ZOOPLANKTON DIVERSITY IN AMARAVATHI DAM TIRUPURDISTRICT, TAMILNADU, INDIAA. Krishnamoorthi and K. MoorthikumarAbstract Zooplankton occupies a vital part in the trophic structure of an aquatic ecosystem and plays a key role inthe energy transfer. It is a valuable food for planktivorous fish and other organism. The zooplankton isgood indicators of changes in water quality hence study of zooplankton is great importance in freshwaterreservoir water body. The present investigation to study the diversity and density of zooplankton ofAmaravathi Lake. Samples were collected monthly once at five different regions of the lake and the seasonalaverage was calculated. There are 25 species of zooplankton were identified. Among them 10 species ofRotifers, 4 species of Copepods, 6 species of Cladocerans, 5 species of protozoan, The species densitymaximum abundance during post-monsoon season and minimum occurs during pre-monsoon season. Inall the seasons the rotifer species population is higher than other zooplankton species. The seasonal variationis due to influenced by feeding ecology, predation pressure, water level and water quality. Zooplanktonalso acts as a pollution indicator in a water body. |