Algal Wealth of Northeast India
Northeast India is a treasure trove of floral and faunal diversity and is a mega biodiversity hotspot. Different types of freshwater bodies such as ponds, rivers, lakes and beels can be found in this region which abounds in microalgae of varied forms. The
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Ajitabh Bora, Hemanta Kumar Gogoi, and Vijay Veer
Abstract
Northeast India is a treasure trove of floral and faunal diversity and is a mega biodiversity hotspot. Different types of freshwater bodies such as ponds, rivers, lakes and beels can be found in this region which abounds in microalgae of varied forms. The climatic condition of this region is favourable to the growth of freshwater microalgae as the rainfall in this region is distributed throughout the year and the waterbodies do not go dry. Few studies have been undertaken to explore the algal wealth of this region which has hitherto remain unexplored and untapped. Keywords
Northeast India • Algae • Freshwater bodies
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Introduction
The Northeast India (located between 87320 E to 97520 E latitude and 21 340 N to 29500 N latitude) comprising of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim is physiographically categorized into the Eastern Himalayas, Northeast hills (Patkai-Naga Hills and Lushai Hills) and Brahmaputra and Barak Valley plains. The A. Bora (*) • H.K. Gogoi Biotechnology Division, Defence Research Laboratory, Tezpur 784001, Assam, India e-mail: [email protected] V. Veer Medical Entomology Division, Defence Research Laboratory, Tezpur 784001, Assam, India
Northeast India is part of both Himalaya and Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspots in the world. It has the richest reservoir of plant diversity in India and is one of the ‘biodiversity hotspots’ of the world supporting about 50 % of India’s biodiversity. The northeastern (NE) region, being one of the two mega biodiversity hotspots of India, is a treasure trove of diverse forms of flora and fauna with several endemic species. This region is one of the 12 mega biodiversity-rich zones of the world and forms a distinctive part of the IndoBurma hotspot that ranks eighth among the 34 biodiversity hotspots of the world. This region also falls in the biogeographic tri-junction and a centre of gene diversity for many cultivated
# Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 J. Purkayastha (ed.), Bioprospecting of Indigenous Bioresources of North-East India, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0620-3_13
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crops and a secondary centre for several important plants and animals. The NE region covers an area of 0.26 million square kilometres which is approximately 8 % of the total area of India. The region shares around 4500 km of international border with China in the north, Myanmar in the east, Bangladesh in the southwest and Bhutan to the northwest.
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natural and man-made modifications. These waterbodies are locally known as beels (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh) and pats (Manipur). The state of Assam has the highest number of beels which are mainly associated with the two major rivers Brahmaputra and Barak. They are also important fishery resources of the region, and the poor fishermen are dependent on these waterbodies for their livelihood (CICFRI 2000).
Climate of NE Region
The NE region experienc
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