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2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Aquatic ecosystem, whether it is lentic or lotic, is one of the valuable

natural resource is whose quality has a vital concern for human welfare, socio-

economic development and distribution of aquatic organisms. In general, fresh

water bodies include diverse types which include ponds, pools, streams, rivers, etc.

In fact, such freshwater bodies are of immense importance as they not only produce

potable water and fodder but also ensure the stability of the microclimate of the

area, ground water recharge, generating employment by boosting tourism, fisheries,

recreation, etc. (Parray et al., 2010)

As a matter of fact freshwater resources all across the globe are under

sustained anthropogenic pressure owing to demotechnic growth. The

contamination of such biotypes with acute concentrations of pollutants is the

outcome of dumping of domestic, agricultural, municipal and industrial waste into

these ponds (Srivastava et al., 2003; Khan and Shah, 2004, Chowdyary and Al

Manur, 2006; Hassan and Paul, 2007; Zuber and Sharma, 2007). Since water is the

basic necessity of life such resources need to be managed for human survival

(Gupta and Deshpande, 2004).

Aquatic ecosystems are very productive ecosystems which help in the

regulation of biological cycles, maintenance of water quality, nutrient movement

and support of food chains. In addition they provide refuge for endangered species

of plants and animals and economic benefits such as fish breeding (Mini et al.,

2003). The health of lakes and their biological diversity are directly related to the

health of almost every component of ecosystem (Ramesh et al., 2007). The

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ecological status of water bodies is assessed by the physical, chemical and

biological characters (Anand and Sharma, 2000; Shastri and Pendse, 2001).

Considerable information are available on the role of physio-chemical

character of Indian freshwater bodies (Prasad et al., 1985; Bhatt et al., 1999;

Shanthi et al., 2003; Khan et al., 2007; and Rajasulochana et al., 2008). Parameters

such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, carbondioxide, macro and

micro nutrients and few heavy metals are also involved in the assessment of water

quality. Khare et al. (2007) studied the water quality of natural water and he

reported that pond water could be substituted for the purpose of drinking by proper

treatments. In several cases pond water remains coloured due to the presence of

organic matter, mixing of effluents and iron compounds (Reshma and Prakasam,

2007). In general, water quality index is used to assess the quality of water in the

aquatic ecosystem. Ayyappan and Gupta (1981) made a study on the perennial

pond and pointed out a significant correlation between plankton communities and

physico-chemical parameters. In and around Kashmir area, Yousuf and Shah

(1988) made a study on Limnology. The water quality of Thiruvannamalai,

Tamilnadu was assessed by Ramakrishna et al. (1991). Seasonal dynamics of

physico-chemical parameters in a high attitude freshwater pond in Tamilnadu was

studied by Rao et al. (1993). There are several reports on the environmental factors

which affect the water quality (Singh, 1995; Jain et al., 1996 and Kumar, 1997).

Ecological significance and biological characteristic features of freshwater bodies

in Mysore were highlighted by Bhatt et al. (1999). Jha and Barat (2003) studied

the hydrobiological characters of Minik lake at Darjeeling.

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Diurnal variation in the water quality of Ayyanakere lake, the Western

Ghats region of Chikmangalore, Karnataka was studied by Thirumala et al. (2006).

Shamal and Balasingh (2007) also pointed out the diurnal variation of a tropical

pond. Seasonal variation of different nutrients in the Sullur pond at Coimbatore,

Tamil Nadu was studied by Dhanalakshmi et al. (2008). She found high

temperature and dark brownish green colour of the water during the month of

October 2002. The dissolved oxygen concentration of the water determines the

water quality and domestic waste mixing in ponds, streams and river systems

reduces the oxygen control. The different parameters of water quality around Jaipur

were studied by Srivastava et al. (2003). Water quality index was reported from a

wetland of degraded area by Chaulya et al. (2002). The biological oxygen demand

and dissolved oxygen content of a fresh water lake Bodhan, Andra was reported by

Solanki et al. (2007). The dumping of waste into the streams, ponds and river

systems accumulated enormously, causing pollution and damaging the aquatic

ecosystem was observed by Murugesan et al. (2003). The fluoride concentration in

the waters of north India was highlighted by Thakare et al. (2005). Limnological

studies with reference to water quality and plankton studies were carried out by

Bais et al. (1997). Plankton communities and water quality parameters with

respect to seasons were reported by Govindasamy et al. (2007).

