Distribution of Aquatic Macrophytes in Balasore District, Odisha - Aquatic Ecosystem: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation - page 1

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Distribution of Aquatic
Macrophytes in Balasore
District, Odisha

K. A. Sujana , R. Saravanan , and Amit Diwakar Pandey

Abstract
The qualitative survey was conducted from July 2013 to June 2014 in
different aquatic environment in Balasore district of Odisha, eastern India.
A total of 132 species including 129 fl owering plants and 3 Pteridophyte
taxa spread in 82 genera and 41 families were recorded. The most speciose
families were Cyperaceae with 27 species followed by Poaceae (24). The
other dominant families are Linderniaceae, Fabaceae, Onagraceae,
Polygonaceae, Commelinaceae, and Scrophulariaceae. Reclamation of
land and changes in land use pattern are the most serious problems
observed from the study sites. Abundant growth of various macrophytes
including grasses and sedges provides great value of ecological and
economic importance.

Keywords
Aquatic macrophytes • Balasore • Distribution • Odisha

Introduction

Primary production of macrophytes can surpass
that of other aquatic primary producers (Wetzel
2001 ; Kalff 2002 ). Macrophytes generally colo-
nize shallow ecosystems where they become
important components, infl uencing ecological
processes, and they support many life-forms
including several vascular hydrophytes. The
value of an aquatic environment is often ignored,
and many of the world's aquatic environments
have been drained and converted for other
profi table uses (Gopal and Zutchi 1998 ; UNEP-
DEWA 2004 ; Srivastava et al. 2008 ). Many of
these ecosystem harbors several kinds of eco-
nomically useful macrophytes. Their ecological
value is yet to be estimated. Studies on aquatic

Macrophytes colonize many different types of
aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes, reservoirs,
wetlands, streams, rivers, marine environments,
and even rapids and falls. This variety of colo-
nized environments results from a set of adaptive
strategies achieved over evolutionary time.