Ecosystems
Sundarbans
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The largest contiguous mangrove forest on Earth, spread across the delta where the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers meet the Bay of Bengal, shared between Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. Named for the sundari trees that dominate its tangled, salt tolerant forest, the Sundarbans is the only mangrove ecosystem known to support a significant population of tigers, which here swim between islands and are known to enter the water in pursuit of prey. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the forest also buffers a densely populated coastline against cyclones and storm surge, a service made more urgent as sea levels rise.
Facts
Area (sq km) Cross-Tradition Connections
Demonstrates
The Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem is structured directly by its tidal regime: its channels flood and drain twice daily, and its mangrove trees carry root and reproductive adaptations specifically suited to regular tidal inundation.
In Biome
The Sundarbans is the world's largest mangrove forest, a wetland ecosystem by NOAA's own hydrology-based definition; this edge had no in-biome link at all before this pass.
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