Biodiversity and community composition of phytoplankton in three lentic water bodies of different human use

An assessment of phytoplankton diversity of three lentic water bodies of different human use was carried out for a period of one year from January 2010 to December 2010. The three sites differed in their anthropogenic activities such as recreational, crocodile breeding & rearing and religious. A total of sixty three genera of phytoplankton have been identified from these study sites. Results revealed a significant decline in the population of phytoplankton in Recreational lake; a slight increase in population of phytoplankton at Crocodile breeding centre pond and maximum phytoplankton population at Religious pond. The rich floral diversity indicated high productive nature of Religious pond and Crocodile breeding centre pond. Species diversity index for phytoplankton also followed a similar trend. The study further indicates that seasonally the total population was high during summer months.