SGP Rank list                                                  Guidelines SGP                                                            Brochure

 Name of the Awardee: Mr. Dinu Dasan K.

Topic of the Study: Effect of wave breaker (Pulimuttu) structures on local marine biodiversity

Guide: Prof. (Dr.) A. A. Mohamed Hatha

University: Cohcin Univeristy of Science and Technology

 Highlights of the study

Artificial hard defence structure such as wave breaker and seawall are extensively used to protect the shoreline from sea erosion, flooding and land subsidence. Those structures replace the soft sandy substratum by the hard structure, which tends to support hard bottom community, found in natural rocky shore. Artificial shoreline structures were colonised by organism invaded from natural rocky shore. Macro algae developed on the wave breaker makes more hospitable for large number of macro invertebrates. Abundance and diversity of organism were observed to higher on wave breaker structures than associated sandy shore. Transformations of shoreline by hard structures have positive and negative impacts on coast. The positive aspects include increasing in diversity and productivity of the shore and which can support green mussel population at low tide level, which can support small scale mussel fishery. The negative impacts includes, it can alter the coastal ecology, the hard structure extended to the sea cut the natural sediment transportation in coastal water, which leads to erosion or accretion of beach and wave breaker primarily act as corridor for the expansion of organism confined in low tide level to greater tidal range.Long term detailed study of wave breakers include successional pattern of organism on its surface, their ecology and its impacts on sandy shore is required for the proper management of coastal ecosystem. 

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Name of the Awardee : Ms. Jeslin I. J.
Topic of the Study: Taxonomic characterization and biodiversity of microphytobenthos in mangrove ecosystems along the southwest coast of India”

Guide:  Dr. K. B. Padmakumar
University: Cochin University of Science & Technology
 

Highlights of the study

Mangrove ecosystems are highly productive coastal wetland systems which have high ecological and economic values. These ecosystems support rich biodiversity and provide innumerable ecosystems services. Most importantly mangroves play a pivotal role in carbon sequestration and mitigate the present scenario of climate change Microphytobenthos (Benthic microalgae) is responsible for high primary productivity in shallow neritic ecosystems such as mangroves. The present study provides an account of taxonomy and systematics of microphytobenthos from selected mangrove ecosystems along the southwest coast of India. The study also provides a comparison between the microphytobenthic community along the study area. This work can act as baseline for the trophodynamic studies of the highly diverse ecologically and economically significant mangrove ecosystems.

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