Abstract

Hakraborty Amal and Mondal Kumar

Sand dunes are natural guard wall at coast line through out the world. The sand dune constitutes different types of plants with different habits but moreover all of the plants having stress tolerance capability and more or less soil binding capacity. The sand dune demands immediate attention for conservation as the vegetation is going towards destruction due to the development and other anthropogenic activities along the coastal areas. The sand dune also needs further study as several morphological, chemo-taxonomical variations are already been observed under different physiological conditions. This paper reports some preliminary study on the species found within the sand dune (including habit, habitat, morphological features, flowering time, floral biology, seed structure, pollen morphology and some biochemical studies) of several places along the coastal line of West Bengal and Orissa. Reasons behind the destruction of the sand dune have been studied and the strategies were also proposed for possible conservation and implementation of sustainable use of sand dune vegetation in coastal areas for the benefit of farmers particularly for food, fodder and health aspects.