What are Mangroves?
The Odisha government has proposed to raise mangrove and casuarinas plantations in the coastal belt.
- Previously, the mangroves served as a natural barrier to cyclonic winds in Bhitarkanika National Park during Cyclone Yaas.
- Odisha is vulnerable to various natural disasters like cyclones, floods, hailstorms, drought due to its unique geo-climatic condition.
- Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area with 5° of the equator.
- A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water.
- Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions.
- They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with saltwater immersion and wave action.
- They have blind roots which are called These roots help these trees to respire in anaerobic soils.
- The seeds of Mangrove Forests trees germinate in the trees themselves before falling – This is called the Viviparity mode of reproduction.
