Mangrove ecosystems play a key role in coastal ecology. This research paper estimates the aerobic bacterial load in soils taken from mangroves on the southern bank of the Adyar river in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

The authors took soil samples from nine random locations at three depths along the southern bank of the Adyar river, behind the Theosophical Society Campus, Chennai. Using published laboratory methods, the authors find that the soil in the mangrove region has a salinity of 6.3g/l and is very rich in Halophilic aerobic bacterial load.

The authors find that as the depth increases the bacterial load decreases, which they feel could be because of the increasing anaerobic conditions at lower depths of the soil. According to the authors this stratification of microbial load could be one of the reasons for nutritive management within mangrove ecosystems.

Thus the authors feel that there is need to include mangrove soil management in any programme on conservation and management of mangroves.

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