Abstract:
The study is aimed to obtain a baseline data on the phytoplankton community of River Jehlum in Srinagar city and for this purpose samples were collected from four study sites from June to November 2011. During the entire study period, a total of 53 taxa belonging to Bacillariophycea (24) Chlorophyceae (17) Cyanophyceae (9) Euglenophyceae (2) and Chrysophyceae (1) were recorded. Almost a clear dominance of Bacillariophyceae over Chlorophyceae, Euglenophyceae and Cyanophyceae was observed throughout the study period. Phytoplankton displayed its maximum population in the month of October displaying its peak growth. The perusal of data at different study sites revealed no apparent changes in species composition of phytoplankton at different study sites as supported by diversity and similarity index values. Though the number of common taxa recorded from all the sites were 24 yet genera like Desmidium, Achnanthes, Epithemia, Hantzschia, Rhizosolenia and Microcystis were observed from sites III only, being recognized as the most polluted site.
Bisma Zahoor Hafiz, Ashok K. Pandit and Javaid Ahmad Shah, 2014. Phytoplankton Community of River Jehlum in Kashmir Himalaya. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 7: 326-336.
Subscribe Today 
