Wetland Science - Perspectives from South Asia

Hydrobiologia, 2003

Dr Brij Gopal Dr Gopal is an aquatic ecologist with wide-ranging interest in all aspects of ecology, conservation and management of inland fresh-water ecosystems, including wetlands. He was trained as a botanist and plant ecologist at the universities of Agra and ...

East African Scholars Journal of Agriculture and Life Sciences

A wetland is an ecological community that is inundated either year around or seasonally. Wetlands are found from the tundra to the tropics and on every continent except Antarctica. There are many kinds of wetlands and many ways to categorize them. Two general categories of wetlands are recognized namely coastal or tidal wetlands and inland or non-tidal wetlands. Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs. An immense biodiversity of species of microbes, plants, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals can be part of a wetland ecosystem. Wetlands perform significant economic benefits to human society, including some ecosystem services that no other ecosystem can provide, including certain types of water quality improvement, flood protection, shoreline erosion control, and opportunities for recreation and aesthetic appreciation and natural products for our use at no cost. Protecting wetlands in turn can protect our safety and welfare. A primary intent of this article is to provide the reader with special interest in wetland delineation, wetland benefits, wetland mitigation and wetland biology. Wetlands are no more thought to be useless, disease ridden areas rather they are now considered to be an ecological boon for the environment!

2010

Historically wetlands were integrated into the socio-cultural ethos of the people of South and Southwest Asia. However, during the past century wetlands have been lost and degraded primarily because they were labelled as wastelands and did not receive attention in the development plans. Wetlands are treated as dustbins for wastewaters and solid wastes. Conservation of wetlands for protecting their biodiversity, specific biophysical characteristics and obtaining optimum benefits (ecosystem goods and services) from them requires a major shift in policies related to land and water resources.

Late Sri Gopinath Saha who inspired me in every step of my career --

Wetlands Management - Assessing Risk and Sustainable Solutions

Water is an important resource for all living beings. Therefore, the use of water and its supply from sources are very important. Wetlands are an ecosystem from mangrove to subarctic peatlands that have affected human. The earliest civilizations were established near the river, lake, and floodplains [1]. The Mesopotamian civilization is authoritatively accepted to have started around 4000-3500 BC between the Euphrates and Tigris River. The other ancestral civilization, Egypt, commenced in the Nile Valley at around 3200 BC. This represents the importance of the water and wetlands. The fact that people are in these regions is a reflection of how important it is for biotic diversity. Therefore, wetlands are a very critical ecosystem, and some of them are the most productive habitats. Wetlands occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land or where the land is covered by water [2]. Wetlands are the only ecosystems for whose conservation an international convention (Ramsar Convention) had been adopted as early as 1971. Ramsar Convention defined wetlands as "areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters" [2]. Wetlands have about 6% of the earth although they play an important role in hydrology and include mangroves, peatlands and marshes, rivers and lakes, deltas, floodplains and flooded forests, and even coral reefs. A wetland is a generalized concept including coastal wetlands. It exists in every climatic region, ranging from the polar zones to the arid zones. Many wetlands are transitional area between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. These ecosystems are divided into two groups depending on the quantity of water: permanent and temporal flooded. Since wetlands are distributed in many different habitats on earth, they

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Punta del Este, Uruguay, 1-9 June 2015 Ramsar COP12 DOC.23 Ramsar Briefing Note 7 State of the World's Wetlands and their Services to People: A compilation of recent analyses Background 1. Ramsar Resolution XI.17 requested the Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) to report on the state of the world's wetlands and their services to people. The Standing

Agricultural Reviews, 2018

Wetlands are the link between land and water which provide imperative services to living forms. There are different kinds of wetlands around the world performing vivacious functions like water conservation, food supply, cultural value, biodiversity hotspots, pollution abatement etc. Nevertheless, increasing human population has lead to urbanization and land use changes resulting in climate change and pollution and ultimately in wetland destruction. Henceforth, conservation of wetlands is significant; for that at the international level Ramsar convention was steered and selected most important wetlands in the world which are under destruction. India has 26 Ramsar sites. Particulars regarding different kinds of wetlands, its significance, conservation and major wetlands in India are reviewed in this paper.

Wetlands are one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the earth. They are primary habitat for hundreds of species of waterfowl as well as many other birds, fish, mammals and insects. Wetlands naturally filter and recharge the water that later comes out of our faucets downstream. They act like giant sponges, slowing the flow of surface water and reducing the impact of flooding. Wetlands also prevent soil erosion, and they buffer water bodies from potentially damaging land use activities such as agriculture. And wetlands can remove and store greenhouse gases from the Earth's atmosphere, slowing the onset of global warming. More than half of the original 221 million acres of wetlands that existed in the continental U.S. at the time of white settlement were destroyed by the 1980s. The story has been much the same in Canada, with analysts estimating between a 30 and 70 percent of that country's wetlands lost during the same period. Conservation on Wetlands is among the most productive ecosystems in the world, covering about 4% of the planet. They provide tremendous economic, ecological, and social benefits to people worldwide. However, wetlands are also among the most threatened habitats in the world, due mainly to pollution, drainage for land reclamation and overuse by competing land uses such as agriculture and urban development. .Wetlands, as the term might suggest, are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface all year or at least for substantial parts of the year, especially during the growing season. Some of our most valuable and productive wetlands are only seasonally wet. Wetlands are an important link between the land and water and are as productive as are rain forests and coral reef ecosystems. Water saturation (hydrology) largely determines how the soil develops and the types of plant and animal communities living in and on the soil. Wetlands may support both aquatic and terrestrial species. Generally, the prolonged presence of water creates conditions favoring specially adapted plants (hydrophytes). Wetlands vary widely because of regional and local difference in soils, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, existing vegetation, and other factors, especially human disturbance. Wetlands cover approximately 4% of the planet and are the most threatened habitats in the world. Wetlands are found from arctic tundra to the tropics and on every continent except Antarctica. Definition of wetland: The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the protection of wetland signatory countries. It defines the wetland as takes "areas of marsh, fen, peat land, or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters". The main emphasis of the Convention is the List of Wetlands of International Importance.(Art.1) Generally, wetlands mean rivers, lakes, reservoirs and forests, and water logged lands in and around human habitation. The Nepali term for wetland is Simsar, which means lands with perennial sources of water. Plants, animals and birds are abundant in wetlands. So wetland means; 'Wetlands denotes perennial water bodies that originates from underground sources of

International Association of Biologicals and Computational Digest

A wetland ecosystem covers about 5-10% of the earth's land. Wetlands play a significant role in the world's economy but they suffer from several threats from various influencing factors. Wetlands are destroyed due to the expansion of human activities and their effect on living and non-living organisms. Some of India’s and Gujarat's wetlands case studies highlight the worst conditions of wetlands from past decades. These case studies highlight the reasons for wetland degradation, and also which types of issues need to be addressed. Wetlands are the most important ecosystem on earth, and to control wetland degradation, it is essential to improve special laws and regulations and be aware of people to conserve ecosystems.