Mapping Ecosystem Services in India's Largest Estuary: A Systematic Review of the Hooghly Matlah Estuarine System Using CICES
2024
THAPA, ABHILASH | W. QURESHI, NEHA | ANANTHAN, P.S. | BHAKTA, DIBAKAR | DEBROY, PIYASHI | N. BHUTIA, RINCHEN
The Hooghly Matlah Estuarine System (HMES), renowned as India’s largest and most productive estuary, provides various ecosystem services essential for human well-being. While some research has concentrated on the Sundarbans region, there have been limited efforts to thoroughly identify all the services offered by the HMES using an internationally recognized classification. This study aims to document and summarize the ecosystem services provided by the HMES in India. To achieve this, a systematic literature review focused on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES, version 5.2) to catalog the relevant services associated with the estuary. We utilized the Google Scholar database and the Google search engine to gather scientifically supported data drawn from both peer-reviewed articles and grey literature. Our findings revealed 59 ecosystem services out of the 99 listed in CICES, constituting approximately 59.60 % of the total. This includes 38 biophysical services provided by the living systems (61.29% of the 62 biophysical class) and 21 geophysical services derived from non-living components of ecosystems (56.76% of the 37 geophysical class). The HMES demonstrates a remarkable level of multifunctionality, with its services almost evenly distributed across provisioning (21), regulating (18), and cultural (20) categories. This broad range of services highlights the essential role of the HMES in sustaining several types of ecological processes essential to both human life and the health of ecosystems. The study suggests prioritizing thoughtful policies and sustainable management approaches to safeguard the estuary’s rich biodiversity, keep its ecosystems healthy, and ensure the well-being of the communities that depend on it.
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This bibliographic record has been provided by Indian Council of Agricultural Research