Affiliations: Forestry & Ecology Division, National Remote
Sensing Centre, Balanagar, Hyderabad - 500 625, India.
csreddy_nrsa@rediffmail.com; drsudhakarreddy@gmail.com
Note: [] Corresponding Author
Abstract: The expansion of invasive alien plants in wetlands leads to loss of
native plant diversity. Invasive weeds are also responsible for shrinking of
water bodies and becoming a severe environmental problem. In this context,
plant diversity of wetlands in Samaspur Bird Sanctuary, Rae Bareli district,
Uttar Pradesh, was surveyed. 149 species of higher plants have been listed of
which 108 were dicots followed by 40 monocots, and one pteridophyte. Species
are distributed in 129 genera and belongs to 60 families. Poaceae is the
dominant family with 28 species followed by Euphorbiaceae (9), Papilionaceae
(8), Asteraceae (7) and Mimosaceae (7). Various members have been categorized
into nine morpho-ecological groups. Out of all species, planted species (48),
dry bank species (46) and wetland hydrophytes (38) contribute to the high
diversity. Of the 101 natural species, alien plants represent 41.6% of the
flora. Habit-wise analysis of natural flora shows that herbs are occupying
higher proportion (86.1%) with 87 species followed by shrubs (6.9%) and
climbers (4%). Among the 48 planted species, 25 are alien ones. The presence of
Eichhornia crassipes, Typha angustata, Prosopis juliflora and Ipomoea carnea
are considered as one of the most serious threat to the Samaspur wetlands.
Effective steps are to be taken for conserving these wetlands.