In general, stagnant water bodies possess more unique features than running

water bodies. Prasad (2006) and Ranjan et al. (2007) pointed out the salient

features of Ghariyarwa pond of Birganj at Nepal. The water quality of Kalol city

in Gujarat was studied by Prajapati and Raol (2008).

 15

The impact of urbanization on Bellandur lake Bangalore was reported by

Chandrasekhar et al. (2003). Abiotic factors of a freshwater pond in Kerala were

highlighted by Radhika et al. (2004). Solanki et al. (2007) studied the role of

dissolved oxygen and BOD of Bodhan lake. Water quality assessment of Khumph

Nimars lake at Madhya Pradesh was studied by Khare et al. (2007). Seasonal

variation, hydrographic parameters and distribution of nutrients were reported from

Veli – Akkulam lake complex by Jacob et al. (2008). The hydrobiological

parameters of Unkal lake at Hubli were studied by Ansari and Fareed (2006). Much

work has been carried out on the physico-chemical characteristic features of water

qualityby experts like Dwivedi and Pandey (2002), Jeyaraman et al. (2003),

Ravishankar et al. (2006) Raveen et al. (2008), Jose et al. (2008) and Bindiya et al.

(2008). The hydrobiological parameters of Lonar lake water were observed by

Pawar (2010). In general the physico-chemical parameters of a pond or lake

depend upon the shape, size, topographic changes, biological community and

andropogenic activities (Adeyemo et al., 2008). Ramadasu and Sivakumar (2010)

pointed out the seasonal variation and water quality parameters in Perumal lake,

Tamilnadu. Chinnaiah and Rao (2011) reported the physico-chemical

characteristics of Pakhal and Ramappa lakes in Andhra Pradesh, India.

The role of sediment in assessing the water quality of fresh water ecosystem

is an important factor. It was reported that the bottom soil depends upon the pond

age (Boyd, 1995). The sediment characteristic features of a freshwater body at

Mangalore were reported by Trivedi and Gupta (1999). Seasonal variation in

physico-chemical features of bottom soil of Lacustrine habitats of Jammu was

reported by Anand and Sharma (2000). The availability of metals and

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concentration of heavy metals in the sediment were studied by Campbell and

Tessier (1991) and Shanthi et al. (2003). The qualities of sediment and pollution

caused by them were highlighted by Mohanraj et al. (2000).

The concentration of nutrient sources in the sediment and their impacts

were reported from Varuna river system by Agarwal et al. (2000). The phosphate

concentration in the bottom sediment was analysed by Sodergaard et al. (2003) and

Hupfer et al. (2004). The role of soil sediment in determining the productivity of

pond is well documented by Adhikari (2003). In any aquatic body primary

productivity gives information relating to the amount of energy available to support

the bioactivity of the system. Primary productivity of ponds is adversely affected

by anthropogenic activities which serve as an important tool and a biological

phenomenon in studying the effect. Productivity of the lake depends on the

plankton biomass. Environmental conditions, different concentrations of nutrients

and dissolved matters in the water bodies affect the diversity and the physico-

chemical properties of water (Kumar, 1997). Several studies were carried out on

seasonal variation and productivity of various aquatic ecosystems (Pandey et al.,

1994).

