Aquatic Macrophytes in Floodplains of Ganga and Brahmaputra Basin

About this book

Macrophytes form the basis of the production and productivity of an aquatic ecosystem along with phytoplankton. By being at the base of the food chain, macrophytes are one of the major conduits for the flow of energy in an aquatic system, providing critical habitat for a number of biotic groups, such as epiphytic bacteria, periphyton, macro-invertebrates, and fish. They also strongly influence the water quality, acting either as a nutrient sink through uptake or as a nutrient source by pumping nutrients from sediment to the ambient water.

Information on macrophytes and their diversity is highly limited in the Indian context and practically no comprehensive attempt has so far been made to document the diversity of floodplain wetlands in India. This book attempts to fill that gap, which so far to remains to be unravelled in India. Here, a special attempt has been made to obtain digital images through extensive surveying, surveillance, and monitoring of aquatic macrophytes prevalent in floodplain wetlands of Assam and West Bengal. Furthermore, a comprehensive inventory of their diversity, abundance, phytosociological behaviour, biomass fluctuations, and their impact on associated biodiversity were thoroughly prepared and examined to give a holistic approach to the manuscript. The contents are based on extensive field surveys conducted in different sectors of the lake during the period of 2006-2009. The book is written in an easy-to-read style, supported by methodology, observations, and conclusions that will form baseline information for students, researchers, and other agencies interested in the ecology and biodiversity of aquatic systems in general and floodplain wetland ecosystem in particular.

Customer Reviews