Occurrence of Phytoplankton in Relation To Water Quality of Bathi Lake in Davangere District, Karnataka

Abstract

The current study was conducted  in order to identify the phytoplankton populations and water quality in Bathi lake of Davangere district, Karnataka to evaluate the status of the lake. Phytoplanktonic forms were collected by using a plankton net made of bolting silk cloth of meshes of 10 µm fixing a glass bottle of 100 ml at a narrow end.  For taking the samples of qualitative analysis, the net was towed for 5 minutes just below the surface of water. Phytoplankton samples were directly transfer to collection bottles and preserved by adding up 1% lugols solution. The qualitative estimation was done by taking one ml of sample from the stock samples at each time and repeated. Uniform distribution was made by agitating the samples thoroughly. Qualitative and density of planktonic organisms were done with the help of monographs and phytoplankton are identified upto species level.The phytoplankton composed of 05 major groups like Chlorococcales, Desmids, Diatoms, Blue greens and Euglenoids. Among   phytoplankton Blue green group was dominated followed by Diatoms, Chlorococcales,Desmids and Euglenoids.  A  total  of 13 genera and 26  species  of  Chlorococcales & Desmids, 12  genera and 22 species of Diatoms , 10 genera and 17 species of Blue greens and 02 genera and 10 species of Euglenoids were recorded in Bathi lake.  Phytoplankton  abundance  and  physico-chemical parameters  of  the Bathi lake indicate that this lake is eutrophic in nature.