Abstract
The deterioration and loss of water bodies like lakes due to anthropogenic activities, are at the same pace at which forests are degraded. Lakes and ponds play a major role in the global cycle (carbon, water, etc.). They act as the basic units of hydrological systems to better understand the biogeochemical processes that take place within these aquatic systems and further for their management plans. As an initiative of managing resources at the unit level (lake) in the current study, we tried to understand the history and ecological dynamics of" Brahmayyalingam Cheruvu", a lake located in the peri-urban areas of the rapidly expanding Vijayawada city, Andhra Pradesh State, India. The study is based on field inventories, local surveys and satellite data, both current and past. Use of satellite images aided in capturing the changing spatiao-temporal lake dynamics due to climatic variations and government policy. The …