Diversity of zooplankton in relation
to specified hydrological conditions
M.S.Sharma,Brijraj Singh Baghela, Vipul Sharma,
Heena Malara and Riddhi Sharma
Department of Zoology ,University College of Science,
M. L. Sukhadia University , Udaipur .
E.mail : [email protected].
Abstract
Aquatic ecosystemconsist of physico-chemical factors and biotic factors.Physico-chemical factors are not
alike in all lakes, they change either due to natural or artifical processes.Physico-chemical parameters are
directly related to diversity of flora and fauna of that water body. Zooplankton are microscopic free floating
animals which play a vital role in aquatic ecosystem. They are choice food of fishes in general and juveniles
in particular. They graze heavily on algae, bacteria and minute invertebrates. . Zooplankters are highly
sensitive to environmental variation, as a result change in their abundance, species diversity or community
composition can provide important indication of environmental change or disturbance. Due to their short
life cycle, these communities often respond quickly to environmental change. Although Rajasthan is known
as desert state but south Rajasthan is characterised by large number of water bodies. This region is rich in
mineral resources hence mining and processing industries are common specially in Udaipur and Rajsamand
districts.
Studies on biodiversity of zooplankton in nine different water bodies of south Rajasthan have been made to
find out species composition of this freshwater community. Besides Jawai dam taken as unpolluted
Reservoir , waterbodies undertaken for the study were affected by organic, heavy metal, salt and textile
pollutants. During the present study total 144 zooplanktonic forms were reported belonging to 3 phyla, 27
families, 64 genera and 105 species .Protozoa, Rotifera, Copepoda, Cladocera, and
Ostracoda were
represented by 13, 39, 13, 22 and 6 forms respectively. Biodiversity of zooplankton has been calculated in
the form of
Menhinick’s index
and values have been discussed in relation to physico-chemical
characterstics and primary productivity.
INTRODUCTIONBiodiversity is a variety of life which encompasses different genes, species, communities and
ecosystems along with their relative abundance. Rich diversity of organisms in an aquatic ecosystem reflects
good water quality and any change in water quality due to addition of pollutant affects diversity and
abundance of organisms. Zooplankton are microscopic free floating animals which play a vital role in
aquatic food web. They are choice food of fishes in general and juveniles in particular. They graze heavily
on algae, bacteria and minute invertebrates. Zooplankton communities are typically diverse and occur in
almost all lakes and ponds. Zooplankters are highly sensitive to environmental variation, as a result change
in their abundance, species diversity or community composition can provide important indication of
environmental change or disturbance. Due to their short life cycle, these communities often respond quickly
to environmental change. Although Rajasthan is known as desert state but south Rajasthan is characterised
by large number of water bodies. This region is rich in mineral resources hence mining and processing
industries are common specially in Udaipur and Rajsamand districts.
Pali and Bhilwara districts are famous for their textile industries. Heavy metal pollution in Berach
river and textile pollution in Bandi river created on alarming situation. Severly polluted zones in these
rivers have converted in to complete biological deserts. Limnology of water bodies belonging to south
Rajasthan with special reference to Zooplanktonic composition and density have been studied by Sharma
and Durve[1], Sharma et al [2], and Baghela [3]. Present study is aimed at revealing zooplanktonic
composition and density in certain polluted water bodies
MATERIAL AND METHODS:Study area includes following water bodies with respect to their geographical location and pollution load :1.
Jawai dam as unpolluted oligotrophic Reservoir situated in Pali district at the distance of 10 km
from Sumerpur .
2.
Pichhola as organically polluted lake of Udaipur city.
3.
Distillery pond, Darolipond and Gadwa pond in the upper stretch of Berach river basin, polluted
by distillery and heavy metal pollution.
4.
Gadwara pond and Muliyawas pond in Bandi river bed along Pali city and downstream area. These
are polluted by textile effluents discharged from different units of Pali.
5.
