Tsunami and tropical island ecosystems: a meta-analysis of studies in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Abstract

Tropical islands are special and sensitive ecosystems which are subjected to various disturbances imposed by human activities and natural disasters. A detailed study about the changing landscape scenarios of these fragile island systems induced by various driving factors could be used for setting up measurements in support of conservation and sustainable development projects. The current research is a meta-analysis of the studies carried out in Andaman and Nicobar islands which analyzed the impact of tsunami of 2004 using geospatial tools. Based on the analysis, it was observed that the Nicobar islands were more affected compared to the Andaman islands. The majority of the researchers used preand post-tsunami satellite imagery and adopted visual interpretation method to delineate the changed classes. The study infers uplift of land in Andaman (exposing) and subsidence in Nicobar islands (inundation) with severe damage to the coastal elements like mangroves, coral reefs, plantations and in few cases interior forest. The analysis showed there were no records of the damage for some small islands. Finally, it is concluded that utility of microwave satellite data for change analysis will prove better in regions like Andaman and Nicobar where it is difficult to get cloud free optical data because of the high monsoon periods in these islands. It is also suggested that future work utilizing suitable temporal satellite imagery should focus on the extent of recovery of vegetation and other coastal elements which suffer the impact of disaster.

Interactive Effects of Intertidal Elevation and Light Level on Early Growth of Five Mangrove Species under Sonneratia apetala Buch. Hamplantation Canopy: Turning Monocultures to Mixed Forests

“…Mangroves provide ecological services to humans, but they are also threatened by anthropogenic activities [3,4]. Mangrove habitats are becoming small or fragmented, which is attributable to anthropogenic activities, including aquaculture, agricultural reclamation, urbanization, and pollution explosion [5,6]. The mangrove forest area in Figure. 1.…”

Latitudinal variation in seagrass communities with special emphasis on post-tsunami status in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India

“…For a region like the ANI that latitudinally spreads across a coastline of 1962 km ( www.andaman.gov.in ), a local-scale variation in predictor variables further influences seagrass distribution. In addition, the magnitude of natural stressors, such as cyclonic storms and tsunamis, impacting the ANI coastline differ significantly [ 26 ]. In the latter catastrophe, the Nicobar archipelago faced more massive devastation than the Andaman archipelago due to the former’s geographical closeness to the earthquake’s epicenter (180 kms from Great Nicobar) [ 23 , 27 ].…”

Tsunami impact on the population development of a critically endangered hummingbird species of a Pacific island

“…Stochastic natural catastrophes like hurricanes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis play a significant role in shaping species composition and richness of oceanic islands (MacArthur and Wilson 1967;Whittaker 1995). In contrast to the numerous studies on hurricanes and typhoons, the effects of tsunamis on the biodiversity of oceanic islands have been poorly documented (e.g., Ramachandran et al 2005;Prasad et al 2012). Tsunami events can have a devastating impact on island ecosystems, extensively effecting habitats located below the sea flood level (Prasad et al 2009;Porwal et al 2012).…”