ABSTRACT
Mangroves are widely distributed, though discontinuous, across South Asia. Through Pakistan and north-west India, arid conditions create a harsh environment: diversity is low and trees are typically stunted. The large Indus Delta once stood out for its extensive mangroves; but today this great river has been so heavily utilized upstream that it only flows to the sea for two months of the year and many of its mangroves are degraded or gone. Further south, conditions become more humid and there is more reliable riverine input, although mangroves remain for the most part restricted to protected lagoons. Deltaic mangroves become important along India's east coast and in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, where the Sundarbans form one of the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest.
