Wetlands Denote Perennial Water Bodies That Originate From Underground Sources of Water or Rains

“Wetlands denote perennial water bodies that originate from underground sources of water or
rains. It means swampy areas with flowing or stagnant fresh or salt water that are natural or
man-made, or permanent or temporary. Wetlands also mean marshy lands, riverine
floodplains, lakes, ponds, water storage areas and agricultural lands.” The Nepali term for
wetlands is “Simsar”, which means lands with perennial source of water (National wetland
policy 2059(2003)). Wetlands provide the habitat for about 20% of the world species and
occupy only 4-6 % of the total earth surface (Duglan, 1993). 25% of Nepal total plants i.e. 7000
vascular plants are wetland dependent (Joshi & Joshi, 1991) .720 vascular plants were recorded
from the study of wetland plants in Terai region (Siwakoti, 2006). Among the different types of
flora found around the wetland areas, the aquatic flora is less studied because of its difficult
accessibility. Hydrophytes or Aquatic plants are those plants that grow in water or on a
substrate that is atleast periodically deficient in oxygen as a result of excessive water content;
plants typically found in wet habitat (Environmental laboratory 1987). On the basis of their
growth form, hydrophytes are classified as submerged, free floating, emergent, floating but
rooted (Materac & Sobiecka, 2017).
Being rich in nutrients, wetlands covers higher amount of floral diversity to faunal diversity
(Deshkar, 2008) .Biodiversity loss is the main problems in 21 stcentury; habitat encroachment,
composition destruction and spread of invasive species are the major drivers (Acharya et al.,).
Hydrophytes plays an important role in supporting the ecological activity providing structural,
functional and other services to the aquatic ecosystem (O’Hare et al., 2018). They provide food
and cover for fish and aquatic invertebrates, help oxygenate the water, moderate nutrient
enrichment, and limit erosion. Chemical analysis of aquatic plants eaten by barasingha (Cervus
duvauceli) in Royal Bardia National Park reveals the higher concentration of Na and Ca which is
around 100 times higher than in terrestrial plants (Moe, 1994). Different ethno medically
important aquatic plant species can be used to cure human disorder and diseases (Ali et al., n.d.).
Till now, detailed information about the diversification and their importance is in the hope.
Alien invasive species have caused significant impact on wetland ecosystem and economics. It
reduces the species diversity, reduce access to freshwater, reduce the harvest of fish and
change in water and nutrients cycling (Keller et al., 2018). Moreover only few overview study
have been done in aquatic plants especially in Phewa lake, ghodhagadi, besshazari and some
wetland areas. There is a lack of detailed quantitative and qualitative study of hydrophytes in
Nepal. Therefore, this study will provide the better baseline information about the status and
diversity of hydrophytes in Nepal.
Deshkar, S. L. (2008). Avifaunal diversity and ecology of wetlands in semi arid zone of central
Gujarat with reference to their conservation and categorization. University.
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/10603/59516
Ali, M., Iqbal, I. M., Shabbir, A., Khan, Z.-U.-D., & Khan, M. T. A. (n.d.). Ethnomedicinal studies
on aquatic plants of tehsil Shakargarh, Punjab, Pakistan. 5.
Joshi, A. R., & Joshi, D. P. (1991). Endemic plants of Nepal himalaya: Conservation status and
future direction. Mountain Environment and Development, 1(2), 1–35.
Siwakoti, M. (2006). An Overview of Floral Diversity in Wetlands of Terai Region of Nepal. Our
Nature, 4(1), 83–90. https://doi.org/10.3126/on.v4i1.506
Wang, H., Wang, Q., Bowler, P., & Xiong, W. (2016). Invasive aquatic plants in China. Aquatic
Invasions, 11(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2016.11.1.01
Acharya, K. P., Dangi, R. B., & Acharya, M. (n.d.). Understanding forest degradation in Nepal. 62,
8.
Keller, R. P., Masoodi, A., & Shackleton, R. T. (2018). The impact of invasive aquatic plants on
ecosystem services and human well-being in Wular Lake, India. Regional Environmental Change,
18(3), 847–857. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1232-3
Materac, M., & Sobiecka, E. (2017). The efficiency of macrophytes for heavy metals removal
from water. Biotechnology and Food Science, Vol. 81(nr 1).
http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/baztech/element/bwmeta1.element.baztech-ec6578ae-a238-481a-
b4e0-6da10b6679e9
O’Hare, M. T., Aguiar, F. C., Asaeda, T., Bakker, E. S., Chambers, P. A., Clayton, J. S., Elger, A.,
Ferreira, T. M., Gross, E. M., Gunn, I. D. M., Gurnell, A. M., Hellsten, S., Hofstra, D. E., Li, W.,
Mohr, S., Puijalon, S., Szoszkiewicz, K., Willby, N. J., & Wood, K. A. (2018). Plants in aquatic
ecosystems: Current trends and future directions. Hydrobiologia, 812(1), 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3190-7
The importance of aquatic vegetation for the management of the barasingha Cervus duvauceli
in nepal. (1994). Biological Conservation, 70(1), 33–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-
3207(94)90296-8

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