Survey of Aquatic plants of Kanker District (Uttar Bastar) Chhattisgarh, India
*R. Kuldeep and **V. Acharya
Department of Botany, Govt. D.B.G.P.G. College Raipur–492001 Chhattisgarh (India)
ABSTRACT
The present study deals with the documentation of aquatic macrophytes from Kanker district (North Uttar Bastar)of Chhattisgarh India .Kanker city is on the national highway NH-30. It lies between the two well developed cities of CG Raipur, capital of C.G. and Jagdalpur (Head quarter of Bastar). Kanker is situated within longitudes 20°6'- 20°24' and latitudes 80°48'-81°48'. The total area of the district is 5285.01 square km. The district of Kanker owes its exceptional beauty. The climate of Kanker can be described as humid tropical. The summer season is very hot March and April are the hottest months with mean temperature 40oC and maximum temperature reaching up to 45oC. The winter is cool and the rainy season is full with water. The study was carried out in four ponds of Kanker district namely Dandiya pond- Kanker, Bhatapara pond - Charama, Raja pond – Narharpur, Raja pond –Bhanupratapur. The selected ponds are always fully filled with water but some are affected from drought. The present investigation was conducted over a period of two years from June, 2014 to June, 2016. During the investigation the ponds were visited regularly and species growing there were recorded. The aquatic plant community comprises diverse group a macrophytes consisting of Angiosperms, Pteridophytes and Algae that occur seasonally or permanently in wet environment6,9. During the present study, 41 macrophytic species were recorded, all species belonging to different families. Documentation and identification of plants will be helpful in planning for conservation of aquatic macrophytes diversity of the area. Ponds have been natural water source exploited by man for different purpose like domestic, agricultural & industrial uses, so resourceful ponds of the district are gradually degrading. The present study has been carried out for documentation and Identification of aquatic macrophytes of Kanker district (Uttar Bastar).