A Quantitative Study on the Soil Quality of the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh

Abstract

The mangrove forest has a unique physical characteristic defined by the differences in soil qualities based

on location, which influences the overall health and the biodiversity of the forest. The study aimed to

investigate the quality of the soil of the Sundarbans under four administrative ranges including Chandpai,

Khulna, Sharonkhola, and Satkhira focusing on various parameters to assess its overall health. The 98

samples were collected from the mentioned ranges of the Sundarbans and analyzed in the laboratory

following the standards for determining various parameters, i.e., pH, EC, SAR, and different nutrients.

Laboratory data indicated that the overall pH of the Sundarbans soils ranged from slightly acidic to

neutral having the EC denoted as the strong saline zone and SAR ranging from 1.15 to 2.16. The nutrient

content, i.e., total N varied from 0.45 to 0.68%, total P varied from 0.05 to 0.10%, total S varied from

0.83 to 0.89%, total Fe varied from 4.45 to 4.98%, total Na varied 0.46 to 0.51%, total K varied from 0.28

to 1.89%, and chloride content varied from 0.33 to 0.78%. The available Ca and Mg varied from 0.16 to

0.32% and 0.12 to 0.16%, respectively. According to the analysis, Satkhira range has better nutritional

value than the other three ranges of the Sundarbans in terms of total nutrient contents. However, the total

nutrients vary from the available nutrients which are related to the plant species diversity and health of the

forest.