Spatial and temporal distribution of various forms of nitrogen in dal lake, Kashmir Himalaya

Inspite of innumerable conservation practices taken by management authorities over the past two decades, the ecological condition of the famous urban lake (Dal Lake) has deteriorated and it is getting enriched with plant nutrients (mainly N and P) and pollutants, getting slowly shallower and shrinking gradually in size. In this backdrop, an exhaustive study was undertaken from summer 2011 to spring 2013 to evaluate the present trophic status of the lake by determining nitrogen load from its catchment area, floating gardens and houseboats. The present research has shown that lake is marching towards hypertrophic condition mainly due to enhanced levels of nitrogen forms. Results from one-way ANOVA of nitrogen forms revealed that data was over all significant (P<0.05) with respect to Ammonia and Nitrite and insignificant (p>0.05) in case of nitrate. GLM was also applied to identify various predictors and factors. Regression analysis and Cluster analysis was also applied to ascertain the correlations between nitrogen forms and closeness among various sites respectively. The present study was an attempt to identify the sources and distributional pattern of nitrogen levels across seventeen sites of Dal Lake along spatial and temporal scales