Current Status of Wetlands in Srinagar City: Threats, Management Strategies, and Future Perspectives
Current Status of Wetlands in Srinagar City: Threats, Management Strategies, and Future Perspectives Aaraf Bashir 12315223 Submitted to Dr. Manvi Sharma Lovely Professional University Phagwara Punjab INTRODUCTION Wetlands, which are permanently or occasionally covered in shallow water, are ecosystems that lie in between aquatic and terrestrial systems (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). They make up around 6% of the land area on Earth (Maltby, 1988). Wetlands are biologically varied and productive ecosystems (Ghermandi et al., 2008; Keddy et al., 2009). They offer a wide range of socioeconomic and ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration (Turner et al., 2000), fisheries and recreation (Keddy, 2010; Junk et al., 2013), flood control (Penatti et al., 2015), water supply (Lemly, 1994), nutrient removal (Raich and Schlesinger, 1992), maintenance and conservation of biodiversity (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2007; Whitehouse et al., 2008), and environmental restoration...