Ecosystem

of Chilka
Lake
Assignment#1 of
Environmental Studies

Submitted By
Sandeep K. Chopra
Roll No. 614240837
BBA Class 6th

Submitted to
Miss Manbir Gill
Lecture
Lovely Institute of
Management
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Table of Contents............................................................2

Introduction to Chilka Lake.............................................3

Location.................................................................3

Ecosystem of Chilka Lake...............................................4

Vegetation & flora of Chilka Lake..........................5

..............................................................................5

Environmental Issue associated with the Chilka Lake.....7

Conservation of Ecosystem — threats and

management ........................................................7

Threats..................................................................7

Bibliography..................................................................10
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

I NTRODUCTION TO C HILKA L AKE

Chilka Lake (Chilika Lake) is a brackish water lagoon,

spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of
Orissa state on the east coast of India, at the mouth of
the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal. It is the
largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest
lagoon in the World.

It is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on

the Indian sub-continent. The lake is home to a number
of threatened species of plants and animals. The lake is
an ecosystem with large fishery resources. It sustains
more than 150,000 fisher–folk living in 132 villages on
the shore and islands..

In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian

wetland of international importance under the Ramsar
Convention.

L OCATION
A. Chilka Lake, Orissa (Courtesy: Google Maps)
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

E COSYSTEM OF C HILKA L AKE

Out of several wetlands in India, Chilka lake in the state

of Orissa was designated as Ramsar site in 1991 as an
internationally important of waterfowl habitat. Chilka
Lake is the largest one and unique of its kind for its
magnificent biological diversity, ecological complexity
and sustainability. This vast water body spreading over
an area of 1100 sq. km harbours innumerable number of
both floral and faunal components. It is a haven for
migratory birds, having 159 species/subspecies (Dev,
1997). More than 800 species of animals are reported
from this lake and its vicinity by Zoological Survey of
India (Ghosh, 1995). About 225 species of fish have
been reported from this lake (Dean & Saaltink,
1991). On the banks of the lake there are 8 fairly large
towns and 122 villages. About 70% of this population
depend upon fishing as the only means of livelihood. A
population of about 1,27,000 souls are directly
dependent on fisheries in the lake and 50,000 cattles
may get their fodder need from the margin and bank of
the lake (Trisal and Chauhan, 1998). A revenue of
over 70 million rupees, is collected from 24 revenue
villages on its banks (Bandyopadhay & Gopal, 1991).
Besides these, the lake attracts several national and
international tourists for its pristine beauty and
charming environment. On an average 2.5 lakh tourists
visit this lake annually.

Though much information regarding the common

ecological and environmental status of the lake exist,
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

still there is a gap in the baseline data on the total plant

resources. Little is known of their taxonomy,
quantitative ecological status and the mechanism by
which they differ in their distributional patterns, their
importance in the food chain of different fishes and birds
as well as their effective role in protecting soil erosion
and purifying the water quality. Not only information on
ecological amplitude of algae/phytoplankton and
seagrasses, or of aquatic macrophytes but also of the
terrestrial plant communities living in the stressed
environment of the islands and the shores and their role
in this ecosystem are wanting. The detailed survey and
studies on the plant resources of the islands and the
lake surrounding, it is hoped, will give very important
information on the present status and monitoring the
changes, if any, over time. These information are
required for proper planning of management towards
sustainability of the ecosystem as a whole.
Bandhyapadhya & Gopal (1991) suggested, “The
biological and ecological diversity of this unique lagoon

ecosystem need an in-depth study.

V EGETATION & FLORA OF C HILKA L AK E

The vegetation of the lake ecosystem is broadly

classified into aquatic and terrestrial Island vegetation.
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

The aquatic vegetation is of algal vegetation and

macrophytic vegetation. Phytoplankton and seaweed
community is under the algal vegetation. Phytoplankton
is abundant in all over the lake showing their seasonal
fluctuation of species component. Seaweed community
is distributed only in brackish and marine water zones.
Aquatic macrophytes are of the Pleustophyte,
Epihydate, Vittate, Rosette and Helophytic types. The
terrestrial island vegetation is the formation of typical
coastal scrubs.

12 seaweeds species are reported from this lake. 72

wetland plants including seagrass species are also
collected/reported. Among the terrestrial vascular
plants 305 species are collected/reported. Pteridophyte,
Dicot and Monocot species are respectively 9, 288 and
80 that are reported from this lake.

A total number of 72 genera of phytoplankton and 8

genera of seaweeds have been collected from different
sectors of the lake at different seasons. This large-scale
diversity has a key role in the food chain of this lake
ecosystem. Among the phytoplankton the number of
genera under Myxophyceae, Chlorophyceae,
Xanthophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Dinophyceae are
12, 20, 1, 35, 3 respectively. The abundance of
phytoplankton genera in the polluted water of the lake
has also been studied.

A total number of 12 species of seaweeds under

Chlorophyceae and Rhodophyceae are only distributed
in marine and brackish water zone.
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

E NVIRONMENTAL I SSUE ASSOCIATED WITH THE C HILKA L AKE

C ONSERVATION OF E COSYSTEM — THREATS AND MANAGEMENT
In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian
wetland of international importance under the Ramsar
Convention due to its rich biodiversity as shown by the
facts that:

• Over a million migratory waterfowl and

shorebirds winter here.

• Over 400 vertebrate species have been

recorded.

• As an estuarine lagoon, it supports a unique

assemblage of marine, brackish and
freshwater species.

• Several rare and endangered species are

found in the region.

• The lake supports fisheries that are the

lifeline of the community.

• The lake is of great value in preserving

genetic diversity.

• There is an Increase in weeds and

aquaculture activities.

T HREATS
Over the years, the ecosystem of the lake encountered
several problems and threats such as:

• Siltation due to littoral drift and sediments

from the inland river systems

• Shrinkage of water surface area

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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

• Choking of the inlet channel as well as

shifting of the mouth connecting to the sea

• Decrease in salinity and fishery resources

• Proliferation of fresh water invasive species

and

• An overall loss of biodiversity with decline in

productivity adversely affecting the
livelihood of the community that depended
on it

• Fights between fishermen and non-

fishermen communities about fishing rights
in the lake and consequent court cases

The rapid expansion of commercial aquaculture of

prawn has contributed significantly to the decline of the
lakes fisheries and bird population.

Concerted action was initiated by the Orissa State

Government with support from the Government of India
to adopt adaptive conservation and management
actions.

By 1993, the problems in Chilika were so severe that the

lake was put under "The Montreux Record" as the lake
was considered to have “undergone, to be undergoing,
or to be likely to undergo change in it's ecological
character brought about by human action”. The purpose
was to stimulate remedial measures for the lake's
conservation, supplemented with adequate monitoring.
It was expected that such an action would benefit from
the advice from Ramsar Advisory Mission and other
identified technical assistance programmes.
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

In summary, siltation from upstream led to shrinkage of

the water surface area, decrease of salinity and prolific
growth of invasive fresh water aquatic weed infestation,
all of which had a serious negative impact on habitat of
wildlife and fishery resources.
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Ecosystem of Chilka Lake

B IBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.bsienvis.org/Wetland_Chilka.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilka_Lake

http://maps.google.com/Chilka_Lake