A study on Phytoplanktonic diversity of Pothara river, near Khambada, Maharashtra
1P.R. Makde and 2M. C. Kale
1Department of Botany, Arts, Commerce and Science College, Maregaon - 445303 2Department of Botany, AnandNiketan College, Anandwan, Warora - 442914 mrprass11@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The Pothara river is one of the lotic ecosystem in the Chandrapur district. The river was studied for a period of two year from Feb. 2022 to Jan 2024 for phytoplankton community structure. Collections were taken on monthly basis to investigate the abundance and diversity of phytoplankton. In the present investigation, the phytoplankton was represented by 34 algal genera. Some of these recordings were captured only during specific times of the year, whereas others were distributed across various seasons, with a focus on winter and summer.During winter season, Chlorophyceae was the enormously dominating group afterwards Basillariophyceae. On the other hand, during the summer season, Cyanophyceae and Euglenophyceae emerged as the most dominant groups. Certain species like Pediastrum sp., Chlorella sp., Oedogonium sp., Oscillatoria sp., and Euglena sp. were reported during the year Anacystis, Oscillatoria, Chlorella, and Nitschia were identified as reliable indicators of water pollution.