Aquatic Invertebrates of the Ganga River System (Mollusca, Annelida, Crustacea [in part])

Authors:

Hasko Nesemann, Subodh Sharma, Gopal Sharma, Sanjay Nath Khanal, Bandana Pradhan, Deep Narayan Shah, Ram Devi Tachamo

The book contains 227 species which were collected and studied by the authors during the last decade. They are illustrated with 748 figures from freshwater, brackish water and semiaquatic habitats with 76 plates including 12 colored plates. The Mollusca are altogether represented with 108 species, 49 Bivalvia and 59 Gastropoda.  The Annelida were recorded with 6 Polychaeta, 70 Oligochaeta and 33 Hirudinida. The Crustacea are included with 10 examples of Branchiopoda, Mysidacea, Amphipoda, Isopoda and few Decapoda crabs. 19 new invertebrate species are described. The work may be used for identification of species with the help of figures. Instead of using only text descriptions, one can simply compare the invertebrates with the figures to get a first result with the pictorial catalogue. Ecological assessment approach is described with the application of different indices.

The book covers the territory of Nepal, northern India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

ISBN 978-99946-2-674-8, Hardcover, 263 pp. A4-size,
published 10th July 2007, Kathmandu, Nepal.

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Water Quality Assessment and Associated Stressing Factors of the Seti River Basin, Pokhara Sub Metropolitan City

The ASSESS-HKH Field Screening Methodology was carried out to assess the ecological river water quality status of nineteen small to medium sized rivers of the Seti River basin within Pokhara sub-metropolitan city during the lean flow period in March 2007. Multi habitat qualitative samplings for forty-six sites were conducted with 100 m stretch in each study river section. Five river water quality classes; class I (high), class II (good), class III (moderate), class IV (poor) and class V (bad) have been used to describe the effect of organic degradable pollution (saprobic approach). The response of benthic macroinvertebrates varied with organic pollution, sediment extraction and river crossings. The Harpan and Orlan (inlets) and Boksira (outlet) rivers of Phewa lake have water quality class III (moderately polluted) except Phirke river (outlet) which has class V. Most of the rivers outside the municipal boundaries have been identified as Class II indicating good water quality. The whole stretches of the Phusre and the Seti Rivers are still in good ecological condition. A total of 19 stressing factors have been identified along the river stretches, which have been grouped into five broad groups i.e., solid waste, effluent factors, activities and facilities, hydro-morphological degradation and ecological disturbances, and sanitation activity. The results are visualized by a colored water quality map which indicates the present ecological status of the Seti River basin. This map serves as an easy readable tool to identify hot spots and to show where immediate action is required. It also attracts the attention of the decision makers and enables timely measures to be taken for improving the deteriorating water quality of the rivers.

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ABSTRACT

MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS OF EPIOPHLEBIA LAIDLAWI TILLYARD LARVAE, WITH NOTES ON THE HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES IN NEPAL (“ANISOZYGOPTERA”: EPIOPHLEBIIDAE)

Based on 78 specimens recorded from 14 forest streams at the elevations between 1800 and 2850 m a.s.l. in central Nepal, 9 larval instars are described and illustrated. E. laidlawi is for the first time documented from the Sim and Indrawati watersheds. The habitats are described and clearly indicated that the sp. is widespread but has a restricted range. The protection of the habitats is essential for its conservation.

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Cite this article as:

Nesemann, H., R.D. Tachamo Shah, D.N. Shah and S. SHARMA, 2011. MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS OF EPIOPHLEBIA LAIDLAWI TILLYARD LARVAE, WITH NOTES ON THE HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES IN NEPAL (“ANISOZYGOPTERA”: EPIOPHLEBIIDAE). Odontologica 40: 191-202.

Development of a macroinvertebrate-based Nepal Lake Biotic Index (NLBI): an applied method for assessing the ecological quality of lakes and reservoirs in Nepal

Abstract: In Nepal, the impairment status of lakes and reservoirs has generally been measured and classified based on nutrient concentrations and physico-chemical parameters, typically with no direct measurement of biological communities. In response to the recent focus on the bioassessment of lakes and reservoirs, the macroinvertebrate-based Nepal Lake Biotic Index (NLBI) has been developed. Benthic samples were collected from reference and impaired lakes during 2006 and 2009 from two ecological zones: Terai-Siwaliks and Mid-Hills. We used a tolerance score based on a ten-point scoring system ranging from very pollution sensitive to very pollution tolerant taxa to calculate the NLBI. In reference to the transformation scale, the calculated NLBI describes the lake water quality as high, good, fair, poor and bad. Candidate metrics of richness measures and tolerance measures discriminated well between the reference and impaired lakes (Mann-Whitney U test, p < 0.01). The relationships between the biological metrics and the environmental variables were also established with the lake water quality class (LWQC). Further, the validation of the NLBI performance was done by assessing nine lakes/reservoirs from both the zones. Thus, the index presented here provides an effective method to measure the ecological condition of lakes and reservoirs in Nepal.

Keywords: freshwater ecosystem; lakes; reservoir; ecological assessment; lake biotic index; hydrology; Nepal.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Shah, R.D.T., Shah, D.N. and Nesemann, H. (2011) ‘Development of a macroinvertebrate-based Nepal Lake Biotic Index (NLBI): an applied method for assessing the ecological quality of lakes and reservoirs in Nepal’, Int. J. Hydrology Science and Technology, Vol. 1, Nos. 1/2, pp.125–146.

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The Unsustainability of Human Activity

by Deep Narayan Shah

 

Rivers, lakes, wetlands, and forests are increasingly beleaguered by human activities. However, unsustainability is not a condition of having too little of something, and therefore it becomes unsustainable the more we use it. Rather, unsustainability is an inherent characteristic of human beings' lacks of care or concern for life itself.
Today’s indulgent generation has chosen a pattern of mechanization, technology, and development that overtaxes our planet’s resources in an effort to maintain a modern way of living. Thus, we have unwittingly planted the seeds of unsustainable development..........................

Published in The Epoch Times, a multi-language international newspaper spanning 33 countries in 17 languages.  Read more..

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Ecological and water quality status of rivers and irrigation channels

Water is essential for sustenance of life and is one of the principal elements which influence economic, industrial and agricultural growth of mankind. It is used by human directly for various purposes and indirectly through the use of goods and services provided by the ecosystem that depends on water. Over time, requirements for water for these purposes have increased tremendously and the encroachment of human activities has modified their sources. Additionally, today the rivers are also the main repository for the untreated sewage, solid waste, and industrial effluents. Therefore the monitoring of qualitative and quantitative parameters of aquatic ecosystems is necessary for the approximation and estimation of their environmental situation and trends. This book summarizes the investigations done in the Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests of Nepal. Based on this study, metrics of indicator organisms has been proposed for effective monitoring which could be ultimate tool for integrated water management.

ISBN 978-3-8443-1366-6

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