2003 Volume 29 Issue 1 Pages 125-130
Structures of two mangrove forests of Avicennia marina(Forssk.)Vierh. under different site conditions on the coastal area of gulf of Oman in Arabian Peninsula were investigated in 2003. In Shinas, northern part of the Sultanate of Oman, the mangrove forest of A. marina was established along a channel from the sea. The maximum height(H)and the average crown projection area(CPA)of A. marina were about 6 m and 1.21 m2, respectively. A large number of seedlings were growing on the forest floor. On the other hand, H and CPA of A. marina in Quriyat, middle part of Oman, were about 4.5 m and 2.26 m2, respectively. The mangrove forest in Quriyat was surrounded on two sides by L shaped channel with a blocked mouth to the sea. No seedlings were growing in this land locked mangrove forest. The analysis of spatial distribution of individual trees by the m*-m relation suggested a random distribution of compact colonies with the size of 25 m2. Especially such colonial structure of spatial distribution was remarkable in the forest of Shinas with a large number of seedlings.
