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...

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Main Authors: Chinedu Emeka Ihejirika, Uwakwe Angelbert Orji, Peter Ndu Okeke, Ejeagba Okorie Imo, Joseph Ikechukwu Nwachukwu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2023-04-01
Series:EQA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/16298
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author Chinedu Emeka Ihejirika
Uwakwe Angelbert Orji
Peter Ndu Okeke
Ejeagba Okorie Imo
Joseph Ikechukwu Nwachukwu
author_facet Chinedu Emeka Ihejirika
Uwakwe Angelbert Orji
Peter Ndu Okeke
Ejeagba Okorie Imo
Joseph Ikechukwu Nwachukwu
author_sort Chinedu Emeka Ihejirika
collection DOAJ
description 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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spelling doaj.art-3b77fd1b524f47b688c7cdefd93e761f2023-04-04T08:46:38ZengUniversity of BolognaEQA2039-98982281-44852023-04-0153213410.6092/issn.2281-4485/1629814650Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern NigeriaChinedu Emeka Ihejirika0Uwakwe Angelbert Orji1Peter Ndu Okeke2Ejeagba Okorie Imo3Joseph Ikechukwu Nwachukwu4Department of Environmental Management, Federal University of Technology, OwerriDepartment of Environmental Management, Federal University of Technology, OwerriDepartment of Environmental Management, Federal University of Technology, OwerriDepartment of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, OwerriDepartment of Environmental Management, Federal University of Technology, OwerriAnthropogenic 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.https://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/16298anthropogenicdiversityoccurrenceotammiri riverplanktonsspecies
spellingShingle Chinedu Emeka Ihejirika
Uwakwe Angelbert Orji
Peter Ndu Okeke
Ejeagba Okorie Imo
Joseph Ikechukwu Nwachukwu
Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern Nigeria
EQA
anthropogenic
diversity
occurrence
otammiri river
planktons
species
title Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern Nigeria
title_full Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern Nigeria
title_fullStr Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern Nigeria
title_short Dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem, Southeastern Nigeria
title_sort dynamism in plankton species occurrence and diversity of an impacted aquatic ecosystem southeastern nigeria
topic anthropogenic
diversity
occurrence
otammiri river
planktons
species
url https://eqa.unibo.it/article/view/16298
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