Aquatic ecosystems like ponds, streams and rivers receiving enormous

quantities of waste materials from the surrounding areas, which carry sediments

with heavy metals. They are getting more attention due to their non-degradable

nature and causing deleterious effect on the biological systems. Power plants,

thermal and leather industries, fertilizer sources resulted in adverse effect and

serious problems to the environment specially to human beings (De, 2002). Though

some of the metals like Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, etc. are essential micronutrients for
 17

life, metals like Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg have no effect on physiological activity and they are

proved to be detrimental beyond a certain limit (Tharadevi and Santhakumari,

2005). Several diseases are caused by some of the heavy metal accumulation in

human bodies. Therefore, safety assessment of aquatic ecosystems is important for

the human health.

All aquatic ecosystems are provided with planktons which are microscopic,

cosmopolitan in distribution and play a prominent role as feed, food, agriculture

and as vitamin sources. Phytoplankton functions as the primary producers in the

food chain and fixing solar energy into Vitamin D. Moreover, it reoxygenates the

water, when they are growing and mainly used as food and feed to the aquatic

organisms in aquaculture field. There are two major groups, i.e. phytoplankton and

zooplankton (Venkateswarlu, 2006). Phytoplankton, the microscopic floating

algae, increase its growth in the aquatic ecosystem with sufficient nutrient and

suitable ecological conditions which play an important role in their availability and

abundance. It results in increased fish production (Shah, 2000). Their role in food

web is to provide proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins to other

organisms. Reynold and Joworcki (1981) reported that the phytoplankton

community changes with the change in the environmental condition such as

nutrient levels, light intensity, temperature, predators and the type of water sources.

Majority of phytoplankton comprises the algal groups like Chlorophyceae,

Bacillariophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Dinophyceae and Eugeophycean (Mini et al.,

2003).

From the very earlier periods a host of workers have stated the influence of

nutrients and physico-chemical factors on algal diversity (Chaturvedi and Iqbal,

 18

1995; Harikrishnan et al., 1999 and Huszar et al., 2006). The growth of algae in

sugar factory waste was reported by Jawale and Kumawat (2000). The

phytoplankton of lentic system in relation with the environmental factors have been

reported by Pandey et al. (2000). The diversity studies of algae in river Ganga at

Kanpur was reported by Tiwari et al. (2001). Chlorococeales, one among the order

of chlorophyceae was reported from the foot hills of Kumaon, Himalayas by Habib

(2001). Habib and Chaturvedi (2001) listed the desmids of the Himalayas.

Mahadev and Hosmani (2002) studied the phytoplankton in the two lakes of

Mysore city. The micro flora of a freshwater tank in Bangalore was reported by

Sukumaran (2002). The diversity studies on phytoplankton in Tiruvannamalai and

the relationship with environmental factors were carried out by Ramakrishnan et al.

(2000). Limnological studies on algae in Anar river of Maharashtra, Vamanapuram

and Karamana rivers in Kerala and their relationship with physico-chemical

parameters were reported by Subramani (2007). The freshwater algae from Pashan

lake was studied by Zaware and Pingle (2003). The growth of green algae on

distillery water was observed by Mohan et al. (2003). Murugesan et al. (2003)

studied the phytoplankton diversity on Porur lake. Misra et al. (2004) made a

report on the planktonic algae from Uttar Pradesh. The diversity of Chlorophycean

members was reported by Reshmi (2004) from the wet lands of Satna. Fresh water

algal diversity from various rivers and reservoirs was studied by earlier workers.

Pingle and Deshmukh (2005) studied the algal biodiversity of Wilson dam. River

Punzara of Maharashtra was studied by More et al. (2005). Subha and Chandran

(2005) and Jose et al. (2008) studied the algal diversity of temple ponds.

