Mangrove as a Habitat of Diverse Animal Community-A Study on Bichitrapur Mangrove Forest at Balasore, Odisha

Mangroves are often considered as nursery ground for many marine and estuarine animals. Hence a lot of work has been carried out in mangrove ecosystems worldwide. But mangroves with their characteristic shapes and ischolar_main systems provide shelter and food for many animals of that particular ecosystem. Keeping in this mind, a case study was undertaken in 2016-2017. Bichitrapur mangrove is located in the mouth of Subarnarekha estuary, in Balasore district of Odisha. The preliminary study reveals occurrence of total 57 species of estuarine animals associated with different parts of mangrove plants as borers or non-borers and some of them obviously harmful to mangrove forests. Most of them are opportunistic to live on mangroves for shelter and feeding purpose in a dynamic tidal influx environment. Molluscs are the dominating groups inhabiting the mangroves, 8 species of molluscs are found as borers of mangroves wood, whereas 19 species are opportunistic epi-fauna. Crustaceans are found as second diverse group in this ecosystem, with 13 species of crabs, 6 species of boring isopods and a single species of amphipods. A few species of Cnidaria, Polychaetea, Echinoderm and some fishes are found as epifauna in 7 species of mangroves, which are found here. But these seem to be not specific to any plant species. A detail study in ecological viewpoints of those species is required for the conservation and management of the mangrove ecosystems.