1. mar. biol. Ass. India, 2001, 43 (18~2) : 168 - 172

Plankton alg of India

water pollutil

;. Nayak and B. C . Acharya

st coas

S. N. Panigrahi, B. B Regional Research Laboratoi Bhubaneswar - 13, Orissa, II

Abstract

Maipura is a tropical mangrove estuary situated in ule east coast of India. It is one of the larl '

sea turtle rookeries of the world and has a great ecological significance. The seasonal variati of different genera of planktonic algae were observed along with the physico-chem narameters like DO, BOD, salinity and nutrients viz. nitrogen (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia),

hosphorous and silicate of Maipura estuary during Nover The ~alysis of different community structure of these plankton r of

Maipura estuary is organically polluted, which may be due to the Impact or organlc l~tter or the ijacent mangrove forests. A total of 15 pollution tolerant genera were encountered during le study period belongs to the Classes Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Cyanophyceae and

ruglenophyceae. It has been observed that the estuarine stations were more organically polluted as compared to the coastal stations.

!Fst ons ical . .

nber 1998 ic taxa re% .. .

and Aug realed tha . -

ust 1999. ' t the wate . .... .

and plank r system are the re uality of that particular v )dy. Hence the limnological stud latly needed for assessment of the water aualitv especially its s av I

of r\ualunuly a altu ualtuua ra rua l y uf Orissa (Gouda and Panigrahy, 1989,1996). But there is a complete lack of informa- tion on the limnological study of Maipura estuary. The present study is aimed to elucidate the level of organic pollution in Maipura estuary through algal pollution indices together with various physico- chemical properties.

The authors are thank Misra, Director, Regional liesearch Labo- ratory, Bh var for I t

Water pollution indices are commonly used for detection and evaluation of pol- lution load. Algae are known as reliable biological indicators of water pollution. (Palmer, 1969 and Patrick, 1971). They

characterized into phys ni- biological indices. Biolc di-

L C 3 ale aimed at providing ltulllcllcal version of the biological information espe- cially the species composition, the diver- sity of species, their distribution pattern and by the presence or absence of the indicator species or various groups etc. (Trivedy and Goel, 1984).

:tonic g~ flection

roups in of the

I a wate water q

; pollutic railable D..,L:l

Dn stress on the r ... I-... ..

;. A lot ( study o: ,A R-2.

3f inforr

f phyto1 ..A,. -"I

A

nation i! ?lanktor L..--*. ,.

can be I

cal and #.ern ,...a

Planktonic algae (phytoplankton) are the pri! s in pelagic food chain a! utrients like nitro- gen, phosphorous and silicate present in ambient water. Growth of different algae

marY P' nd they

roducer need n

interes

Plankton algae as water pollution index 169

during i received .. r - ~-

the invc 1 from tl

- r - -.

in the study and for kind permission to publish this paper. Thanks a k also due to other project team members for their help I stigation. Financial grant

he DOD, Govt. of India in tne rorm or a project is gratefully acknowl- edged. - - . . - Material and methode

before f: near W: -.

the bea

inds its heeler's

. ..

r distri I . . -

V'

! collect ;e was i

butory . . a majo of

isranman1 rlver which joins a rivulet Patsala 1 way to the Bay of Bengal : Island. The river flows in north-east direction (at a latitude of 20°40'N to 20°52'N and longitude 86'77'E to 87'05'E). The coastal areas as well as ches adjacent to Maipura estuary ~ t s a unique environment, which arrracrs lakhs of Olive ridley turtles for their nesting. In fact this area has been identified as worlds major rookery for the sea turtle, Olive ridley. The river on its way to Bay of Bengal forms a dense green stretch of mangrove forest along its side known as Bhitarkanika mangrove. Tide plays an important role for the diurnal variation of hydrological characteristics in Maipura estuary. Its annual cycle is influenced by both the southwest and northeast monsoon. Water and algal samples were collected during low tide from six stations (Fig. 1) through a series of cruises corresponding to the post mon- soon (Nov, 1998), pre monsoon (April, 1999) and monsoon (Aue. 1999) seasons. In each season sample ions were made and their averag taken into consideration. Out of six stations three are in upper reaches while one in the

Fig. 1 . Station locations around Maipura estuay

ore regi rameter . . I

lary anc .- f--- ,

rhemical >oratory

A n r r A

gradient zone of the estu I one in the inshore region, and One lruirl the near shc on. Different physico-c I

I

Pa s were analyzed in la1 r

using me procedures given in firnfi (1985) and by Trivedy and Goel (1986). The phytoplankton samples collected from each of the stations were preserved in 4% formalin fc ol's Iodine solu- tion.

Re nd disc

rature :

zussion

The sur face wa ter tem- perature recorded during sample collec- tion varied from 23.2"C to 31°C. Mini- mum temperature was observed during monsoon season, while the maximum was noticed during premonsoon period.

Saliniq samples a L

6.83-33.37500. ~vluuulluir~ b d l u ~ ~ ~ y w a3 UV-

served during monsoon maximum salinity was ex ing pre-monsoon period wnen rrle nver

inflow was minimum (Fig. 2).

r : Sali~ ~f the sl n nK:-.

~i ty valr tudy an

- le wate~ .d from r a v e - -L

n while .ed dur- L- L----

S. N. Panigrahi et al.

- showed conspicuous seasonal variations

' . I (Fig - 3). Nitrate and nitrite contents varied , 1 from 0.07 to 12.96p011-~ and 0.14 to 6.57

mol 1-I vely. In general higher alues w lorted during the post-

respecti 'ere rep

I 0 I I

~~lonsoon and monsoon periods. Silicate i mii

o-- " concentration varied from 1.21 pnol l-I to

/: 1 26.28 pmol I-' with a maximum value occurring during post monsoon followed by the monsoon, and pre monsoon peri-

I 8 8 .- - - - - I 5 - 51.1m ! 2 1 . ods in order. P0,3-P contents were usu- I ' . -' " I

ally low 3ared to the nitrate and as coml le level a.

