Abstract—Planting mangroves for restoration became popular after the 2004-tsunami in Batticaloa. About 9500 individuals Rhizophora were planted at ten sites around the Batticaloa estuary. Only 8% plants were remained at the end of 2010. Heavy rain flooded Batticaloa in January and again in February 2011. The followings were recorded one week after the floods: inundation height, each plant height, status of plant shoot (% of green and brown), number of dead plants and salinity of water. Mean height of the first and second inundation were 1.84±0.06 and 1.68±0.08 m respectively. During first inundation, 79% of the plants had been fully submerged and 21% partially submerged. During second inundation 24% of the plants had been fully submerged and 76% partially submerged. Number of dead plants was 81.3% and 31% during first and second inundations respectively. After first inundation, 52% of plants had more than 90% of brown-shoot but it was 32% after the second inundation. Salinity was almost zero during inundations. Majority of the isolated individuals were lost whereas majority of the survived plants were from the centre of big patches. Inundation seems to be the main reason for death of plants, but physical forces cannot be overlooked.

Index Terms—patches, browning, inundation, survival

Cite: Mathiventhan Thavanayagam and Jayasingam Thangamuthu, "Impact of Flood on Rhizophora Plantation in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka," Journal of Medical and Bioengineering, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 117-121, June 2014. Doi: 10.12720/jomb.3.2.117-121