Occurrence of zooplankton in a perennial freshwater reservoir of Wadgaon Dam during monsoon season at Nagpur District

Abstract

The zooplankton occupy a central position between the autotrophs and heterotrophs and form an important link in the food chain of a freshwater ecosystem. The occurrence and abundance of zo0plankton is always influenced by physico-chemical factors and the level of nutrients present in the water body. In this context a perennial freshwater reservoir Wadgaon dam is studied with respect to zooplankton population to assess the types of zooplankton present. Qualitative studies on the zooplankton in the Wadgaon dam reservoir situated in the Nagpur district were undertaken in monsoon months to assess the extent of forms present. The reservoir water is uncontaminated and clean with no influence of man made activities in the vicinity. The zooplankton population of the reservoir water is found to be represented by fie different groups viz. Protozoa, Rotifera, Cladocera, Copepoda and Ostracoda represented by about 21 different forms. The present study indicate the uncontaminated nature of reservoir water due to absence of pollution indicator species in the reservoir water.

Keywords

• Zooplankton
• Autotroph
• Hetetrotroph
• Wadgaon dam
• Physico-chemical