International Journal of Environment and Climate Change

Understanding the ecological importance of fish is fundamental, particularly because of their role in sustaining healthy aquatic ecosystems. Fish communities, including habitat-associated species, are directly influenced by local habitat features and function as important components of aquatic food webs. They contribute to nutrient cycling, prey-predator dynamics and ecosystem stability. The present study investigates the fish biodiversity and water-quality parameters of Upper Lake (Bhoj Wetland), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. The wetland showed moderate water-quality conditions in relation to anthropogenic activities, including the inflow of domestic sewage, urbanisation and encroachment in the catchment area. The study focused on three sampling sites, namely S1, Van Vihar Site (Shymala Hills); S2, Manav Sangrahalaya; and S3, VIP Apartment Housing Society, Khanugaon. The results indicated a total of 28 fish species belonging to 10 orders and 13 families. Species diversity was assessed using diversity indices that captured both species richness and evenness. Evenness describes variation in the relative abundance of species within a community. Statistical analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel and Species Diversity and Richness (SDR). The ichthyofaunal diversity of Upper Lake comprised ten orders, with dominance of Cypriniformes, represented by five families and 15 species, followed by Siluriformes, represented by three families and eight species. Cypriniformes (45%) was the dominant order, and the family Cyprinidae showed the highest diversity and abundance, including major carps and barbs. Biodiversity indices varied among the three study sites during the winter season. Site S2 exhibited the highest overall species diversity, with a Shannon-Wiener index (H’) of 2.45 and a Simpson’s index of diversity (1-D) of 0.85. Conversely, Site S1 yielded the lowest diversity indices (H’ = 2.095; 1-D = 0.80), despite showing the highest standardised species richness value (0.75) among the sampled locations. Future studies should use advanced ecological modelling to analyse shifting community dynamics at the sampling sites.