Sanative Role of Macrophytes in Aquatic Ecosystems

Five common aquatic macrophytes (Phragmites communis, Typha angustata, Ceratophyllum demersum, Lemna sp. and Salvinia natans) were planted and grown in different fibre glass tanks containing lake sediment and water, with an aim to study the changes brought about by these macrophytes in aquatic ecosystems. The study revealed that aquatic macrophytes in freshwater environment provide important ecosystem functions: (i) increase pH, creating conditions for volatilization of NH₄-N, precipitation of phosphorus and CaCO₃ (ii) enhancement of dissolved oxygen on account of high productivity creating drop in conductivity and making most cations and anions non-available in the ambient water (iii) prevent resuspension of sediment into water column and (iv) uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus, thereby improving overall quality of water.