Food and Medicinal Value of Aquatic Plant Diversity

Aquatic plants biodiversity is the rich and wonderful variety of plants. Aquatic ecosystems include our rivers and streams, ponds and lakes, oceans and bays, and swamps and marshes, and their associated plants and animals. Aquatic habitats provide the food, water, shelter, and space essential for the survival of aquatic animals and plants. The world's food supply is overly dependent on only a few species of traditional plants and animals making our food supply vulnerable to new diseases or changing global climatic conditions i.e. droughts and floods. Rice, an aquatic plant, is the primary food source for billions of people in the highly populated regions of the world. Therefore, there is immense possibility to provide food, medicine and other useful product for the growing population in aquatic plants diversity. There is need to explore the aquatic plants diversity for their multidimensional utilization and also for the conservation of natural resources. This book is very much helpful to know and understand the use and bioprospection of some selected aquatic plants.