Zoning and monitoring dominant mangrove communities of a part of The Marine National Park, Gulf of Kachchh

Mangroves of the Marine National Park constitute the second largest patch of mangroves in Gujarat, extending up to 11,000 ha, comprising six species of mangroves. Earlier studies carried out using remote sensing data pertained to baseline data generation and mapping and monitoring the mangroves (density-wise) of the Park from 1975 to 1993. Using IRS IC/ID LISS III data (1998–2001) supported by ground data, the distribution of different mangrove communities in the Park has been attempted. Amongst various image-processing techniques, band ratioing followed by supervised classification gave the best result (classification accuracy was 92%).Avicennia community is the most dominant community accounting for more than 70% of the area. TheRhizophora community occupies the inward margins of the creeks and theCeriops community is present in the interior regions. The ecotone between the marsh and mangrove communities has been identified as the transitional mangroves (Avicennia alba, Sueada), representing the transition from the less saline mangrove to the highly saline marsh community. The zoning of the mangroves has also helped in assessing the diversity of the region. Based on the richness of species, three areas, namely Bhains Bid, North-east Dide Ka Bet and South-east Chhad Island have been identified as highly diverse (most suitable area for preservation).