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Final Report of Vegetation Assessment
purifying the water of Lakes and rivers (Khatoon & Ali 1999). Kazmi et al. (2006) described
that wetlands are the most productive environments and cradle of biodiversity. Wetlands
provide countless benefits ranging from rich biological diversity to improved water quality,
water storage and ground water recharge. Authors mentioned that wetlands in Pakistan cover
9.7% (78,000 km 2 ) of the total area; however, this important resource is under tremendous
pressure of degradation. Kazmi et al. (2006) carried out a GIS-based wetlands inventory of
the lower Indus for monitoring the spatial and temporal changes in the wetlands over the last
ten years. Amjad & Qidwai (2002) regarded wetlands as “supermarkets” based on their rich
biodiversity, extensive and rich food webs and high productivity. Authors mentioned that it was
1967 when the importance of wetlands in Pakistan was first brought to the international
community and in 1976 Pakistan became signatory to the Ramsar Convention. Authors in
their study presented detailed account of the fresh water, brackish water and coastal wetlands
of Sindh highlighting not only biodiversity profile of selected wetlands of the area but also the
issues that are confronting these important ecosystems in terms of their sustainability and
environmental quality.
Leghari et al. (1999) conducted a study on biodiversity of Chotiari reservoir and mentioned
that Chotiari reservoir is formed of a group of sub-tropical lakes and is located about 30 – 35
km on the eastern side from Sanghar town. The reservoir covers an area of about 37 km 2 and
after completion of the entire work it will cover about 86 km 2 areas. The reservoir is
interconnected between several lakes namely Bakar, Gun Wari, Tajar, Phuleli, Seri and Sao
Naro. These lakes are surrounded by Nara canal, which is a major source of water to these
lakes. On the eastern side, the reservoir extends into the Thar Desert. The reservoir has a
depth from 3 to 26’ with sandy, silty and muddy bottom, which provides a suitable surface for
the growth of algal and aquatic plant species.
Leghari et al. (1999) further reported that very little work is reported on the Chotiari reservoir.
They mentioned that on the moist, water logged and swampy soil as well as in shallow water
area species like Typha elephantiana, Typha dominghensis, Phragmites vallotoria, Cyperus
spp., Polygonum barbatum, Fimbristylis spp., Scripus spp., Ipomoea aquatica, Marsilea
minuta, Equisetum debile and Riccia spp. are found. Some of these species are used in
packing and cottage industry for making mats. In the lakes there is a thick growth of
submerged vegetation with floating leaves and are important in the nutrient cycling and
respiratory gases. They often provide very dense habitats, which supply food and shelter to
small organisms such as fingerlings and zooplankton. These plants also serve as a food
source of migratory waterfowl and fishes. The major submerged plants are Ceratophyllum
demersum, Najas sp., Utricularia auro, Potamogeton spp., Hydrilla verticillata, Myriophyllum
tuberculatum and Vallisneria spiralis.
In the shallow and deep water there is growth of plant Nelumbo nucifera and Nymphaea lotus.
The parts of these plants are used as human food. The plants floating on the water surface
include species like Riccia carporus, Potamogeton natans, Azolla pinnata, Salvinia molesta,
Spirodella polyrhiza and Lemna sp.
1.3.3 Riverine Forests
According to Wani et al. (2004) riverine forests occupy 0.332 million hectares area (m ha) in
Pakistan that is about 7% of total forest in forestland. The Sindh province owns 0.272 m ha
Riverine forests, which is about 82% of total riverine forest area in the country. These figures
depict that the Sindh province is rich in riverine forests. Riverine forests are one of the
important ecosystems of Sindh. All these forests along River Indus used to get annual
inundation during monsoon before the construction of dykes along Indus. Khan & Repp
(1961) mentioned that ecological conditions in these forests are very favourable in the sense
that annual flooding leave the soils in these forests saturated for rest of the year for luxuriant
plant growth. They further stated that by March, seven months after flooding, soil still have
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