Seasonal Influences on Zooplankton Diversity of A Sacred Grove Freshwater

Abstract

Zooplankton, the ecological indicator of aquatic ecosystems, was identified in Banapureeshwar temple pond (BTP) at Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, Tamilnadu, India, from March 2018 to February 2019 to enumerate the seasonal variations in the population density of zooplankton. The study observed a total of 35 zooplankton species, of which 13 were copepods. Cladocera and rotifera comprised 8 and 11 species, respectively. The ostracoda accommodated 3 species. Shanon-Weiner diversity index (H´) (1.13 to 2.606) and Margalef’s species richness index (0.7797 to 3.1) indicate moderately rich zooplankton diversity in the BTP lentic ecosystem. Among the different groups of zooplankton identified, copepoda were found to be the dominant group (45.7%), followed by rotifers (25.7%), cladocera (23.2%), and ostracoda (5.5%). The mean seasonal abundance of zooplankton was in the order of monsoon > pre-monsoon > post-monsoon > summer.