Status of zooplankton diversity in lake Kharungpat, Manipur, India

The zooplankton provide a direct link between primary producers and higher tropic levels. The present study was conducted during September, 2019 to August, 2020 in lake Kharungpat of Manipur which is situated towards the southern lowlands of the central valley of Manipur in the Kakching district. Cladocera, Copepoda and Rotifera were three major zooplankton groups identified with a percentage composition of 47.72, 33.87 and 18.41 percent, respectively. A total of 16 species under 13 families and 8 orders were identified in which Cyclops spp., and Brachionus spp. Daphnia spp. was observed highly abundant followed by Trichocerca spp. and Moina spp. Site wise biodiversity indices calculated showed that the Dominance index ‘D’ was found maximum in Site 2 (0.0997) followed by Site 1 (0.09947), Site 5 (0.09826), Site 3 (0.09628) and Site 4 (0.09315). The Simpson index was found highest in Site 4 (0.9068) followed by Site 3, Site 5, Site 1 and Site 2 with an index value of 0.09037, 0.9017, 0.9005 and 0.9002, respectively. The Shannon index value for Site 1, Site 2, Site 4 and Site 5 were 2.535, 2.538, 2.557, 2.552 and 2.525, respectively. The Evenness richness index showed maximum value in Site 3 (0.8059) followed by Site 4 (0.8017), Site 2 (0.7906), Site 1 (0.7888) and Site 5 (0.7809). The ecological conservation and management of the lake by giving due emphasis on zooplankton community structure should be taken up to managed the lake.