Forensic studies of phytoplankton ecology of two water bodies of Kurukshetra area of Haryana, State in India

Abstract

Abstract Background In forensic investigations of death cases in which the body has been recovered from a water body, there is an urgent need to prove whether the death is due to drowning or not. Moreover, another important issue arises, whether a person was alive at the time of drowning (anti-mortem drowning) or he was thrown dead into the water body (post-mortem drowning) To answer these questions, phytoplankton species of forensic importance from two water bodies (Braham Sarovar and Prithus Pools) were analyzed to develop the Phytoplankton maps (P-maps). The P-maps are basically a detailed list of categories of species which are common, site-specific, rare and seasonally occurring phytoplanktons along with their photomicrographs. Methods In the present study, water samples have been collected from Braham Sarovar and Prithus Pools situated at Kurukshetra area of Haryana state, India. The phytoplankton species present in both ponds were extracted by mild acid digestion (5% HCl). The physico-chemical properties of these water bodies such as pH, water temperature, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, hardness, alkalinity, calcium, sodium, potassium, and chloride ions have been recorded to establish a correlation with the distribution of phytoplankton using principal component analysis. Results Total 138 species of 59 genera of phytoplanktons belonging to Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Euglenophyceae and Dinophyceae have been observed. In Braham Sarovar, Cylindrospermum sp., Epithemia turgida, Eunotia rhomboidea, and Westella botryoides were the site-specific phytoplanktons whereas in Prithus pool, the site specific phytoplanktons were Leptolynbya granulifera, Arthospira jenerii, Cymbella cymbiformis, Frustulia vulgaris. Conclusion It is hoped that results/data obtained from the present study (P-maps) may go a long way in solving the mysteries related to the deaths due to drowning and can be usefully used as a reference data for determining the exact site of drowning.

Keywords

• Phytoplankton
• Forensic science
• Diatoms
• Aquatic bodies
• Braham Sarovar
• Prithus pool and P-maps