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In the first ever study of microorganisms in an East African mangrove swamp, the number of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in the mangrove swamp sediment was investigated and found to range from 7.44 × 10⁶ to 4.70 × 10⁸ cfu/g dry wt, (cfu = colony forming units; g dry wt = gram dry weight). The anaerobic heterotrophic bacteria ranged from 7.45 × 10⁶ to 1.82 × 10⁸ cfu/g dry wt. There was no significant difference between the Avicennia marina, Ceriops tagal and Rhizophora mucronata sediments with respect to the number of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The exercise was conducted between October and February and generally lower numbers of bacteria were recorded between mid December and February.

Key words: Mangrove swamps, heterotrophic bacteria


Journal of Tropical Microbiology Vol.1(1) 2002: 41-46