Wetlands are the vital link between land and water. They support unique flora and fauna as well as provide ecological services that are beneficial to society Wetlands are among the most important and productive ecosystems on Earth. India is blessed with water resources and has a rich diversity of inland and coastal wetlands. Wetlands in India are distributed from the cold arid Trans-Himalayan zone to the wet Teri region of the Himalayan foothills, to the Gangetic plains extended to the flood-plains of Brahmaputra, and to the swamps of Northeastern India including the saline expanses of Gujarat and Rajasthan. This study is about three major natural wetlands of Eastern India: Sundarbans, Chilika and Kolleru. The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It covers an area of about 1 m. ha. Sixty percent of this wetland is located in Bangladesh and the rest of the forty percent is in India. The Indian part of the Sundarbans is situated in the western part of the GangesBrahmaputra delta, and is extended from the Hooghly River in the west to the Raimangal River in the southeastern portion of the West Bengal State, spreading over two districts: North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. The Chilika is the worlds second largest brackish water lagoon, and it is situated along the east coast of India in the state of Orissa on the Bay of Bengal with an area of 116,500 ha. The Chilika is extended over eight blocks of three districts; these districts are known as Ganjam, Khurda and Puri. This pear-shaped lake is about 64.5 km. long; its width varies from 18 km to 5 km. The water spread area of the lake varies from 906 sq.km to 1165 sq. km. depending upon the seasons. The Kolleru Lake is extended over the Krishna and West Godavari districts along the east coast of India in the state of Andra Pradesh. Kolleru is a large natural freshwater lake, with the catchment area being 4763 sq. km. Although the lake is about 35 km. inland from the present coast, it used to be a coastal lagoon in the past. Kolleru still maintains its connection with the Bay of Bengal through a 60 km long tidal channel called Upputeru. The average depth of the lake varies from 0.5 m. to 2.0m. This study offers a new sampling design; blocks in and around the specific wetland were stratified into three clusters, according to their distance from the specified wetland. Samples were chosen mostly from the blocks closest to the wetland, with minimal samples chosen from the blocks most distant from the wetland. Four different schedules were canvassed to four different groups of people: householders, entrepreneurs, tourists, and experts on wetlands. A new approach has been introduced for valuing the wetlands. This approach attempts to combine valuation of a wetland to the aforementioned groups of people. It also attempts to incorporate the valuation of the wetlands when used for other purposes.

Wetlands Conservation An up-to-date overview of approaches for addressing wetlands degradation and its effects on ecosystem services, human health, and other ecosystems Wetlands are essential sources of biodiversity, water purification, groundwater replenishment, flood control, storm protection, sediment retention, recreation and tourism, and more. Human exploitation of natural resources over the past 200 years has caused significant wetlands degradation and loss. Although the Ramsar Convention of 1971 drafted polices for wetland conservation and responsible use, many wetland sites remain inadequately conserved or managed. Maintaining the ecological balance and equilibrium of wetlands requires a clear understanding of the vital role of wetlands, the difficulties they face, and the policies enacted for their protection. Wetlands Conservation: Current Challenges and Future Strategies summarizes both current and emerging management strategies, trends, and policies regarding wetlands protection around the world. The authors provide accurate scientific information on wetlands while discussing the effects of climate change, global warming, modernization in agriculture, and other key topics. Designed to assist in the development of future solutions for wetlands conservation and management strategies, this important volume: Highlights the environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural importance of wetlands Identifies the factors responsible for the failure of many conservation initiatives Describes the natural and anthropogenic factors of wetlands degradation Discusses the role of community-based wetlands conservation and management Explores Ramsar wetlands conservation and its impacts worldwide Wetlands Conservation: Current Challenges and Future Strategies is an invaluable resource for graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, ecologists, policymakers, conservation organizations, and others working in the field of natural resources management.

