Variation in Relationship Between Salt Ion Excretion and Accumulation of Organic Carbon in Sundarban Mangroves Under Various Seasonal Conditions

Abstract

In the present study, the relationship between photosynthetic activity (organic carbon accumulation) and salt excretion was observed in six salt excretory mangrove species of Sundarban. The study encompassed three different sites and stretched over a period of three prominent (premonsoon, monsoon and postmonsoon) seasons in order to evaluate the spatio-temporal variations. In general, a positive correlation was observed among rate of excretion of salt ions from the leaves to that of the rate of accumulation of organic carbon in the leaves of the species studied. The only deviations occurred during monsoon especially in the sodium and potassium ion excretion along with the photosynthetic activity, which supported the dependence of salt ion excretion on processes like photosynthesis strongly.