DNA : Daily News & Analysis; Mumbai, Jan 12, 2011 |
by Aghor, Ashwin
The students of St Xavier's High School, Airoli had a refreshing day recently when environmental NGO Vanashakti organised a trail in city's mangrove cover for them.
In all 32 students of standard eight and nine participated in the one-day session on mangrove ecosystem. The trails were conducted for the students in two batches of 16 members each. The 90 minute trail exposed the students to the world of mangroves, its floral and faunal diversity, their varied adaptations, their significance to the biodiversity that they harbour to the fishing communities that depend on the mangroves for their livelihood, to the economy and the world at large besides the threats posed to them. Four species of true mangroves namely Avicennia marina, Sonneratia apetala, Excoecaria agallocha, Rhizhophora apiculata and five mangrove associate species namely Acanthus illicifolius, Salvadora persica, Derris trifoliata, Thespesia populnea and Sesuvium portulacastrum were seen.
"The students were amazed to know the uniqueness of the aerial roots like pneumatophores, stilt roots etc besides their structures and functions in the different mangrove species. Various birds like grey-backed shrike, scaly-breasted munia, white-cheeked bulbul, ashy prinia, tailor bird, marsh harrier, little cormorant, little egret, intermediate egret, pond heron, common sandpiper, terek sandpiper, red-wattled lapwing and black-headed ibis were also noticed. They also saw terrestrial slug species during the trail like fiddler crabs with their protective clay mound, mangrove crabs, mudskippers and telescopium," said Stalin D of Vanashakti.
He added that dried scat found in the trail helped the experts to explain the students that how a coprologist uses the scat of an animal to determine its habitat, herbivore presence, food preference, prey base and the other animals present in the territory to whom the scat belongs. "This helped the students to be vigilant for indirect evidences for a mammal's presence in a forest area during the trail," he said. The students also noted the solid waste accumulated especially lot of plastic material and thermocol on the muddy substrate of the tidal forest.
An interactive session was conducted to conclude the trail where students asked several questions on mangroves, birds, crustaceans etc. The trail was followed by the screening of a 30-minute documentary on the migratory birds visiting Mumbai.
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