objectives seek integration of benthic biotic elements into EIA guidelines of national programmes on economic development, habitat protection and conservation of coastal ecosystems.
Raj Kiran Lakra is a research scholar in the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University. His research interest is polychaete assemblages in seagrass habitats of the Andaman Islands. In addition, he is involved in the area of marine habitat preferences and ecology of polychaetes.
Kunal Satyam is a research scholar in the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University. His area of research interest is diversity and distribution of benthic amphipods associated with seagrasses of the Andaman Islands. In addition to this, he is also interested in studying the taxonomy and habitat preferences of amphipods and other benthic crustaceans on the Andaman coasts.
Ganesh Thiruchitrambalam is an assistant professor of marine biology at Pondicherry University, Port Blair. His research area focusses on benthic faunal communities in the Indian EEZ. Currently he is guiding research students under various research themes on assessments of benthic ecosystems, intertidal ecology, seagrass ecosystems, polychaete diversity, taxonomic studies of Mollusca, invertebrate taxonomy and diversity of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He has published several papers on new records of marine invertebrate species. Recently, Dr. Ganesh has aimed at strengthening the database on benthic faunal communities of Arctic Fjords. He teaches post graduate courses on taxonomy of marine organisms, marine environmental impact assessment, and biostatistics for Master’s degree students.
Abstract
A survey was conducted with the objective to study seagrass distribution, bed size and shoot density in different substrata of the South Andaman Islands. A total of 231 seagrass sites were observed during the study, in which a total of eight species were found. The South Andaman region exhibited the highest species diversity followed by Havelock, Little Andaman and Neil Islands. Eleven continuous seagrass bed were noted during the study which were confined to three different types of substrata: sand only; sand mixed with coral sand and coral rubble; sand mixed with mud. Thalassia hemprichii and Cymodocea rotundata were found in dense canopies and covered large areas associated with sand and coral rubble. Halophila beccarii showed moderate abundance in muddy substrata and Halodule spp. grew in fine sand. The highest shoot density was recorded at Haddo, followed by Vijaya Nagar and Chidyatapu, contributed mostly by Halodule spp. In general, seagrass diversity and distribution were mainly influenced by the percentage composition of sand. The authors recommend that the seagrass meadow of Haddo should be considered for conservation priority because of multiple anthropogenic pressures, such as sewage input, dumping of solid wastes on the shoreline and anchoring of boats.
About the authors
M. Savurirajan is a research scholar of the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, working on seagrass ecosystems. He is monitoring seagrass distribution in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and their diversity and taxonomy. His area of interest is marine plant ecosystems.
Jawed Equbal is a PhD scholar. His research area focusses on the soft bottom benthic communtiy, coastal pollution and habitat quality assessment. Over the years, Mr. Equbal has developed expertise in taxonomy, community ecology and structural responses of tropical benthic community in stressed environments. He has also developed research interests in seagrass ecology and associated macrozoobenthic communities. His research objectives seek integration of benthic biotic elements into EIA guidelines of national programmes on economic development, habitat protection and conservation of coastal ecosystems.
Raj Kiran Lakra is a research scholar in the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University. His research interest is polychaete assemblages in seagrass habitats of the Andaman Islands. In addition, he is involved in the area of marine habitat preferences and ecology of polychaetes.
Kunal Satyam is a research scholar in the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University. His area of research interest is diversity and distribution of benthic amphipods associated with seagrasses of the Andaman Islands. In addition to this, he is also interested in studying the taxonomy and habitat preferences of amphipods and other benthic crustaceans on the Andaman coasts.
Ganesh Thiruchitrambalam is an assistant professor of marine biology at Pondicherry University, Port Blair. His research area focusses on benthic faunal communities in the Indian EEZ. Currently he is guiding research students under various research themes on assessments of benthic ecosystems, intertidal ecology, seagrass ecosystems, polychaete diversity, taxonomic studies of Mollusca, invertebrate taxonomy and diversity of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He has published several papers on new records of marine invertebrate species. Recently, Dr. Ganesh has aimed at strengthening the database on benthic faunal communities of Arctic Fjords. He teaches post graduate courses on taxonomy of marine organisms, marine environmental impact assessment, and biostatistics for Master’s degree students.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the authorities of Pondicherry University for providing the necessary facilities to carry out this work, and for the University fellowship to M. Savurirajan. We are thankful to Hugh Kirkman for offering valuable suggestions to improve the manuscript. The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions and constructive comments to improve the manuscript.
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Editorial
- Seagrass research in Southeast Asia
- Ecology
- The diet and feeding rates of gastropod grazers in Singapore’s seagrass meadows
- Complex yet fauna-deficient seagrass ecosystems at risk in southern Myanmar
- Species richness effects on the vegetative expansion of transplanted seagrass in Indonesia
- Spatial and temporal distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation in a tropical coastal lagoon habitat in Viet Nam
- Species diversity and distribution of seagrasses from the South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
- Genetics and physiology
- Population genetic subdivision of seagrasses, Syringodium isoetifolium and Thalassia hemprichii, in the Indonesian Archipelago
- Photosynthetic and antioxidant responses of the tropical intertidal seagrasses Halophila ovalis and Thalassia hemprichii to moderate and high irradiances
- Physiological responses of Enhalus acoroides to osmotic stress
- Management and applications
- Seagrass in Southeast Asia: a review of status and knowledge gaps, and a road map for conservation
- Decadal biomass and area changes in a multi-species meadow in Singapore: application of multi-resolution satellite imagery
- A proposed decision support tool for prioritising conservation planning of Southeast Asian seagrass meadows: combined approaches based on ecosystem services and vulnerability analyses
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Editorial
- Seagrass research in Southeast Asia
- Ecology
- The diet and feeding rates of gastropod grazers in Singapore’s seagrass meadows
- Complex yet fauna-deficient seagrass ecosystems at risk in southern Myanmar
- Species richness effects on the vegetative expansion of transplanted seagrass in Indonesia
- Spatial and temporal distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation in a tropical coastal lagoon habitat in Viet Nam
- Species diversity and distribution of seagrasses from the South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
- Genetics and physiology
- Population genetic subdivision of seagrasses, Syringodium isoetifolium and Thalassia hemprichii, in the Indonesian Archipelago
- Photosynthetic and antioxidant responses of the tropical intertidal seagrasses Halophila ovalis and Thalassia hemprichii to moderate and high irradiances
- Physiological responses of Enhalus acoroides to osmotic stress
- Management and applications
- Seagrass in Southeast Asia: a review of status and knowledge gaps, and a road map for conservation
- Decadal biomass and area changes in a multi-species meadow in Singapore: application of multi-resolution satellite imagery
- A proposed decision support tool for prioritising conservation planning of Southeast Asian seagrass meadows: combined approaches based on ecosystem services and vulnerability analyses
