Abstract
Wetlands are essential for protein production, water sanctification, groundwater recharge, climate purification, nutrient cycling, decreasing floods and biodiversity preservation. The Mursidabad district in West Bengal (India) is situated in the floodplain of the Ganga–Padma and Bhagirathi rivers. The region is characterized by diverse types of wetlands; however, the wetlands are getting depredated day-by-day due to hydro-ecological changes, uncontrolled human activities and rapid urbanization. This study attempted to explore the health status of the wetland ecosystem in 2013 and 2020 at the block level in the Mursidabad district, using the pressure–state–response model. Based on wetland ecosystem health values, we categorized the health conditions and identified the blocks where the health conditions are poor. A total of seven Landsat ETM+ spaceborne satellite images in 2001, 2013 and 2020 were selected as the data sources. The statistical data included the population density and urbanization increase rate, for all administrative units, and were collected from the census data of India for 2001 and 2011. We picked nine ecosystem indicators for the incorporated assessment of wetland ecosystem health. The indicators were selected considering every block in the Mursidabad district and for the computation of the wetland ecosystem health index by using the analytical hierarchy processes method. This study determined that 26.92% of the blocks fell under the sick category in 2013, but increased to 30.77% in 2020, while the percentage of blocks in the very healthy category has decreased markedly from 11.54% to 3.85%. These blocks were affected by higher human pressure, such as population density, urbanization growth rate and road density, which resulted in the degradation of wetland health. The scientific protection and restoration techniques of these wetlands should be emphasized in these areas.
Highlights
Environmental systems are considered benefitting from wetlands through protein production, water sanctification, groundwater recharge, climate purification, nutrient cycling, flood mitigation and biodiversity preservation [1,2]
The researchers used the indices of landscape pattern (ILP) to evaluate human activities and practices, which are responsible for wetlands degradation [7]
It was determined that demographic factors have influenced the household use of wetlands, and this greater household use of wetlands is responsible for the degradation of wetland ecosystem health in West Bengal [25]
Summary
Environmental systems are considered benefitting from wetlands through protein production, water sanctification, groundwater recharge, climate purification, nutrient cycling, flood mitigation and biodiversity preservation [1,2]. Most of the common methods include landscape development intensity (LDI), synoptic assessment, hydrogeomorphic (HGM), indices of biological intensity (IBI), landscape pattern indices (ILP) and pressure–state–response (PSR) modelling methods. The researchers used the indices of landscape pattern (ILP) to evaluate human activities and practices, which are responsible for wetlands degradation [7]. Their results showed that landscape patterns are modified with an increase in artificial wetland patches. LDI and ILP approaches have been very useful in measuring the extension of uncontrolled human activities, but are not useful for measuring the degree of deterioration in the health of wetland ecosystems. The pressure–state–response (PSR) model presents a scientific perspective on the health status of wetlands by observing the cause and effect relationship and maintaining a balance between the above approaches
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