Chapter 11 - Coastal and Marine Biodiversity of India: Challenges for Conservation

Abstract

The coast is the connection between landmass and ocean that measures about 4 percent of earth's total land mass and has provided livelihoods to millions of humans over thousands of years. The coast is diversified into the categories of bay, cover, gulf, estuaries, and peninsula. Indian coasts are endowed with different ecosystems such as mangrove swamps, coral reefs, sea grass beds, beaches, dunes, salt marshes, and mud flats along its 8100km long stretch. Marine and coastal ecosystems play an important role in photosynthesis and productivity. The diversity of fauna and flora suggests that the number of species known could be 17,795 or higher in the Indian coastal and marine ecosystems. Of these, 998 species are protected by law as their natural stock is being depleted due to overexploitation. The taxonomy of many of the minor groups, particularly invertebrates including sponges, octocorals, ctenophores, polychaetes, and tunicates, remains a challenge to specialists. As a result, these taxa continue to be inadequately known from the Indian seas. However, considerable knowledge on the taxonomy of groups such as seaweeds, sea grasses, mangroves, scleractinian corals, crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms, fish, reptiles, and marine mammals is available in India. Coastal areas have been abruptly used for thousands of years for purposes such as harbors, oil platforms, fishing, recreation, waste dumbing, etc. Deforestation of mangrove forests is common in Southeast Asian countries, which collapses all the associated ecosystems and adversely affects the ocean's physical system like global warming and sea level rise and as a result most of the coastal areas of India is in “Alarming state”. The data provided in this paper explain the status of Indian marine biodiversity and threats to coastal biodiversity. The information disseminated in the paper may be helpful for managerial measures to conserve and rationally utilize our coastal biodiversity.