Seasonal variation of algal vegetation in Karkari river at Ranchi, Jharkhand

Present paper deals with the seasonal variation of algal vegetation growing in Karkari River at Tamar block of Ranchi district. First report on this river for exploration and documentation of the fresh water algae has been done by the authors. A regular seasonal collection has been made during several field trips between the period of March 2009 to February 2011. In total 74 taxa belonging to four different classes viz. Cyanophyceae (21), Chlorophyceae (36), Euglenophyceae (2) and Bacillariophyceae (15) were identified. All taxa have been allotted to their suggested orders. Important genera recorded were Gloeotrichia, Nostoc, Scenedesmus, Ulothrix, Cladophora, Zygnema, Sirogonium etc. It was observed that the algal vegetation was recorded maximum during winter and minimum during rainy season.