This book delves into human-induced and natural impacts on coastal wetlands, intended or otherwise, through a series of vignettes that elucidate the environmental insults and efforts at amelioration and remediation. The alteration, and subsequent restoration, of wetland habitats remain key issues among coastal scientists. These topics are introduced through case studies and pilot programs that are designed to better understand the best practices of trying to save what is left of these fragile ecosystems. Local approaches, as well as national and international efforts to restore the functionality of marsh systems are summarily approached and evaluated by their efficacy in producing resilient reclamations in terms of climate-smart habitat conservation. The outlook of this work is global in extent and local by intent. Included here in summarized form are professional opinions of experts in the field that investigate the crux of the matter, which proves to be human pressure on coastal wetland environments. Even though conservation and preservation of these delicate environmental systems may be coming at a later date, many multi-pronged approaches show promise through advances in education, litigation, and engineering to achieve sustainable coastal systems. The examples in this book are not only of interest to those working exclusively with coastal wetlands, but also to those working to protect the surrounding coastal areas of all types.

Eutrophication continues to be a major global challenge to water quality scientists. The global demand on water resources due to population increases, economic development, and emerging energy development schemes has created new environmental challenges to global sustainability. Eutrophication, causes, consequences, and control provides a current account of many important aspects of the processes of natural and accelerated eutrophication in major aquatic ecosystems around the world. The connections between accelerated eutrophication and climate change, chemical contamination of surface waters, and major environmental and ecological impacts on aquatic ecosystems are discussed. Water quality changes typical of eutrophication events in major climate zones including temperate, tropical, subtropical, and arid regions are included along with current approaches to treat and control increased eutrophication around the world. The book provides many useful new insights to address the challenges of global increases in eutrophication and the increasing threats to biodiversity and water quality.

This volume provides state-of-the-art information on soil-water interactions in wastewater systems, characterization of wastewater, modes of treatment, safety of wastewater use, water conservation technologies involved in recycling of sewage in fish culture, biogeochemical cycling bacteria and nutrient dynamics, ecosystem resilient driven wastewater reclamation, bioremediation, aquaponics, ecological integrity, culture practices of fish farming, microbial food web phenomena, fish diseases, environmental economics of wastewater, environmental risk assessment, environmental law and regulations. Given its breadth of coverage, the book will be useful to researchers, teachers, students, administrators, planners, farmers and entrepreneurs interested in the profitable use of wastewater in the wastes-into-wealth framework of for the benefit of humanity, and in achieving the targets for sanitation and safe wastewater reuse by 2030, specified in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Concerns are growing about the quality and quantity of fresh water, as severe crises are expected in the near future. Climate change has further worsened the strain on inland water resources, with its major impacts on ecosystems and human life. It is most urgent to protect and conserve inland water resources to maintain vital ecosystem functions. Despite the immense nutrient potentials of wastewater in terms of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium and increasingly high rates of urbanization-based wastewater generation, wastewater has traditionally been overlooked as a resource. This produces a threefold loss – environmental degradation, monetary losses from fertilizers, and water. As a result, municipal wastewater offers a win-win strategy for water conservation and environmental protection, while also turning waste into wealth in the form of fish biomass and allied cash crops. Wastewater-fed aquaculture refers to a unique, integrated biosystem in which the wastes generated by the first system are used by the next subsystem. In wastewater-fed aquaculture biosystems, the organic wastes are recycled into fish biomass mediated through a complex microbial/autotrophic/heterotrophic food web mechanism.

This book discusses current knowledge and challenges with the ecological management and conservation of wetlands, with a focus on the East Kolkata Wetlands of India. This area is referred to as a Ramsar Site, a designation given to areas with special protection statuses, since it is the largest natural waste recycling system in the world. The site faces many threats to its biodiversity and ecosystem functioning due to anthropogenic activity in the region, and therefore an assessment of the ecosystem services, bio-ecological uniqueness, and issues stemming from climate change and human impacts is needed to develop protection strategies for the future ecological functioning and sustainability of the wetlands. The authors use GIS and remote sensing techniques to assess and monitor harmful industrial and environmental impacts on the wetlands, and to inform mitigation and conservation strategies in the face of ongoing threats such as pollution, habitat destruction and bioinvasion. The book also highlights various social and economic aspects tied to the functioning and management of the wetlands, along with ecological, biological, and physio-chemical considerations. The study will be of use to students and researchers in aquatic ecology, biodiversity, and environmental sustainability and conservation, as well as to environmental planners, engineers, and policymakers.

The first reference to demonstrate how birds survive the high-altitude Central Asian Flyway and the threats to this unique migration.