Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

Vol 26, Feb Suppl. Issue, 2020; Page No.(244-249)

DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF ZOOPLANKTON IN RIVER GHAGGAR OF PUNJAB WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO POLLUTION BIOINDICATORS

Supinder Kaur and Harvinder Kaur Sidhu

Abstract

The present study reveals the diversity, abundance and composition of zooplankton in ghagger river. The objective of the study is to determine pollution bioindicators zooplankton diversity in River Ghaggar. A total of 27 genera of zooplankton population were recorded and categorized into 4 different groups, i.e. Protozoa, Rotifera, Copepoda and Cladobcera at the sites S1(Devigarh, Patiala) from 2017 to 2019. Among these Copepoda and Rotifera were the dominant groups. Of all the seasons, summer season depicted the highest density of zooplankton at this particular site and lowest diversity during monsoon season. The diversity indices were observed to be S1 sites indicating that the River is moderately polluted as the values of Shannon-Weaver diversity index for zooplankton are above two in different seasons. The present study revealed that the water of River Ghaggar is contaminated by sewage and other organic pollution.