Environmental paremeters in relation to algal bloom were reported by Mishra

 19

(2007). Limnological and diversity studies were carried out in a tropical lake

Ayyanekere at Karnataka by Kiran et al. (2005). Several workers reported the

diversity, nutrient analysis and primary productivity of freshwater ecosystems

(Angadi et al., 2005; Tiwari and Shukla, 2007). Algal flora of Udaipur city at

Rajasthan was examined by Rathore et al. (2006). Esther and Shylaja (2006)

reported the algal distribution in a damp well at Osmania University College for

Women at Koti. Tiwari and Shukla (2007) highlighted the phytoplankton

composition, community structure and climate conditions of two tropical ponds in

India. Diversity studies and algal flora from different regions of freshwater

ecosystem were reported by several workers (John and Francis, 2007, Zacharias

and Joy, 2007; Tiwari and Chauhan, 2007; Mishra, 2007; Govindasamy et al.,

2007; Girijakumari and Abraham, 2007). The algal diversity in relations to factors

such as pH, temperature, light intensity, alkalinity along with micro nutrients of

Sunumbu Kalathour lake at Rajasthan was studied by Rajasulochana et al. (2008).

Several variation and nutrients were reported by Jacob et al. (2008), Tessy and

Srikumar (2008) and Sawant and Telave (2009). Much information was published

about the physico-chemical parameters, nutrient analysis along with planktonic

communities throughout India (Jawale and Patil, 2009; Misra et al., 2009; Bhagat

and Gupta, 2009 and Khanna and Yadav, 2009). Limnological parameters

including phytoplankton diversities in the different lakes of India were pointed out

by Ali et al. (2010), Mohar and Beena (2010) and Chakraborthy et al. (2010). Algal

diversity in a group of fifteen small lakes of Narasipur taluk, Mysore district was

highlighted by Umamaheswari (2011).

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The phytoplankton studies were carried out by several researchers from

other countries also. Limnological studies and plankton abundance of Aksu Stream

from Turkey were studied by Ertan and Morkoyanlu (1998). The physico-chemical

parameters and phytoplankton diversity was reported by Ali et al. (2000) from

Pakistan. Leghari et al. (2001) highlighted the importance of filamentous green

algae from the reservoir of Sindh, in Pakistan. Nazmeen (2004) reported the

influence of hydrobiological factors based on seasonal influences. Efe (2002)

studied the limnological features of water resources in Nigeria. The ecological

studies and taxonomical report of phytoplankton in shallow lakes in Turkey were

observed by Tas and Gonnol (2007). The diversity of phytoplankton and bloom

management in some freshwater bodies of Argentina was studied by Chalar (2009).

Akoma and Imoobe (2009) reported the diversity of phytoplankton from the lake

Tana of Ethiopia. Ehiagbonare and Ogunrinde (2010) has reported tha physico-

chemical characters of a fish pond in Nigeria.

A comparative study of the algal composition and abundance of a lake and

pond in Virginia was done out by Burchardt and Marshall (2003). Limnological

parameters and phytoplankton dynamics of Nguru lake, one of the biggest lake in

Nigeria, was analysed by Indabawa (2009). He studied the monthly variation,

phytoplankton periodicity, nutrient levels, temperature changes, pH responsibility

and transparency of the lake. Moreover, six algal groups such as Cyanophyta,

Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta, Bacillariophyta, Dinophypta and Cryptophyta were

also observed by him. Ali et al. (2003) studied the biodiversity changes with

reference to seasonal variation in Punjab, Pakistan. He observed Chlorophyta, as

the dominant group during summer. Pond aquaculture, ecology of fresh waters,
 21

seasonal variations and physico-chemical characteristics of mixed water were

studied out by Mason (1991).

In several freshwater ecosystems eutrophication was formed Chlorophycean

members, diatoms and Cyanophycean members. Genus like Chlorococcum,

Scenedesmus, Chlorella, Navicula, Nitzchia, Spirulina, Microcystis and Anabaena

were observed as bloom forming algae. Karibasappa et al. (2009) observed the

different eutrophication levels in the lakes of Hosur. Different nutrient

concentrations in ponds, specially nitrate and phosphate contents, induced blooms

(Nandan and Patil, 1992). Mohan et al. (2003) reported that the formation of

blooms was mainly by sewage mixing. Eutrophication results in the replacement of

algal growth. By the excessive release of pollutants from organic waste,

agricultural runoff, industrial dumping and by other human activities adversely

affect the functioning of aquatic systems, making them imbalanced (Gupta and

Chakrapani, 2007). Algae such as Microcystis and Anabaena produce noxious

blooms in polluted water that tastes bad with unpleasant odour. Microcystis

aeroginosa was reported as a common bloom forming microalgae (Chalar, 2009).

