Research Prospects in Western Ghats Stream Ecology: Perspective from River Sharavathi

The Western Ghats is one of the hottest hotspots of biodiversity (Myers, et al., 2000), with tremendous species richness and high levels of endemism. The region is a repository of biodiversity evident from sprawl of description of new species (Aravind, et al., 2004) in recent times. Western Ghats acts as watershed for the major peninsular rivers like Tapti, Krishna, Cauvery and plentiful of small rivers in the state of Gujarat, Maharastra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala. Most of the west flowing rivers along with their terrestrial ecosystems plays a pivotal role in maintaining the ecological balance. Recent efforts confirm that these fresh water ecosystems are the treasure trove for the description of new species. River Sharavathi is one such river rises in Ambuthirtha in Shimoga district and joins in Arabian Sea at Honavar of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. Biodiversity exploration in this river ecosystem reveals a vast range of algae, micro and macro invertebrates, fishes, amphibians and an array of mammal and bird species. As of date, biological records reveal about 242 species of algae, 39 species of zooplankton, 37 genera of aquatic insects, 115 species of fishes and 35 species of amphibians. The biological exploration of this river dates as early as 1958 for algae by Iyengar