The distribution, enrichment, and ecotoxicity potential of Bangladesh part of Sundarban mangrove was investigated for eight trace metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn) using sediment quality assessment indices. The average concentration of trace metals in the sediments exceeded the crustal abundance suggesting sources other than natural in origin. Additionally, the trace metals profile may be a reflection of socio-economic development in the vicinity of Sundarban which further attributes trace metals abundance to the anthropogenic inputs. A total of eleven surficial sediment samples were collected along a vertical transect along the freshwater-saline water gradient. The sediment samples were digested using EPA 3051 method and were analyzed on ICP-MS. Geo-accumulation index suggests moderately polluted sediment quality with respect to Ni and As and background concentrations for Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb, Co, As, and Cd. Contamination factor analysis suggested low contamination by Zn, Cr, Co, and Cd, moderate by Fe, Mn, Cu, and Pb while Ni and As show considerable and high contamination, respectively. Enrichment factors for Ni, Pb, and As suggests high contamination from either biota or anthropogenic inputs besides natural enrichment. As per the three sediment quality guidelines, Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni, Co, and As would be more of a concern with respect to ecotoxicological risk in the Sundarban mangroves. The correlation between various physiochemical variables and trace metals suggested significant role of fine grained particles (clay) in trace metal distribution whereas owing to low organic carbon content in the region the organic complexation may not be playing significant role in trace metal distribution in the Sundarban mangroves.
Salt marshes are intertidal halophytic vegetations, distributed in mid to lower latitudes. They provide important ecosystem services, including transportation and remineralization of nutrients, habitat for coastal biota, coastal bioshield, biofilters and recreation and cultural benefits. In India, 15 salt marsh species so far have been reported, spread over 1600 km 2 . Salt marshes are known to adapt themselves to the changing environmental conditions fairly quickly by maintaining a balance between the existing pressures and the prevailing state. Thus, they tend to retain a long-term ecosystem sustainability under changing environmental conditions. Recent studies have recognized them for their extraordinary capacity of carbon sequestration, which gives them edge amongst the coastal ecosystems, but the carbon stock is comparatively low due to their alarming decline in global areal extent.In the Indian context, salt marshes occupy a significant share of the coastline along with the other blue carbon ecosystems like mangroves and seagrasses. This provides India with a very promising alternative for achieving its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution towards climate change mitigation through enhancing additional carbon sinks (INDC goal # 5). But, despite its rich salt marsh diversity and distribution along the entire coastline, Indian salt marshes are one of the most overlooked coastal ecosystems. The documented studies on the Indian marshes are relatively scarce and studies addressing their carbon storage and climate change mitigation potential are totally non-existent. There is an urgent need for targeted scientific studies to be taken up on the Indian salt marsh ecosystems to develop a holistic and updated database, which can support resource management, decisionmaking and facilitate to estimate Blue carbon economy of India.
Blue carbon ecosystems include mangroves and other tidal wetlands such as seagrasses and salt marshes. Coastal blue carbon is thought to provide climate change mitigation benefits in view of their ability to store carbon under adverse conditions and this in the recent times has garnered the attention of the scientific community at large. Mangroves are one of the most productive ecosystems and their carbon storage potential is much greater as compared to sea grasses and salt marshes. Mangroves sequester carbon in their living biomass as well as the sediments. The tropical Asian mangroves show the greatest mangrove diversity and the highest biomass accumulation. But, the carbon storage potential of their living biomass is outcompeted by their sedimentary carbon storage. Mangrove sediments play a special and quantitatively important role in carbon storage than previously thought. They store both autochthonous and allochthonous organic matter due to their strategic location at the interface between land and sea and prevailing reducing conditions.Indian mangrove ecosystems which also comprises one of the largest mangrove forest of the world may offer a possible opportunity for the development of blue carbon market economy. But there exist a large number of gaps in the available blue carbon literature. The available studies largely focus on the living biomass storage and sedimentary storage is un-surveyed. Mangrove research in India have shown significant growth in the past few decades but the targeted approach towards delineating the ecosystems' carbon stocks and the factors controlling them are still lacking. The need of the hour is to correctly map and document the mangroves in India for their carbon storage in order to build a better and reliable picture of the role of these ecosystems in climate change mitigation.
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