Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ASSESSMENT OF PHYTOPLANKTON POPULATION IN TWO HILL PONDS AT NORTH WESTERN GHATS, MAHARASHTRA (INDIA)

Shashank Sarang, Monica Vidhate and Vaishali Somani

Abstract

Phytoplankton are sensitive to environmental changes. Their abundance and diversity exhibit seasonal variations. The present study is based on seasonal changes in abundance of phytoplankton in ponds located in the hills of North Western Ghats, Pune, Maharashtra. The observations were recorded from February 2013 to January 2014 in two ponds. Phytoplankton density ranged between 75 x 103 units /L to 25000 x 103units /L. Six groups of phytoplankton were recorded namely Cyanophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Dinophyceae, Euglenophyceae, Xanthophyceae. Dominance of Cyanophyceae and Bacillariophyceae was observed including bloom of Anabaena spiroides. Shannon Weiner index ranged from 0.58 to 3.26, indicating moderate pollution. Simpson’s index value ranged from 0.16 to 0.88.