Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ANALYSIS OF CORRELATION AMONG ZOOPLANKTON IN TWO NEAR BY PONDS OF JAMMU REGION

Sarbjeet Kour, Nidhi Sharma, Rajan Verma, Supreet Kour and Vipan Kumar

Abstract

To analyse the existence and dominance of zooplankton, their intra and inter-specific correlations are very important to understand along with the effect of abiotic parameters. Therefore, presently two nearby located ponds lying between 32.62ˆN latitude and 74.87ˆE longitude have been studied. Five different groups of zooplankton have been recorded viz. Protozoa, Cladocera, Copepoda, Rotifera and Ostracoda. In total, 42 species of rotifers, 11 cladocera species, 6 copepod species, 9 protozoa species and 1 ostracod species have been recorded from both the ponds. Rotifers were found to be dominant in terms of species richness as well as abundance in pond I while high abundance and dominance of cladocera has been observed in pond II. In pond I many species of family Brachionidae have been enlisted coexisting with each other. Predatory rotifer Asplanchna brightwelli has been recorded having negative impact on existence of members of Brachionidae family and among abiotic factors also with temperature. From Pond II, a total 11 cladocera species showed high population density. Consecutive high density of Phyllodiaptomus blanci was seen with the Cladocera genus Diaphanosoma, this may represent same positive correlation and their density has also been seen to be effected by abiotic parameters. High temperature and low transparency have favored the population growth of calanoid copepod Phyllodiaptomus blanci, rotifer Hexarthra mira, cladoceran Moina brachiata and ostracod Onchocypris species in pond II. Such distributon of zooplankton may be attributed to the interactions among abiotic and biotic parameters for the survival of various species.