EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Brahmaputra Valley

Brahmaputra River Valley
Assam, India

Explanation:  Here we are, edging over the expansive valley of the Brahmaputra River in the state of Assam, northeast India, coming in for a landing at the regional airport.  

This is an astounding, living river and valley system.  Further upriver sits the amazing Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, home to populations of great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, Bengal tigers, water buffalo, hog deer, capped langur, hoolock gibbon, and so much more.  

The Brahmaputra River system itself is considered holy.  It also provides important ecological services of separating populations of wildlife, with langurs, hares, and hogs to the north, other species to the south, and within the river itself some rarities such as the Ganges River dolphin.

But more immediately below exists a quiltwork of agricultural fields and stringers of rural roads lined with trees, spread across this immense fertile environment.

One study notes how these patterns have been shaped over the years by historical, cultural, and environmental factors.  In particular, two resident cultures -- the indigenous Hindu Assamese, and the non-indigenous Bengali-speaking Hindus -- have evolved differences in how they have adopted modern farming methods.