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Diversity of Phytoplankton in Lakes of Bangalore, Karnataka, India
http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/
K.S. Asulabha 1,4 R. Jaishanker 4 V. Sincy 1,4 T.V. Ramachandra 1,2,3,*
1 Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences [CES], 2 Centre for Sustainable Technologies (astra)
3 Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning [CiSTUP]
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560012, India.
4 Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
*Corresponding author:
tvr@iisc.ernet.in

Introduction

Wetlands play a vital role in providing food and fiber, microclimate regulation, water purification, groundwater recharge, flood protection, erosion prevention, biodiversity conservation, recreation, etc. (Ramachandra et al., 2020a; Li et al., 2020). Sustaining these services entails maintaining the ecological integrity of wetlands through regular monitoring of wetlands, which involves assessing the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics (Alves et al., 2018). The spatial and temporal variations in the water quality of freshwater ecosystems are associated with several natural factors and anthropogenic factors (Varol, 2020; Shil et al., 2019). The land use land cover [LULC] of a region influences water quality (Chen and Lu, 2014; Xu et al., 2019). Anthropogenic activities cause water quality deterioration and render the water unfit for drinking, domestic purpose, irrigation, industrial and recreational use. Unplanned rapid urbanization and the consequent disposal of untreated or partially treated wastewater have been deteriorating water resources (Ramachandra et al., 2020b).

Phytoplankton (microalgae) are ubiquitous photosynthetic organisms that occur in water bodies. Phytoplanktons as producers play a key role in nutrient cycling and transformations and the productivity of aquatic ecosystems. Phytoplanktons consist of both eukaryotic (green algae, diatoms, etc.) and prokaryotic forms (cyanobacteria). Algae provide food (energy transfer) and dissolved oxygen for consumers at higher trophic levels in an aquatic ecosystem. Phytoplankton has a plethora of applications such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, feed, and aid in bioremediation. For the past few decades, microalgae have been explored for biofuel production, electricity generation, wastewater treatment, greenhouse gas mitigation, and CO2 removal (Das et al., 2021; Qu et al., 2019; Xu et al., 2015). The influence of physico-chemical characteristics of water on the phytoplankton density and diversity is demonstrated in numerous studies (Kozak et al., 2020; Afonina and Tashlykova, 2018; Sharma et al., 2016). The distribution and composition of phytoplankton in lakes or wetlands are influenced by factors such as temperature, light, nutrients, water level, and grazing pressure. Land use and land cover (LULC) changesin the wetland catchment altered the physical,chemical, and biological parameters (Ramachandra et al., 2013).Water level fluctuations and turbulence induce disturbances in the physical environment and concentration of nutrients (Adamczuk et al., 2020), altering phytoplankton communities structure (Ji et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2020). The sustained inflow of untreated wastewater to waterbodies enhances the nutrient concentration in water leading

to eutrophication, which increases the phytoplankton biomass, and it reduces the nutritional value, affecting higher trophic level organisms (Taipale et al., 2019).Multivariate analyses using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA)have established the relationships between phytoplankton taxa and environmental variables (Fetahi et al., 2014; Abd El-Karim, 2014, Tian et al., 2012).

Phytoplankton serves as a valuable bioindicator of water quality changes as they have a short lifespan and respond quickly to environmental changes and pollutants (El-Kassas and Gharib, 2016; Kireta et al., 2012; Lavoie et al., 2012). The species number and cell density of phytoplankton serve as bioindicators of water quality. Monitoring these bioindicators and the physical and chemical factors help in overall water quality assessment (Jiang et al., 2014).Objectives of this study are to

(i) assess the water quality of lakes in Vrishabhavathi valley in Greater Bangalore, Karnataka;(ii) record the phytoplankton composition of lakes; (iii) evaluate the role of environmental variables in phytoplankton community structure using multivariate statistical analysis (canonical correspondence analysis, CCA) and (iv) biomonitoring of lakes by determining the Palmer algal genera pollution index.

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Citation :K.S. Asulabha, R. Jaishanker, V. Sincy and T.V. Ramachandra, 2022, Diversity of Phytoplankton in Lakes of Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 10th Chapter, , In: Shashikanth Majige (eds), Biodiversity – A Way forward, Daya publishing House, New Delhi, Pp 147-178
* Corresponding Author :
  Dr. T.V. Ramachandra
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, India.
Tel : 91-80-22933503 / 22933099,      Fax : 91-80-23601428 / 23600085 / 23600683 [CES-TVR]
E-mail : tvr@iisc.ernet.in, envis.ces@iisc.sc.in,     Web : http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy, http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/grass
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