Mangrove populations of Vamsadhara estuary.

Mangroves of Andhra Pradesh have been studied by various authors in different estuarine regions such as Godavari estuary (Rao, 1959; Umamaheswara Rao and Narasimha Rao, 1988) Krishna estuary (Venkanna and Narasimha Rao, 1993) Sarada and Varaha estuaries complex (Narasimha Rao and Venkanna, 1996) Visakhapatnam (Narasimha Rao, 2008). So far no report is available in the literature on the occurrence of mangroves in the Vamsadhara estuary. In the present study an attempt has been made to study the mangrove populations along the Vamsadhara estuary near Naupada. Vamsadhara estuary located between 18 32 73 N 84 19 80 E on the east Coast of India, near Naupada and in between Visakhapatnam and Chilaka lake. Vamsadhara is the 4 largest river in Andhra Pradesh originated in the Eastern Ghats of Orissa and bifurcated into major and minor branches, major branch merged into Bay of Bengal at Kalingapatnam and minor branch flows through various parts and finally merges into Bay of Bengal at Bhavanapadu. Mud flats and some islands like structures are formed with mangrove plants. Mangrove forest occurs from Meghavaram to Bhavanapadu. The mouth region which is Bhavanapadu to upward region Meghavaram is 10-12 km, along this estuary mangrove forest occurs on either side of the river branch. From waterfront to barren zone mangrove forest spreads only 10 to 15 meters,