The Burmese or Myanmar Coast mangroves are an ecoregion in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
where there were once thick forests of
mangroves
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...
but today most has been cleared, resulting in loss of habitat for wildlife.
Location and description
Mangroves were once common in the
Irrawaddy River
The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Origi ...
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
and today exist in three distinct areas,
Rakhine State
Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady R ...
,
Ayeyarwady and
Tanintharyi Region
Tanintharyi Region ( my, တနင်္သာရီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; Mon: or ; ms, Tanah Sari; formerly Tenasserim Division and subsequently Tanintharyi Division, th, ตะนาวศรี, RTGS: ''Tanao Si'', ...
s, as well as Kutubdia and Moheshkhali islands in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
Flora
The mangrove flora of Burma include ''
Rhizophora
''Rhizophora'' is a genus of tropical mangrove trees, sometimes collectively called true mangroves. The most notable species is the red mangrove (''Rhizophora mangle'') but some other species and a few natural hybrids are known. ''Rhizophora'' ...
'' and ''
Xylocarpus
''Xylocarpus'' is a genus of plants in the mahogany family (Meliaceae). It includes two or three species of mangroves, native to coastal mangrove forests of the Western and Central Indo-Pacific, from eastern Africa to Tonga
Tonga (, ; ) ...
'' mangrove trees, ''
Sonneratia
''Sonneratia'' is a genus of plants in the family Lythraceae. Formerly the Sonneratia were placed in a family called Sonneratiaceae which included both the ''Sonneratia'' and the ''Duabanga'', but these two are now placed in their own monotyp ...
s'', other
Rhizophoraceae
The Rhizophoraceae is a family of tropical or subtropical flowering plants. It includes around 147 species distributed in 15 genera.Setoguchi, H., Kosuge, K., & Tobe, H. (1999). Molecular Phylogeny of Rhizophoraceae Based on rbcL Gene Sequences. ...
, ''
Nypa fruticans
''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ms, nipah) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapte ...
'' and ''
Phoenix paludosa''.
Fauna
The remaining mammals include a small group of wild
Asian elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...
s in Rakhine State, while once common species of mammals and reptiles such as the
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
, the
saltwater crocodile
The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been listed ...
(''Crocodylus porosus'') and the mangrove terrapin (''
Batagur baska
The northern river terrapin (''Batagur baska'') is a species of riverine turtle native to Southeast Asia. It is classified Critically Endangered by the IUCN and considered extinct in much of its former range.
Description
The northern river te ...
'') have either disappeared or seriously reduced in number Bird life however is much richer including waterbirds such as
Oriental darter
The Oriental darter (''Anhinga melanogaster'') is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and, like the cormorant, it hunts for fish while its body is submerged in water ...
(''Anhinga melanogaster''),
little cormorant
The little cormorant (''Microcarbo niger'') is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Slightly smaller than the Indian cormorant it lacks a peaked head and has a shorter beak. It is widely distributed across the Indian Subcontinent and ex ...
(''Phalacrocorax nigers''),
Pacific reef heron
The Pacific reef heron (''Egretta sacra''), also known as the eastern reef heron or eastern reef egret, is a species of heron found throughout southern Asia and Oceania. It occurs in two colour morphs with either slaty grey or pure white pluma ...
(''Egretta sacra''),
great-billed heron
The great-billed heron (''Ardea sumatrana'') is a wading bird of the heron family, resident from southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Description
left, Juvenile
The great-billed heron is a large bird, typically standing tall and ...
(''Ardea sumatrana''),
ruddy shelduck
The ruddy shelduck (''Tadorna ferruginea''), known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a member of the family Anatidae. It is a distinctive waterfowl, in length with a wingspan of . It has orange-brown body plumage with a paler head, while the ...
(''Tadorna ferruginea''),
bronze-winged jacana
The bronze-winged jacana (''Metopidius indicus'') is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It is found across South and Southeast Asia and is the sole species in the genus ''Metopidius''. Like other jacanas it forages on lilies and other floating aqu ...
(''Metopidius indicus''),
lesser sand plover
The lesser sand plover (''Charadrius mongolus'') is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as lesser sand-plover, but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is "lesser sand plover". The genu ...
(''Charadrius mongolus''),
beach stone-curlew
The beach stone-curlew (''Esacus magnirostris'') also known as beach thick-knee is a large, ground-dwelling bird that occurs in Australasia, the islands of South-east Asia. At and , it is one of the world's largest shorebirds. At a mean of in ...
(''Esacus magnirostris''),
black-winged stilt
The black-winged stilt (''Himantopus himantopus'') is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family (Recurvirostridae). The scientific name ''H. himantopus'' is sometimes applied to a single, almost cosmopolitan speci ...
(''Himantopus himantopus''),
Nordmann's greenshank
Nordmann's greenshank (''Tringa guttifer'') or the spotted greenshank, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders.
Description
The Nordmann's greenshank is a medium-sized sandpiper, at long, with a slightly upturned, bicol ...
(''Tringa guttifer''),
lesser black-backed gull
The lesser black-backed gull (''Larus fuscus'') is a large gull that breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa. It has increased dramatically in North America, most common alo ...
(''Larus fuscus'') and
common moorhen
The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen or swamp chicken, is a bird species in the rail (bird), rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.
The common moorhen lives around well-v ...
(''Gallinula chloropus'').
Threats and preservation
This is Asia's most depleted area of mangroves, a particularly vulnerable ecosystem. The mangroves have been depleted by increased sediment being brought to the coast by the Irrawaddy, this is a natural process but has accelerated in recent decades following deforestation in inland Myanmar. The mangroves have been even more seriously affected by the large-scale cutting of mangrove trees themselves for timber and to clear land for agriculture and coastal development, all of which is ongoing often illegally. This leaves the remaining mangroves in serious need of protection and planned and existing protected areas include
Mein-ma-hla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary
Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Myanmar with an extent of and one of the ASEAN Heritage Parks. Meinmahla Kyun is an island in the Ayeyarwady Delta ranging in elevation from and covered by mangrove forest. It was decla ...
.
in Myanmar, the cutting down of mangroves to turn into
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
for sale in China and Thailand continues unabated.
References
{{Reflist
Mangrove ecoregions
Ecoregions of Bangladesh
Ecoregions of Malaysia
Ecoregions of Myanmar
Ecoregions of Thailand
Indomalayan ecoregions
Western Indo-Pacific