Eco-floristic Survey on Aquatic Macrophytes from Three Mouzas of East Kolkata Wetland, West Bengal, India

Abstract

The East Kolkata Wetland is a Ramsar Site in West Bengal, and it has a significant role in environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. The main objective of this survey is to study the season-wise floristic composition and quantitative analysis of phytosociological parameters like frequency, density, abundance, and diversity of aquatic macrophytes of three mouzas (Nonadanga, Chalk Kalarkhal, and Patuli). The survey reveals the presence of 51 species of aquatic macrophytes belonging to 41 genera and 27 families. The highest plant diversity has been recorded from Patuli during the post-monsoon (winter) period, where the lowest diversity is found in Nonadanga during the pre-monsoon period (summer). Alternanthera philoxeroides is the most widely distributed species among all mouzas, having the highest mean frequency, followed by Colocasia esculenta, Eichhornia crassipes, Commelina diffusa & Typha angustifolia, Myriophyllum sp, Ipomoea aquatica & Pistia stratiotes. Amaranthaceae family exhibits the highest range of frequency followed by Araceae, Pontederiaceae and Typhaceae. Lemnaceae exhibits the highest density and abundance. Statistical analysis reveals a significant positive correlation among plant diversity, frequency, density and abundance in all mouzas (p<0.01) where density shows highest correlation with plant diversity. This study will be helpful in biodiversity conservation and the preparation of a mouza-wise database regarding the aquatic macrophyte diversity and floristic composition of the entire East Kolkata Wetland in the future.