Northeast India: An important region with a rich biodiversity of Rotifera. Issue 1 (18th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sharma, Bhushan Kumar; Sharma, Sumita; Sharma, B. K.; Dumont, H. J.; Wallace, R. L.
• Is Part Of: International review of hydrobiology. Volume 99:Issue 1/2(2014)
• Page Start: 20
• Page End: 37
• Publication Date: 2014-02-18
• Subjects: Limnology -- Periodicals; Marine biology -- Periodicals; Aquatic biology -- Periodicals; Freshwater biology -- Periodicals; 578.76
• DOI: 10.1002/iroh.201301701
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1434-2944

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="iroh201301701-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <p>This study extends our previous work to investigate the planktonic rotifers of floodplain lakes (locally called as <italic>beels</italic> or <italic>pats</italic>) of Northeast India (NEI) and reviews the known rotifer diversity from the seven states of this region. To do this we examined plankton samples from numerous sites from different states, including 30 floodplain lakes (<italic>beels</italic>) of Assam and 15 floodplain lakes (<italic>pats</italic>) of Manipur. This survey yielded 238 species, making the region of NEI one of the most specious and diverse (50 genera and 23 families) of the Indian subcontinent. Occurrence of four Australian and Asian, 10 Oriental, 13 Paleotropical, two Holarctic, two Indian pandemics, 12 Eastern Hemisphere elements, and several species of regional distribution importance are distinctive features of this rotifer assemblage. The <italic>beels</italic> or <italic>pats</italic> of NEI are Rotifera rich habitats with Deepor Beel and Loktak Lake (two Ramsar sites) as globally important wetlands, and Assam (>50.0% of the Indian species) recorded highest richness amongst all states of this country. While explaining some 63–74% of the variation of the rotifer assemblage along two axes, Canonical Correspondence Analysis yielded little insight regarding the influence of individual abiotic parameters on their diversity. This study from Northeast India, a part of the Himalayan and Indo‐Myanmar "hotspots, " is of special biodiversity interest.</p> </sec> </abstract>