Physicochemical analysis and economic evaluation of lake ecosystem - a case study of lake system in walajah taluk, Vellore (India) Srinivasan Gokul Raghavendra*, Palani Shalini** *Vellore Institute of Technology, India **St.Peter's University, Chennai, India Online published on 25 September, 2018. Abstract Lakes are the most productive ecosystems, known globally for maintaining a wide array of biodiversity and also for providing various goods and services. But present increase in various anthropogenic activities such as intense agricultural practices and rapid urbanization have altered the physical, chemical and biological processes of the lake ecosystem, which has been proved by assessing a lake ecosystem in Walajah Taluk. The average economy generated by the two lakes combined was Rs.3041/sq.km/day. This study also revealed that the depreciation in the lake value is mainly because of the man-made activities, which may reduce its value in future. The minimum availability of lake water, because of improper rainfall and poor maintenance of lake, has led to the reduction in fish species and contaminations in the water. Even though the lake water meets the surface water standards in water quality analysis, it tends to get polluted during some human activities. This decline in the ecosystem values of goods and services along with the lake water quality signifies that there is a necessity in initiating environmental management strategies to recover its lost benefits. Top Keywords Lake Ecosystem, Water quality analysis, Economic evaluation, Agricultural Expansion, Conservation techniques. Top |