Research Projects

Mangroves are crucial for coastal ecosystems, preserving biodiversity and sequestering around 14% of ocean carbon. However, due to climate change, mangrove cover has significantly decreased globally and regionally. species distribution models (SDM) are useful in understanding habitat changes in response to environmental factors, but their predictions are often based on instrumental records that cover only a few decades. This study aims to examine this theory by combining long-term palaeo-data with SDM and identifying high-priority conservation locations within a mangrove forest. The Pichavaram mangrove forest in the Cauvery River Delta is selected to evaluate the mangrove community's responses to environmental factors. An in-depth conservation blueprint for mangrove ecosystems should incorporate paleoclimatic variables from fossil records, existing climatic factors, and internal variables like soil composition, salinity, clay content, and organic carbon stock. This will help create a comprehensive conservation strategy, identify critical areas for conservation, and estimate organic carbon stock, contributing to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions.