The Study by IIT Bombay (among others), highlights that the Sundarbans have shown resilience to extreme weather and pollution but have limits to their self-repair abilities.

Key Findings on Mangroves of Sundarbans:

• Resilience to Weather Extremes: Mangroves have demonstrated resilience to extreme weather events like cyclones and thunderstorms, recovering within 1-2 weeks.
• Nutrient Stability: Even with a decline in nutrient composition due to anthropogenic water pollution, mangroves showed stable productivity, indicating their ability to maintain function under stress.
• Increased Link Strength and Memory: Mangroves stabilize productivity by increasing link strength and memory with hydro-meteorological variables (e.g., precipitation, temperature, wind speed). 
  • In plants, memory refers to “remembering” responses to past stressful events like cyclones and storing them for future use.

About Mangroves

• Definition: A mangrove is a woody plant which lives between the sea and the land, in areas which are flooded by tides for part of the time.
• Species Characteristics
  • Mangroves are the only kind of trees that can thrive in salty water near the sea
  • Due to their high carbon densities and sequestration rates, they are an essential component of the global carbon budgets. 
  • They are often called ‘Blue Forests’ or ‘Wetland Ecosystem Engineers’.
• Mangroves in India (Other than Sundarbans): Bhitarkanika (Odisha), Pichavaram Forest (Tamil Nadu); Chorao Island (Goa); Gulf of Kutch (Gujarat), Vembanad Kol (Kerala), Andaman and Nicobar Islands, etc.