Diversity and Community Composition of Zooplankton In Three Wetlands of Fatehabad, Haryana

The present study was designed to determine the species diversity and composition of zooplankton of three lentic water bodies from district Fatehabad, Haryana, India. The assessment was done from December, 2012 to November, 2013. A total of 32 species of zooplankton were identified from this study. Rotifera recorded the highest number of species (13) followed by Cladocera (11), which in turn was followed by Copepoda (6), Ostracoda and Insecta (1 species each). Maximum number of zooplankton species (26) were reported from Chilli lake, whereas, Daulatpuria Pond reported the minimum number of species (18). Dominant zooplankton reported at study sites were Nauplius sp., Mesocyclops sp., Phyllodiaptomus sp., Brachionus. falcatus, B. quadridentatus, B. caudatus, Diaphanosoma sp. and Chironomous larva. Presence of a number of pollution tolerant species of zooplankton such as Brachionus quadridentatus, Keratella sp., Ceriodaphnia, Miona sp., Mesocyclops sp., Monostyla sp.and Diaphanosoma sp. indicates the eutrophic nature of the water bodies. keywords: Diversity, Zooplankton, Rotifera, Cladocera.


INTroDUCTIoN
Wetlands are the most productive ecosystem of the world comparable to coral reefs and rainforests 1 .However, human activities like leaching of noxious liquids from solid waste deposits or untreated waste discharge reach a climax which has undesirable effects on aquatic environment 2 .In addition, aquatic ecosystems are severely affected by anthropogenic activities.The use of various ecological methods is important to know the health status of an aquatic ecosystem.Further, the water quality influences the species composition, abundance, productivity and physiological conditions of the aquatic community and water quality is indicated by the structure and composition of these aquatic communities 3 .Zooplankton are the microscopic organisms found in aquatic ecosystems.They are important link in transformation of energy from producers to consumers due to their large density, drifting nature, high species diversity and different tolerance to the stress and formulate the base of food chains and food webs of all aquatic ecosystems.They act as important bioindicators and eutrophication level of aquatic bodies is characterized by the presence and relative abundance of various zooplankton species 4,5 .They also play a major role in recycling nutrients as well as cycling energy in their respective environments 6 .The zooplankton in Indian water bodies consists of diverse assemblage of major taxonomic groups.Many of these forms have different environmental and physiological assemblage.The number, type and distribution of these organisms present in any aquatic habitat provide a clue on the environmental condition prevailing in that particular habitat.It is seen that many environmental factors interact to provide conditions for the growth of zooplankton both spatially and seasonally 7 .A number of studies have been conducted on freshwater zooplankton in various part of India [8][9][10] .But the ecological studies related to fresh water bodies and the zooplankton diversity were very scanty in Fatehabad district (Haryana, India), the present research, an attempt has been made to study the diversity of zooplankton and to compare the biotic component in the selected water bodies.

Chilli Lake (Urban Lake)
It is situated on the outskirts of city Fatehabad (Haryana, India), along the 500 year old historical fort of Mogul emperor Firoz Shah at geographical coordinates of29.51'N to 75.45'E.Besides the fort, a 250 year old temple of Lord Krishana, a gurdwara and a marhi of goddess are also situated around the lake.Chilli was once a place for recreation and amusement but due to dumping of garbage in the lake its very existence is in peril now.The sewage water of most parts of the town is being allowed to put in this lake

bhodia khera Temple pond (rural religious pond)
It issituated in the village Bhodia Khera at geographical coordinates of 29.49 to 75.42'E.On one side of the pond, there is an ancient temple at which each year thousands of devotees comes to attend the religious ceremony and fare.Effluents from the temple are poured directly into the pond.Villagers also wash clothes at the pond which further causes water pollution due to detergents.The pond is also leased out for fish culture.

Daulatpuria pond (rural pond)
It is present at the border of village Daulatpuria at geographical coordinates of 29.55'N to75.40'E.The pond is affected by anthropogenic activities as domestic animals visit the pond in morning as well as evening for drinking water.Also, the pond is leased out for fish culture.

Methods Used
Plankton samples were collected by filtering 50L water through a plankton net of mesh 50µm.Qualitative and quantitative analyses was carried out following standard methods 11 .Evenness and diversity indices were also calculated using standard methodologies [12][13][14] .Zooplankton were

rEsULTs aND DIsCUssIoN
A total of 32 zooplankton taxa were recorded from three study sites (Table 1) of which Rotifera was represented by 13 species followed by Cladocera with 11 species, Copepoda with 6 species, Ostracoda and Insecta with 1 species each (Plate 2 and 3).Per cent contribution of different groups of zooplankton is shown in Fig. 2. In CL, 26 taxa of zooplankton were recorded which included 11 taxa of Cladocera (42.31%), 7 taxa of Rotifera  Cladocera are designated as bioindicatorsand represent the eutrophic status of water body due to pollution 18,19 .Presence of large number of Cladocerans in the present study supports the view.In the present study, chironomous larvae is present at all the study sites which indicates the degraded water quality as the larvae are pollution tolerant and can occur in low oxgen conditions 20 .Occurrence of Brachionusquadridentatus, Keratella sp., Ceriodaphnia, Miona sp., Mesocyclops sp., Monostyla sp.andDiaphanosoma sp.shows the eutrophic nature of water body [21][22][23][24][25] .The present study also supports the views and these pollution tolerant species of zooplankton were found to be present at the study sites which indicate the eutrophic nature of the water bodies.