Loktak Lake of the state Manipur: A review to educate the intellectuals and awareness on its biowealth

Abstract

The floating “Loktak Lake” is the largest fresh water lake of Northeastern region of India situated at the valley of Manipur with an average elevation of 790 m MSL. The lake appears oval in shape with irregular boundary or no definite shoreline specifically because of the floating vegetation known as Phumdi. Phumdi creates a unique ecosystem with nutritive substrate for vegetation floating on the surface of the lake. The major vegetation of Phumdi comprises Zizania latifolia, Learsia hexandra, Phragmites karka, Saccharum spp., Carex spp., etc. which are also a food plant of the endangered Sangai deer. The study highlights the pollution scenario of the lake, large drainage brought down by rivers, records of aquatic fauna including water birds (migratory and local) fishes, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, protozoans, etc. The change in vegetative profile since the primitive age to the recent years of the lake is shown here. The present study attempts to congregate all the possible information of the lake in the past years by the research communities, governmental and non-governmental organization about its physiochemical, hydrological, biodiversity assessment, ethnobotany and therapeutic plants, etc. through literature survey. The study also enlisted the ethnobotanical information of medicinal plants documented so far from the lake. The study helps to analyze the gap of research activities that could taken up for conservation, restoration and preserving the indigenous knowledge of the indigenous communities around the lake. Although, there are enumeration of plants of Loktak lake, pictorial documentation of the flora could help in easy identification of the species as discrepancies in local name could confuse the identity of plant species. The ethnobotany on the therapeutic uses of flora of the lake are enlisted that are recorded so far. Different conservation strategies of the lake ecosystem with community involvement can be thought and work out. Other such gaps and recommendations are described here.