Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern Nigeria
Anthropogenic activities in rivers have been a major ecological problem affecting river morphology, water hydraulics, aquatic bio-systems and processes, and general water quality. This study established the diversity of planktons and physicochemical properties of dredging site of Otammiri River, Imo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Bologna
2023-04-01
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| Series: | EQA |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/16298 |
| Summary: | Anthropogenic activities in rivers have been a major ecological problem affecting river morphology, water hydraulics, aquatic bio-systems and processes, and general water quality. This study established the diversity of planktons and physicochemical properties of dredging site of Otammiri River, Imo State. Water samples were collected from upstream, dredging site and downstream, with the aid of clean water sampling bottles and immediately transported to the laboratory for analysis. Plankton net of 55µm mesh was used to collect plankton samples and immediately transferred to plastic containers for microscopic examination, enumeration and classification. Occurrences of phytoplankton and zooplankton species were determined while Index of Diversity was computed using Margalef’s model. Multivariate redundancy analysis and biplot were used to show association among the planktons and the proportion of their occurrences at the sampling points. Phytoplankton was classified into Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms) (51.19%), Cyanophyceae (26.62%), Chlorophyceae (14.68%), Euglenophyceae (2.05%), Chrysophyceae (3.07%), and Xanthophyceace (2.39%); while zooplanktons were classified into Protozoa (47.06%), Rotifera (35.29%) and Cladocera (17.65%). Index of Diversity for phytoplankton species were: upstream (4.82), dredging site (5.19) and downstream (5.82); while for zooplankton were (1.86), (0.91) and (1.37) respectively. Physicochemical parameters showed significant variation (P<0.05) at the different sampling points. Dredging and other anthropogenic activities might be responsible for alterations in physicochemical characteristics and diversity of planktons in Otammiri River with consequences of ecological imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem. |
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| ISSN: | 2039-9898 2281-4485 |