Sriharikota mangrove wetlands

Continuing my work on the mangroves of Nellore district, I visited the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota during March 2011 with their prior permission. There I noticed some mangrove swamps supporting the growth of a few true mangroves.

• Location : Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota.
• Mandal : Sullurpet
• Date of visit : 21.3.2011
• Co-ordinates : 13⁰38¹34.30¹¹ - 13⁰48^l06.12¹¹N, 80⁰11¹38.75¹¹-80⁰12¹¹49.75¹¹E

Permission was issued by SHAR authorities to enter the forest area. After security clearance the Principal Investigator was allowed into the forest area along with Sri .N. Sreenivasulu Reddy, Horticulturist of SHAR. We went into the forest covering COP area which includes Malipeduvagu, Cholla Doruvu, Chidimoti Kayya swamps. Finally, the adjoining Rayadoruvu was also visited.

COP area (Chandrasi Kuppam Out post)

I. Malipedu vagu:

This is a fairly big pond

The following mangrove associates and other flora were recorded.

1. Pandanus fascicularis Lam.- Pandanaceae, flowering

2. Calamus rotang L – Arecaceae, no flowers

3. Myriostachya wightiana L – Poaceae, flowering

4. Calophyllum inophyllum L - Calophyllaceae

Salinity: 30 ppt

Water Temperature: 27⁰C

II. Cholla doruvu:

This is a very important mangrove swamp in SHAR. It is adjacent to a blacktop road. It is sustained by flood waters. Cholladoruvu has a small, but thick mangrove forest. It has other non-mangrove flora also. Cholladoruvu is a brackish water pond with an opening into the Bay of Bengal.

True mangroves:

1. Avicennia marina 8 – 10 ft tall; No flowers

2. Lumnitzera racemosa Willd, Combretaceae, 15 ft tall; flowering and fruiting

3. Excoecaria agallocha 10-12 ft. tall; flowering

Mangrove associates:

1. Pandanus fascicularis Lam.- Pandanaceae, no flowers

2. Phoenix paludosa Roxb. (Mangrove date palm) Arecaceae, flowering

3. Ipomoea pes-caprae, flowering

4. Caesalpinia crista L. Caesalpinaceae, not in flowering

5. Cassia biflora L. Caesalpinaceae, flowering

Salinity : 30 ppt

Water Temperature : 28⁰C

III. Chudimoti Kayya:

This is a typical mangrove swamp in the sense that it receives fresh water from upstream during monsoon and is close to the sea with mouth opening into the sea. At this time of season, at the last week of March, it has water at the middle of the pond and the periphery is swampy. It has fringe mangroves and is about 50 acres in extent. The water is brackish.

True mangroves:

1. Lumnitzera racemosa: 15- 18 ft. tall, flowering and fruiting

2. Excoecaria agallocha – 15- 18 ft. tall, flowering

It is precisely a thick mixed Lumnitzera – Excoecaria community here at COP area. Both these mangroves are found at the fringe of the pond at Chudimoti kayya.

Mangrove associates:

1. Clerodendrum inerme, Verbenaceae, flowering

2. Ipomoea pes-caprae, Convolvulaceae, flowering

3. Derris indica, Bennet, Fabaceae, 10 ft tall, not in flowering

Other flora:

1. Garcinia spicata (Gamboje) Well, Clusiaceae, no flowers

2. Celosia sinensis (local name: Garika muttivellu), Amaranthaceae, flowering

There are Casuarina plantations very close to the mangrove communities at Cholladoruvu and Chudimoti Kayya. Practically there is no menace of prosopis invasion into the mangrove wetlands here. The soil at the ponds is predominantly light sandy enriched by litter, and a little sediment,

and is quite different from that of other mangrove swamps in the district.

Salinity : 30 ppt

Water Temperature : 28⁰C

Pudirayadoruvu:

Pudirayadoruvu pond is a fenced and barricaded area separating SHAR from the adjoining northern area of Pulicat lake. The water in Pudirayadoruvu pond is highly saline, approaching the salinity of sea water. There are no traces of mangroves here. Pudirayadoruvu is one of the two mouths of Pulicat Lake to the sea, the other being Kondurupalem, on the Andhra Pradesh side of Pulicat Lake. There are thick Casuarina plantations on the northern bank of Pudirayadoruvu, where the coastal village of Nawabpet (Vakadu mandal) is located.