Inventory of the Aquatic Macrophytes in Lake Kharungpat, India

Abstract

The present study has been undertaken in Lake Kharungpat situated in Manipur state, India. The focal objective of the study is to evaluate the quantitative characters of the aquatic macrophytes viz., frequency, density, abundance, abundance by frequency (A/F) ratios and importance value index (IVI).  During the whole study period, a total of 54 macrophytic plant species belonging to 28 families were found distributed in the lake. The aquatic plant species recorded were grouped into different categories viz., submerged (7 species), rooted with floating leaves (6 species), free floating (8 species) and emergent (33 species) respectively. Alternanthera philoxeroides, Azolla pinnata, Brachiaria mutica, Ceratophyllum demersum, Echinochloa stagnina, Eichhornia crassipes, Enhydra fluctuans, Hygroryza aristata, Ludwigia adscendens, Pistia stratiotes, Salvinia cucullata and Zizania latifolia were the dominant species found to occur in all the study sites during the entire study period. The maximum frequency was exhibited by Echinochloa stagnina (85%), whereas the maximum density value was shown by Ceratophyllum demersum (213.60 plants m^–2). The highest abundance value was exhibited by Echinochloa stagnina (506.67 plants m^–2).  The higher ranges of A/F ratios were reported in some species viz., Alternanthera philoxeroides (0.44), Echinochloa stagnina (0.42), Azolla pinnata (0.38) etc. Alternanthera philoxeroides (42.41) recorded peak value of importance value index (IVI). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for all the aquatic macrophytes reported from the lake indicates that there is no significant variation within the four study sites in terms of distribution.  However, F-test result indicates significant variation in the quantitative characters between the different macrophytic plant species of the lake.

Keywords: inventory, aquatic macrophytes, quantitative, Lake Kharungpat, India.