Diversity of Aquatic Macrophyte Flora Abundance in Meghadrigedda Reservoir at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Meghadrigedda reservoir is located in the Gajuwaka municipality of Visakhapatam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The research was conducted at six distinct sites in the reservoir catchment region from April 2023 to March 2024, throughout pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon periods. The current analysis indicated the presence of 52 weed species belonging to twenty orders, 33 families, and four classes. The present investigation compiled a list of hydrophytes, including their class, order, family, genus, species, and common name. The mentioned species under free floating, submerged species, and emergent weeds were found mostly around the mouths of the reservoir's main tributaries, in shallow areas with depths of about 7 feet. Among the 21 orders of aquatic weeds recorded, emergent weeds accounted for 52.38% (11 species), followed by submerged weeds 42.85% (09) and free floating weeds 21.81%. In 30 families, emergent weeds accounted for the most (66.66%), followed by submerged weeds (30.00%) and free floating weeds (20.00%). Emergent weeds dominate with 36 species, accounting for 69.23% of the total species, followed by submerged weeds with 10 (19.23%) and free floating weeds with 6 (11.53%). According to the IUCN (2014), there are 52 different species of hydrophytes. The status of these 42 aquatic weed species is least worried; 9 are not evaluated (NE), and one species is vulnerable (VU). The common name, habitat and IUCN (2024) status of the macrophytes has also been noted in the present paper.