Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

Research Article

Variability in Water Quality and Phytoplankton Community during Dry and Wet Periods in the Tropical Wetland, Bhopal, India

Najeeb Ahmad Bhat^1*, Ashwani Wanganeo¹ and Rajni Raina²

¹Department of Environmental Sciences and Limnology, Barkatullah University, Bhopal (M.P) India-462026

²Department of Zoology, Govt. Benazir Science and Commerce College, Bhopal (MP) India

*Corresponding Author:

Najeeb Ahmad Bhat
Department of Environmental Sciences and Limnology
Barkatullah University, Bhopal (M.P) India
Tel: +91- 9419425309
Fax: +0755-2551837
E-mail: najahbhat@gmail.com

Received Date: April 15, 2015; Accepted Date: June 23, 2015; Published Date: June 26, 2015

Citation: Bhat NA, Wanganeo A, Raina R (2015) Variability in Water Quality and Phytoplankton Community during Dry and Wet Periods in the Tropical Wetland, Bhopal, India. J Ecosys Ecograph 5: 160. doi:10.4172/2157-7625.1000160

Copyright: © 2015 Bhat NA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

The Bhoj wetland, a Ramsar site has been found to be under huge pressure due to burgeoning human population in its catchment area. The present investigation spread across nine stations has revealed higher algal diversity (294 species) during the period of 2008-2009. The phytoplankton diversity belonging to six groups revealed 46% contribution of Chlorophyceae followed by Bacillariophyceae (28%), Cyanophyceae (15%), Euglenophyceae (9%), while Pyrophyceae and Chrysophyceae contributed 1% each, respectively. Closterium sp., Cosmarium sp., Pediastrum sp., Scenedesmus sp., Staurastrum sp. and Tetraedron sp. contributed the bulk of Chlorophyceae was dominated by these various species and from Bacillariophyceae was mostly represented by Achnanthes sp., Cymbella sp., Navicula sp., Gomphonema sp. and Synedra sp. Cyanophyceae was represented by Anabaen sp., Aphanocapsa sp. and Oscillatoria sp., Aphanocapsa sp., Microcystis sp. and Oscillatoria sp. Species like Euglena sp. and Phacus sp. represented euglenophyceae. The higher abundance of (Closterium, Pediastrum, Scenedesmus, Navicula, Anabaena, Microcystis and Phacus) and nutrient concentration (nitrate-nitrogen and phosphorus) during the dry and wet periods reflect higher organic pollution in the Bhoj wetland. There should be strict legislation to protect the wetland from undue exploitation.

Keywords