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Monsoon floodplains, West Bengal, India
India, West Bengal, Kolkata
The floodplains of West Bengal, India are mostly fertile grazing lands which gets flooded with water when the adjacent water bodies are filled with rain water.
During the months of monsoon in India, most of the bulbs of Nymphaea varieties starts to sprout on the lands filled in fresh rain water, which cannot be seen on rest of the year. Also a person with keen eye and interest can notice the transformation of aquatic plants, from emerged to submerged. This beautiful transformations can mostly be seen on Sagittaria guayanensis and Eriocaulon breviscapum along with Eriocaulon parviflorum. From June to October this lands flourish exponentially, dries up from late October and silently waits for next years Monsoon.
Also during this period most of the native fishes like Pethia phutunio, Pethia aurea, Chanda ranga, Badis badis, Macrognathus pancalus, Aplocheilus lineatus, Channa striata, Channa gachua, Esomus danricus, Brachygobius nunus, Oryzias dancena etc. breeds along with shrimps.
- Submitted by
- Debanjan Banerjee
- Approved by
- Friedrich Bitter & Sujoy Banerjee
- GPS
- 22.5749454, 88.3605652
- Geographical region
- Southern Asia
- Drainage Basin
- Ganges River basin
- River catchment
- Hooghly iver
- Water body type
- Pond
- Water body name
- Monsoon Marshes
- Water body part
- Marsh land
- Water body course
- Water body: tributary of
- Tributary name
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Water Chemistry
Water information
- Water type
- fresh-water
- Water color
- Clear water
- Water transparency
- Medium
- Concentration of sediments
- Medium
- Water temperature
- 32.1 °C
- Water flow/curent
- None
Chemical parameters
- pH
- 9.0
- Conductivity
- 2
- GH
- 125 mg/l
- dGH
- KH
- 6 mg/l
- dKH
- Dissolved Oxygen
- 7 %
Substrate in nature
- Sand
- None
- Pebble/Gravel
- None
- Stone
- None
- Stone form
- Silt/Mud
- Grey
- Leaves
- Many
- Driftwood
- Few
- Submerged terrestrial vegetation
- Yes
Aquatic Biotope
- Date of collecting
- 17 July, 2023
- Collecting area
- Flooded area
- Water depth
- 0,5m
- Air temperature
- 33 °C
- Sunlight
- Full sun
Environment
- Environment
- Affected by human activity
- Affected by human activity
- Pollution
- Pollution
- Advanced
- Surrounding area
The said waterbody was once a serene habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna. The upper layer of waterbody is covered with water hyacinth and hornworts on which many local terrestrial and water birds hunt for food. On recent days encroachment has invited many morning walkers and heavy petrol runned vehicles disrupting the balance.
- Underwater landscape
The water body is covered with nymphaea pods, beneath many of the fishes usually hides. Some fisherman has no respect for aquatic plants due to lack of knowledge and so after fishing from the pond, they cast and drag their fishing nets above and over the aquatic plants, which eventually destroys a lot of ecology.
Fishlist:
- Pethia phutunio (Cyprinidae)
- Badis badis (Badidae)
- Mastacembelus pancalus (Mastacembelidae)
- Trichopsis vittata (Osphronemidae)
Plant list:
- Vallisneria natans (Hydrocharitaceae)
- Ceratophyllum demersum (Ceratophyllaceae)
- Threats to ecology
Building illegal roads on wetlands and forced encroachment by making roads for public transport through this wetlands caused havoc ecological disaster.
Comment by the expert
Friedrich Bitter: Good research on the conditions in the biotopes presented.
Sujoy Banerjee: Well researched Biotope in reference to the plants and fish. A pH 9.0 probably needs a review as generally such high pH may not be present in these biotopes. The water parameters as measured in nature should be reviewed?
