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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE GROWTH OF PHYTOPLANKTONS IN SURFACE WATER SAMPLES AND IN THE FORMATION OF ALGAL BOOMS

K.S. Divya, S. Mahadeva Murthy, E.T. Puttaiah

Phytoplankton diversity in four surface water samples from Coorg district i.e., Kaveri Nisargadhama, Abbey falls, Bhagamandala and Talakaveri of Karnataka state and two samples from Wynad district i.e., Irrity river and Pazhassi dam of Kerala state belonging to western ghats were studied for the year 2011 and 2012 and discussed in the paper. Six classes of 53 species of phytoplanktons were identified viz., Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Desmidaceae, Euglenophyceae and Ulvophyceae. Bacillallariophyceae group dominated followed by Desmidaceae, Chlorophyceae, Euglenophyceae, Cyanophyceae and Ulvophyceae. Members of Bacillariophyceae formed blooms in Abbey falls, Bhagamandala and Pazhassi dam which often lead to eutrophication. The evenness and dominance of species in the lake was not well marked. An experiment was also set up to see the formation of algal blooms from the same surface water samples and to identify whether same group of species are identified which is responsible in the formation of algal blooms. Hence it has become essential to develop conservation strategies for control of lakes based on the diversity and abundance of phytoplankton blooms