Native salt-tolerant grass species for habitat restoration, their acclimation and contribution to improving edaphic conditions: a study from a degraded mangrove in the Indian Sundarbans

Published source details Begam M.M., Sutradhar T., Chowdhury R., Mukherjee C., Basak S.K. & Ray K. (2017) Native salt-tolerant grass species for habitat restoration, their acclimation and contribution to improving edaphic conditions: a study from a degraded mangrove in the Indian Sundarbans. Hydrobiologia, 803, 373-387.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

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	Introduce nurse plants: brackish/saline swamps Action Link

Introduce nurse plants: brackish/saline swamps

A study in 2013–2016 on an estuarine mudflat in northeast India (Begam et al. 2017) reported that an area planted with saltmarsh grasses trapped mangrove propagules, that the majority of these propagules established, and the average height of established propagules increased. In the two monsoon seasons approximately 18–30 months after planting, grassy vegetation patches trapped an average of 1,200–1,372 mangrove propagules/m²/week. Between 60 and 80 per cent of trapped propagules developed into seedlings (depending on species). The average height of established seedlings increased by 21–90% taller over the first month after establishment (depending on species). Methods: In 2013, four grass species were transplanted from nearby marshes to an estuarine mudflat (lower and middle intertidal zones; water salinity 19–34 ppt). There were mangrove forests elsewhere in the estuary as a source of propagules. The resulting grassy vegetation patches were surveyed weekly in the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 monsoon seasons. Mangrove propagules were counted along 10 x 100 m transects. Seedlings were counted and measured in 100-m² subplots as soon as they had established, then measured again one month later.

(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)