eng Science and Education Publishing Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences 2328-3920 2020-06-08 8 4 179 186 10.12691/aees-8-4-6 AEES2020846 article Moitree Taran 1 Sourabh Deb sdeb@tripurauniv.in 1 Department of Forestry and Biodiversity, Tripura University (A Central University), Suryamaninagar 799022, Tripura, India This study was undertaken to explore the diversity of macrophytes and their utilization pattern in Rudrasagar Lake of Tripura, which is a Ramsar site in India. We identified 31 species of macrophytes from the study site. Important Value Index (IVI) and Total value Index (TVI) of these plants were estimated to know their diversity and utilization pattern. Some of the dominant species included Nymphoides indica (L.) Kuntze, Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, and Vallisneria spiralis L. The majority of local households using the macrophytes for domestic purposes. Macrophytes most preferred by the local people were Euryale ferox Salisb., Trapa natans var. Bispinosa and Ehnydra fluctuans Lour. We found that the dominant species of the lake were not always preferred by the community. Thus awareness and cultivation of the preferred species can reduce pressure on the availability of the highly preferred species and also improve the livelihoods of the wetland-dependent people of the area. http://pubs.sciepub.com/aees/8/4/6/aees-8-4-6.pdf dominant species utilization pattern macrophytes Important Value Index