Nutrient Dynamics in the Floodplain Wetlands of West Bengal

Abstract

The results of the study on the nutrient dynamics of eleven floodplain wetlands (beels) in West Bengal are reported. In the beels of Dinajpur phosphorus has become a limiting factor for production due to acidic soil (pH 5.6-5.9}. Total nitrogen was significantly high in most of the beels especially during monsoon and post-monsoon months. Majority of the beels were infested with macrophytes in the littoral zones. A significantly high concentration of essential nutrients was recorded in the weed infested littoral areas while they were less in the weedfree limnetic zones. The C/N ratio was recorded in the production range (5-13) in many of the beels except in weed-chocked Nehali beel where the ratio was extremely high (39-55) owing to the accumulation of undecomposed organic matters at the bottom.