Variation in leaf morphology of Xylocarpus moluccensis among different saline zones in the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Bangladesh

Morphological variation was attributed to the high plasticity of the species in adapting to changes in environmental conditions. The most natural figure that decides the morphological variety for each species and their geographic dissemination is salinity. Salinity is a vital factor that influences the growth, improvement and dispersion of mangrove species. Passur (Xylocarpus moluccensis) is considered as one of the most important mangrove species in Sundarbans. Passur is the characteristics species of moderate saline zone that displays an anomalous range of variations in its leaf morphology. Until now, however, only a limited number of studies have been made to describe the leaf morphological diversity. Here we investigated the diversity of leaf morphology in Xylocarpus moluccensis with a numerical taxonomic approach. Seventine leaf parameters (Leaf length, Leaf width, Leaf middle width, Leaf upper quarter width, Leaf down quarter width, Petiole length, Tip angle, Base angle, Leaf area, Leaf perimeter, Leaf index, Leaf area-perimeter ratio, Leaf length and petiole length ratio, Leaf base angle and tip angle ratio,Leaf upper and down quarter width ratio, Specific leaf area and Leaf thickness) were recorded to determine the degree of variation of Xylocarpus moluccensis among the different saline zones in Sundarbans. Analysis has done through the digital image based procedure. One-way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed significant morphological variations for 17 quantitative leaf parameters. There is significant difference among fresh water, moderate saline zone and strong saline zone.

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