Ecological study of periphyton diversity in crenic habitat of Sahashradhara (Garhwal Himalayas, India)

Abstract

A maiden attempt has been made to present a biodiversity of periphyton of the Sahashradhara springs, a group of one thousand springs and one of the most important clusters of limnocrenes and rheocrenes springs located in Doon Valley of Garhwal-Himalayas. The environmental monitoring of periphyton community of Sahashradhara springs was carried out for one complete annual cycle (October 2011-September 2012. Annual percentage composition of periphyton revealed that major contribution was represented by Bacillariophyceae (68-70%) followed by Chlorophyceae (26-28%) and Myxophyceae (3-5%). A total of 29 species of periphyton were recorded from different springs of Sahashradhara. A significant correlation between diversity of periphyton and environmental parameters-temperature, turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, free CO 2 , alkalinity, FPOM and CPOM was observed. Regression analysis was performed between density of periphyton and physico-chemical variables, which revealed that temperature, conductivity, alkalinity, CO 2 , TDS, CPOM and FPOM were found to have strong influence on the density and diversity of periphyton of Sahashradhara springs.