Mangroves and Associated Flora of Vashista Godavari Estuary from Darbharevu to Biyyaputippa, West Godavari District, AP, India

Mangrove ecosystem is one of the productive ecosystems in aquatic environment. Mangrove populations occurring along the Vashista branch of Godavari River were studied using line transect with 16 m² quadrates and the quadrate samples were analyzed. In the present investigation a total of 16 mangrove species were reported, out of which four are true mangrove species, six associated mangroves and six halophytes were reported. Transect studies revealed that mangroves were distributed up to 10 to 20 meters in Darbharevu and 30 to 40 meters in Biyyaputippa region. Most of the forest in Darbharevu is in form of long strip and in Biyyaputippa forest extends and density of species was high than Darbharevu. In both study sites (Darbharevu and Biyyaputippa) the species with the highest density was Suaeda monoica whereas the species with lowest density was Sonneratia caseolaris. The maximum height in these two stations varied from 5 to 10 meters only. Percentage frequencies of DBH (Density at Breast Height) classes were estimated. In the present study only two diameter classes in Darbharevu and 4 classes in Biyyaputippa were reported. This is an indicative of the small and bushy mangrove vegetation in station 1 and little bit larger canopy was reported in station 2. Anthropogenic and aqua industry play a critical impact on the survival of this mangrove ecosystems.