Fig. 2. Saasonal variations of different physicochemi- nitrite. 'R of Poi3 - P ranged from cal characteristics 33 to l .ybpol

pH : le study collection v ' '

Seasonwise po erate change 1

'.68-7.98 during during monso

During the pre sent inv I . ...-. estigatic:

* . - 3

>n plank .. area dw ring Sam " .a ,. ~nic algae were iaenmea ana tne p o ~ ~ u - / .4Y-8.33. tion toler era (Pal 69) were

a mod- only listel he othe~ ignored. post-mon- rhose genera, which were present 50 and Insoon 2 >ove individuals per ml of water were xi (Fig. :counted for. The numbers scored by

ariea oled da k. 7.49-

rrom ta show 8.35 in

ant genl d and tl

mer, 191 rs were

soon, 7 7.7-8.31

pre-mo on peric

L 1

a1 2). ac:

vu : Dissolved oxygen values Vaned from 4.88 - 8.78 mgl-I. Highest value was noticed during post monsoon period at station ? lowest during nsoon s

Bob : ~iochemical oxygen demand values varied from 0.62-5.85, 2.14-4.55 and 0.93 - 3.7 mgl-I during post-monsoon, pre-monsoon and monsoon 1 re- spectively (Fig - 2). The magnih 3D in the estuarine area were slignt~y nigh

of ted

each genera as proposed by Palmer (1969) are totaled to get the value of algal genus index. A score of 20 or more for a sample

;r -1 whilc pre mo

value v ieason (:

?as notic Fig. 2).

indicat

-*- $3"

ion of 1

C M +I

and inc iicated pollutic: ..

the pos In, migE

;itive sp kt have c organic

.- .l rrom tne aajacent mangrove rorest a through river run-off.

Nutrients : All the four nutrients E.,.,

nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and silicate Fig. 3. Seasonal variations of diferent nutrients

Plankton algae as water pollution index 171

Table 1 Pollution tolerant genera o f al.qac ftum 6 stations o f Maipurn cstuan~ in order of decreasing emphasis (Palmer - 1969).

Genus Group

Statia

k1

Euglena F + -

Scenedesmus G + + - + - Nihschia D + + + + +

Melosira D + + + + +

Stephanodiscus D + -

Dicmhaer ium G + + - * Group: BBlue green algae, DDiatoms, G-Green algae, F-Flagellates

while a score of 15-19 denotes the pres- (1969) has shown that genera like Euglena, ence or moderate rate of organic pollu- Oscillatoria, Scenedesmus, Nitzchia and tion. Navicula are generally found in organi-

emphas genera

;is (Tab were id * .

.nt gene .. . ra of all The pollution tolera cally polluted w: d the same also 3ae has been endorse are listed according to tneir aecreasing el et. al. (1986).

le 1). A total ( ~ c h The result of the present study agrees with

lentified. Out o 10 the contentions of the above authors.

yceae a1

3f 15 SI

f these, - ... genera belong to the n o u p Bacillario- It has been observed from the present phyceae, 2 each to tl .p Chloro- study that samples with low nutrient phyceae and Cyanoph nd one be- (nitrate and nitrite) concentrations have longs to the group Euglenophyceae. Gen- lower scores of pollution indices (9-12) era like Navicula, Nitzschia, Pinnularia, whereas samples of higher nutrient con- Asterionella and Melosira were dominant centrations showed the high level of or- in all the stations and seasons. Palmer ganic pollution.

, N. Pani,

Table 2 Pollution indices of genera at all the stations of Maivura RibcI l r u r r r r c r - Index Nu Stations

Palmer's I

Bacillariophyceae

Nauicula Nitzschia Synedra Cyclotella Melosira Fmgillaria Stephanodiscus Pinnularia Diatoma Asterionella Cyanophyceae Anabaena Oscillatoria Chlorophyceae

Euglenophyceae Euglena Total Scores

Fron A ,,,L

~ollutio1 U ~ : ~ C I I U C U uy 1-alll~e1 (1969) (Tauit: - L, 11.

has been observed that stations 1, 2 and 3 scored above 20 while station-4 scored 17. This indicates that the river (static -1, 2 and 3) and estuarine (Station - water of Maipura is relatively more 1 luted than the coastal areas. The coastal (station 5 & 6) stations scored 9-12, indi- cating thereby that organic pollution load in estuarine and coastal region is not high. This may be due to the mixing of river water in the estuarine and coastal region.

n the res ,A L-* n

eferenc .bU

A P H A. 19 ard methods for the examina- ~d wastewater. 14th Edition. Ith. Asso. New York.

. Y. Kulka I

175. Stand( water an

n Publ. H tion of America

)el, P. K., S. D., Kha ~tavkar, A Pollution

'anigrahy

mi and R 1 : 79-84.

lian J. Ma1

rdy. 1986.

nd R. C. 1

Res., 5(21

,. 1989 Ind Sci., 18

- 1996 In - .

: 246.

dian J. Mi , - . Palmer, L. M. I Y ~ Y . 1. ~ n y c o t 5 : /a-L(L.

Pa 4u34 IL.

Tr ?mica1 and ' a 1 mernoas ror warer pouunon studies.

Environmental Publications, Karad, India.

tric R. 19:

ivedy, R. bioloPic

71. Limnc

K. and P. . . .*- -

gr. 16(2) :

1986. Chc -.. . - - I , . - . !