Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

LIMNOLOGY AND FISH DIVERSITY OF EUTROPHICATED TROPICAL WETLANDS (MOTIA POND AND JAWAHAR BAL UDHYAN POND) BHOPAL, INDIA

Praveen Tamot and Ashu Awasthi

Abstract

Preserving biodiversity means to protect small things even when we may never see them. This is the case with many of our inconspicuous, non-game fishes. They form the majority of our provincial fish diversity; so they are worthy of protection for this reason alone. However, they also perform a critical role in maintaining the health and well-being of our more “charismatic” fish species. The small but often abundant species are critical components of aquatic ecosystems and the fundamental building blocks of food webs that support the large, predatory game fishes. In “Lake City Bhopal” large number of lakes & reservoirs are present in and around the city; most of which are polluted due to multiple anthropogenic factors. Today it is well known fact that the environmental threats have caused damage to biodiversity including plants & animals. The environmental threats could be manmade, natural or in combination with cascading & interlinked impact and are responsible for decline in biodiversity present in these reservoirs. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to assess the water quality and fish diversity of two important wetlands of Bhopal; they are Motia pond and Jawahar bal udhyan pond from April 2010 to March 2011. The present paper deals with the study of water quality monitoring including important physical, chemical, biological parameters and fish fauna. On the basis of limnological parameters, it was observed that Motia pond is highly eutrophic wetland and only 9 fish species, 13 phytoplankton and 19 zooplankton genera were recorded and in Jawahar bal udhyan pond, which is also a eutrophic wetland, 13 fish species, 25 phytoplankton and 19 zooplanktonic genera have been recorded. On the basis of present study, it is seen that both wetlands are under great environmental stress and due to multiple anthropogenic factors specially joining of untreated raw sewage, water quality is deteriorated day by day and negative impacts on fish fauna have been observed.