Accounting of ecosystem services from ichthyofauna in wetlands of Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka
Sincy V. 1,4 Jaishanker R.4 Asulabha K.S. 1,4and Ramachandra
T.V.1, 2, 3
1Energy & Wetlands Research Group [CES TE15], Centre for Ecological Sciences,
2Centre for Sustainable Technologies (ASTRA)
3Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP)
4Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K),
Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560 012, India.
envis.ces@iisc.ac.in
tvr@iisc.ac.in Phone:
080 22933099/22933503 (extn 107, 114)
Results and Discussion
Ecosystem services provided by ichthyofauna
Ichthyofauna (fish) are the tertiary consumers in the food chain and bioindicators of ecological health of wetlands. They are a major source of protein and have high nutritional value with essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid), vitamins (A, D, and B), and minerals (iron, calcium, zinc, fluorine, selenium, phosphorus, and iodine), and provide recreational and educational opportunities. The blood, bile, fat, and meat of eel fish are being used to treat obesity, gout, alcoholism, mental disorders, and childbirth (Svanberg and Locker, 2020). Freshwater fishes commonly consumed in Shivamogga include Catla, Rohu, Common carp, and Mrigal (28.43%), Catfishes (15.69%), and other freshwater fishes (11.76%) (Majagi and Somashekar, 2020). The different species of ichthyofauna present in freshwater bodies in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka is shown in table 2. Freshwater fish like Channa sp., Mastacembelus sp., Clarias sp., and Heteropneustes sp. fetch good market value as live fish. The small-sized and brightly coloured fish species like Puntius, Ambassis and Nemacheilus have ornamental value and are used as aquarium fishes (Thirumala et al., 2011). The annual carbon sequestration rate in fish ponds in India is 0.86-1.53 t/ha (Ahmed et al., 2017).
Table 2: List of ichthyofauna in freshwater bodies in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka
Order and Family | Species Name |
Order: Cypriniformes Family: Cyprinidae | Amplypharyngodon mellettinus; Barilius bakeri; Barilius bendelisis; Barilius canarensis; Barilius gatensis; Brechydanio rerio; Catla catla; Cirrhinus fulungee; Cirrhinus mrigala; Cyprinus carpio; Cyprinus carpio specularis; Danio aequipinnatus; Danio aequipinnatus; Garra garra; Garra gotyla stenorhynchus; Garra mulya; Gonoproktopterus dubius; Gonoproktopterus kolus; Hypselobarbus jerdoni; Labeo calabus; Labeo fimbratus; Labeo kontius; Labeo rohita; Oreichthys cosuatis; Osteocheilichthys nashii; Puntius amphibeus; Puntius arulius; Puntius chola; Puntius fasciatus; Puntius filamentosus; Puntius jerdoni; Puntius narayani; Puntius sahyadriensis; Puntius sophore; Puntius ticto; Rasbora daniconius; Rasbora rasbora; Salmostoma boopis; Tor khudree;Tor mussullah;Tor tor |
Order: Cypriniformes Family: Balitoridae | Nemacheilus guentheri; Acanthocobitis botia; Nemacheilus anguilla; Schistura denisonii denisonii; Schistura nilgiriensis; Schistura semiarmatus; Schistura nagodiensis; Schistura sharavathiensis; Schiistura sp. |
Order: Cypriniformes Family: Cobitidae | Lepidocephalus thermalis; Nemacheilus anguilla; Nemacheilus pulchellus; Nemacheilus rupelli; Nemacheilus sinuatus; Nemacheilus semiarmatus |
Order: Siluriformes Family: Bagridae | Aorichthys sp.; Batasio sharavatiensis; Mystus bleekeri; Mystus cavesius; Mystus keletius; Mystus malabaricus |
Order: Siluriformes Family: Claridae | Clarias batrachus; Clarias dussumieri dussumieri |
Order: Siluriformes Family: Heteropneustidae | Heteropneustis fossilis |
Order: Siluriformes Family: Schilbeidae | Pseudeutropius atherinoides |
Order: Siluriformes Family: Siluridae | Ompok bimaculatus; Ompok pabo; Wallago attu |
Order: Siluriformes Family: Sisoridae | Glyptothorax lonah; Garra gotyla stenorhynchus |
Order: Beloniformes Family: Belonidae | Xenentodon cancilla |
Order: Cichliformes Family: Cichlidae | Oreochromis mossambica |
Order: Cyprinodontiformes Family: Aplocheilidae | Aplocheilus lineatus |
Order: Cyprinodontiformes Family: Poeciliidae | Poecilia reticulata |
Order: Gobiiformes Family: Gobiidae | Poecilia reticulata |
Order: Perciformes Family: Channidae | Chanda nama; Parambassis ranga; Channa marulius; Channa orientalis |
Order: Perciformes Family: Ambassidae | Pseudoambasis ranga |
Order: Synbranchiformes Family: Mastacembelidae | Mastacembelus armatus |
Sources | Sreekantha et al., 2007; Bhat and Hegde, 2014; Bhat, 2003; Bhat, 2000 |
Ichthyofauna in wetlands support local livelihood with an array of provisioning, regulating, and cultural services. The value of provisioning services (considering the values of food, medicinal, ornamental, and genetic material) provided by ichthyofauna in the wetlands of Uttara Kannada district is 117 million Rs/year. The value of regulating services (considering nutrient recycling, regulation of food dynamics, disease regulation, water purification, carbon sequestration, and nursery service) provided by ichthyofauna in the wetlands of Uttara Kannada district is 943 million Rs/year. The value of cultural services (considering values for spiritual, recreational, educational, cultural, and species appreciation) provided by ichthyofauna in the wetlands of Uttara Kannada district is 150 million Rs/year (figure 2, 3).
The total ecosystem supply value (TESV), which is the sum of provisioning, regulating, and cultural services provided by ichthyofauna in wetlands (figure 4), of the Uttara Kannada district accounted for 1210 million rupees per year or 356089 Rs/ha/yr (table 3). The net present value (NPV) based on the annual flow of ecosystem services from ichthyofauna amounts to 31 billion rupees (figure 5). This emphasizes the need to ensure proper management and conservation of the ichthyofauna. Thus, wetlands need to be decontaminated, restored and conserved; periodic water quality monitoring of wetlands is required as it provides habitat for fish; fishing activities during breeding season should be banned; mesh sizes be regulated; avoid harvesting of juveniles, avoid overharvesting and the introduction of exotic species; and in-situ conservation of endemic and endangered fish species is necessary.
Table 3: Total economic value from ichthyofauna in wetlands of Uttara Kannada district
Services | Details | Value |
Wetland: Total area (ha) based on grid | 3396.13 | |
Provisioning Service | Total Rs/yr (in Million Rupees) | 117 |
Production Rs/ha/yr | 34342 | |
% distribution | 10 | |
Regulating Service | Total Rs/yr (in Million Rupees) | 943 |
Production Rs/ha/yr | 277625 | |
% distribution | 78 | |
Cultural Service | Total Rs/yr (in Million Rupees) | 150 |
Production Rs/ha/yr | 44122 | |
% distribution | 12 | |
TESV | Total Rs/yr (in Million Rupees) | 1210 |
Production Rs/ha/yr | 356089 | |
NPV | NPV in Billion Rupees | 31 |