STUDY AREA

Selected four lakes and an agricultural field for the Microalgal community and lipid characterization investigation fall within Bangalore (Fig. 1), the capital city of Karnataka and is the fifth largest city in India. Bangalore city is located at 12.940699ºN and 77.746596ºE geographic position, at an elevation of 900 meters and a surface area of 741 sq. km (as per 2007). Mean annual temperature being 24 ºC with extremes ranging from 15 ºC (in winter) to 37 ºC (in summer). The average annual rainfall is 859 millimeters^[26].

The selection of lakes for the study was based on the levels of anthropogenic stress upon the lake, covering different environmental condition. Samples from each lake were sampled at inlet channel so as to record the pollution level on microalgal lipid content. The Doddabidarekallu lake (Nagasandra lake) with an area of 13.07 ha is situated in the industrial area (peenya industrial area), receives industrial effluents representing the industrial waste sample. Hesaraghatta (371.24 ha) and Hoskere lake (also known as Soolekere) with a surface area of 15.54 ha is situated on the city boundary (as per BBMP) and is relatively clean without any sewage and industrial waste into the lake channel while, Varthur with an area of 180.4 ha receives about 40% of the city’s sewage. Agriculture field was selected near the Varthur lake to see the effects of inorganic fertilizers with high phosphates and nitrates.

Fig 1. Sampling locations in Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Note: Sampling sites are 1- Doddabidarekallu, 2- Hoskere, 3- Hesaraghatta, 4- Varthur lake, 5- Varthur agriculture)