Sambhar Lake is situated in Jaipur district and Badopal Lake in Hanumangarh. Both the lakes are salt
affected.
Table –1 depicts water spread area and depth of above mentioned water bodies. Seasonvise
observations have been made during 1997-98 for different limnological parameters and primary productivity.
Limnological studies have been made following standard methods APHA [4], Plankton samples were
collected by towing Hensen’s standard plankton net made up of no.25 bolting silk at uniform speed.
Systematic indentification of zooplankters was done after Edmondson[5]. Heavy metals were detected by a
Perkin Elmer Atomic absorption spectrophotometer.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION –
Table 2 depicts average values of physico-chemical characterstics alongwith gross primary
production and heavy metal contents. High values of depth of visibility and dissolved oxygen indicate
oligotrophic character of Jawai dam whereas high gross primary production (167.103mgc/m2/day) in
Pichhola lake shows its eutrophic nature . Distillery pond is highly polluted pond as shown by very high
electrical conductivity (12 m/mhos) and total dissolved solids (7242ppm). This organically polluted pond
also shows rich nutrients in the form of nitrates (7.7mg/l) and phosphates (8.18mg/l). Gadwa and Daroli
ponds situated in Berach river bed are polluted by heavy metal content of 1.5139 and
7.116mg/l
respectively. High total alkalinity indicates textile pollution in Gadwara and Muliyawas pond siluated in
Bandi river bed. High Concentration of salts in Sambhar lake and Badopal lake indicates high salinity.
Table 3 shows number of zooplanktonic forms, density of zooplankton and Menhinicks diversity
indices. Highest diversity was observed in Jawai dam as shown by diversity index of 5.52. Lake Pichhola
also inhabited diverse zooplanktonic fauna with 72 forms and diversity index of 4.98. Gadwa pond,
Muliyawas pond and Distillery pond were unable to support variety of zooplankters due to pollution stress.
A list of zooplankters with their occurrence is given in the form of Table 4. Commonly occurring
zooplankters were Nebalia, Amoeba, Phacus and Diffulugia belonging to phylum Protozoa. Rotifera was
frequently represented by Brachionus calciflorus, B. caudatus, B. rubens , Keratella tropica, Lecane luna
and Asplanchna. Among Cladocera frequently represented forms were Ceriodaphnia cornuta , Daphnia
carinata, Moina macroscopa and Chydorus ovalis. Commonly found Calanoids were Heliodiaptomus and
Neodiaptomus. Mesocyclops hyalinus and nauplii were very frequently represented in zooplankton samples.
Shirmps were found only in Sambhar lake. Insects were more common in small polluted ponds where other
sensitive forms did not find suitable conditions for their survival. Sampath et al [6], Verma et al [7] and
Mishra and saksena[8] also reported Mesocyclops and Brachionus species as widely distributed planktonic
forms. Filinia was considered as sensitive forms by Palharya and Malviya [9] during their study on
Narmada river. These forms were also totally absent in polluted ponds undertaken during present study.
George et al [10] observed that the polluted zone of river Kali had a decreased population of zooplanktonic
forms. This is in agreement with present study Marneffe et al [11] studied the zooplankton of lower river
meuse, Belgium. They studied the impact of industrial and municipal discharges on zooplanktonic
population where rotifers were dominant while cladocerans and copepods were less abundant. They also
noticed B. calciflorus as dominant form which also occurred commonly during present study.
The species composition of zooplankton with dominance of rotifers was also observed by Trivedi
[12] in Chambal river. Arora and Mehra [13] also observed richness and dominance of rotifers among
zooplankton in Yammuna river. Most diverse genera reported by them were Lecane, Trichocerca and
Lepadella. however these forms were poorly represented in water bodies under taken during present study
Segers [14] also noticed dominance of rotifers in Thai flood plains. Halvorsen et al [15] and Vasisht [16],
Observed that B. Calyciflorus and keratella tropica were dominant in alkaline waters.
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