Title: Hydrobiology and productivity of Kuntbhyog Lake, (District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh), India

Authors: R. Jindal; Rakesh Kumar Thakur

Addresses: Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh – 160 014, India ' Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh – 160 014, India

Abstract: Studies on the biodiversity on Kuntbhyog Lake (Himachal Pradesh) were made on species composition and population dynamics of phytoplankton, zooplankton, nekton, productivity in relation to seasonal variations in physico-chemical characteristics of water. Among phytoplankton, members of Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae constituted the dominant group, whereas Cyanophyceae and Euglenophyceae were the subdominant component. Among zooplankton, Rotifera and Arthropoda formed the dominant group, whereas Protozoa Subdominant and Ostracoda were rare in occurrence. The plankton revealed abundance during summer and post monsoon while the minimum number were recorded during winter. Factors affecting the seasonal distribution of organisms have been discussed. Shannon's Species Diversity and Nygaard's Trophic State indices have been calculated. On the basis of the hydrobiological characteristics, according to the classification of waters for various purposes given by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) (www.cpcbnic.in/classi.htm), the water of the lake could be categorising as 'B'.

Keywords: biodiversity; lakes; wetlands; limnology; India; hydrobiology; productivity; water quality; water pollution; species composition; population dynamics; phytoplankton; zooplankton; nekton; seasonal variations; physico-chemical characteristics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2014.067004

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2014 Vol.6 No.4, pp.449 - 459

Accepted: 22 Jul 2012
Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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