Blooms indicate the tropical status of the water body (Zutschi 1976 and Johnson et

al., 2003). The distribution, abundance, species composition and species diversity

studies of the phytoplankton are used to assess the biological integrity of the water

body. A good number of indices were reported on species composition, seasonal

variation, pollution levels and trophic level of freshwater ecosystem (Nygaard,

1949; Shannon and Wiener, 1949; Palmer, 1969; Odum, 1971). Among the algal

groups Chlorophyta or green algae gained much importance as source of food and

feed to human beings as well as in the field of aquaculture.

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Green algal diversity studies were carried out by several researchers.

Murugesan and Sivasubramanian (2008) observed the freshwater green algae from

Porur lake. A good account of Chlorophyta was published by Krishnamurthy

(2000), Deshmukh and Pingle (2006) and Sanap et al. (2008) made a report on the

green algal members from the river Godavari at Nashik of Maharashtra. Geeta and

Kerkar (2009) studied the green algal flora from Parsen (Goa). Since Chlorophyta

includes several orders, individual studies were also made by several researchers.

The rare chlorophycean members of river Yamma at Agra were reported by Tiwari

and Chauhan (2007). Vidyavathi (2007) made a study on the distribution and

biodiversity of desmids from freshwater ecosystems. Habib and Chaturvedi (2001)

studied the diversity of desmids from Kunam in Himalayas and Agra city. Naskar

and Naskar (2007) observed the members under the order Ulotricales in West

Bengal. Desmukh and Gundle (2007) observed the members of Chlorococcales

from Maharashtra. From the three freshwater bodies of Mysore city Mruthunjaya

et al. (2007) made a thorough study on the Chlorococcales members. The

pesticidal effects, taxonomical approaches, and antibacterial studies were studied in

the genus like Cladophora, Microsterias and Oedogonium were made (Aseervadam

and Vidyavati, 2007; Tessy and Sreekumar, 2007 and Dhande and Jawale, 2008).

The distribution of Volvocales in Maharashtra was reported by Jawale et al. (2010).

In an aquatic ecosystem, physico-chemical parameters and quality of

nutrients play a significant role in the distribution pattern and species composition

of plankton. The penetration of light, temperature, salinity, pH, hardness, phosphate

and nitrate are the important factors for the growth and density of phytoplankton on
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which zooplankton are higher consumer depend for their existence (Mohar et al.,

2009).

A good management practice is essential for all aquatic ecosystems. Within

the past decade, there has been considerable interest in the relevance of

limnological information in the productivity, development and management of

aquatic environments (Vereshkumar and Hosmani, 2006; Tiwari and Shukla,

2007).

In Kanyakumari district few reports were available on the diversity of

phytoplankton. Ida (2005) studied the limnology of some perennial water bodies.

Species of Oscillatoria, Chroococcus and Euglena were reported in a ephemeral

pond of Kanyakumari district (Shamal and Balasingh, 2007). A perennial pond

diversity study was carried out by Balasingh and Shamal (2007) with special

reference to species richness index. Seasonal abundance and phytoplankton

diversity in a sacred grove pond of the district was reported by Kavitha and

Balasingh (2007). The green algae Oedogonium echinospernum was used to

remove toxic metals and reported as a biological filter system from the aquatic

environment by Prakash and Balasingh (2008). Phytoplankton diversity and

seasonal abundance of a perennial pond in Kanyakumari district was highlighted by

Balasingh (2010). In all the ponds the diversity of Chlorophycean members remain

different in this district and researchers have shown more interest in the field of

Phycology.