Effects of Mangrove Zonation and the Physicochemical Parameters of Soil on the Distribution of Macrobenthic Fauna in Kadolkele Mangrove Forest, a Tropical Mangrove Forest in Sri Lanka

Table 10

Summary of the physicochemical parameters of soil between the 3 mangrove zones in Kadolkele mangrove forest ( = 18).

Physicochemical parameter in soil	Rhizophora zone	Avicennia zone	Lumnitzera zone
pH^*	6.45 ± 0.26^a	5.09 ± 0.20^b	7.34 ± 0.15^c
	(4.22–7.70)	(3.58–7.89)	(6.52–8.14)
Conductivity (mS/cm)^*	1.57 ± 0.11^a	2.20 ± 0.22^b	1.27 ± 0.10^a
	(0.778–2.35)	(0.835–3.88)	(0.65–2.17)
Salinity (ppt)^*	0.57 ± 0.06^a	0.99 ± 0.13^b	0.43 ± 0.06^a
	(0.10–1.00)	(0.20–2.00)	(0.10–1.0)
Moisture content (%)^*	29.23 ± 2.13^a	44.02 ± 2.66^b	28.03 ± 0.66^a
	(10.9–47.13)	(24.92–68.28)	(22.77–32.19)
Organic matter content (%)^*	4.59 ± 0.51^a	19.72 ± 3.40^b	4.72 ± 0.20^a
	(1.99–9.15)	(4.42–54.05)	(2.75–6.02)
Sand %	61.02 ± 3.96	52.89 ± 2.55	54.21 ± 1.11
	(20.59–82.93)	(23.93–71.43)	(47.06–62.95)
Silt %^*	31.25 ± 4.15^a	42.57 ± 2.59^b	37.00 ± 1.18^a
	(9.75–76.47)	(23.68–71.43)	(28.71–44.75)
Clay %^*	7.73 ± 0.78^a	4.68 ± 0.62^b	8.79 ± 0.89^a
	(2.5–13.79)	(0.00–9.59)	(2.67–16.89)
Penetrability (cm)^*	4.53 ± 0.26^a	11.62 ± 0.53^b	9.39 ± 0.55^c
	(3.16–7.54)	(8.32–15.14)	(5.48–13.56)
Redox layer length (cm)^*	6.20 ± 0.40^a	1.30 ± 0.157^b	2.91 ± 0.30^c
	(2.62–9.68)	(0.00–2.92)	(0.86–4.76)

Note. Values are mean ± SE, range in parenthesis. Different superscript letters in a row denote significant differences ( < 0.05) indicated by Tukey’s pairwise significant difference test. * indicates significantly calculated value detected by ANOVA.