Natural Hazards and Mangroves in the Bay of Bengal

Mangroves are commonly found in the intertidal zone of tropical and subtropical sheltered coastlines. They are not affected by forest fires, but about 50% (50,000 km²) of their total areal extent, particularly in Asia, Australia, Madagascar and the Caribbean, are potentially exposed to tropical cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes. In the mangroves of India and Bangladesh, especially at the mouth of the Ganges, the threat from strong winds, surges driven by storm waves and floods, is one of the most deadly in the world. Paradoxically this mangrove area, known as "The Sunderbans," bears the largest natural mangroves of the world in a single block (about 6,050 km², i.e., 2,000 km² in India and 4,050 km² in Bangladesh). Emphasis in this paper is on the impacts of windstorms in the mangroves of the Bay of Bengal, deducted from field observations and satellite image analysis, including forest destructions and forest alterations like defoliation. The final result of our analysis is that mangrove species are able, in this part of the world, to heal cyclonic wounds and maintain their total areal extent constant in the absence of human interference.