ecology of konam reservoir

STUDIES ON PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PARAMETERS
AND PROTOZOOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE IN
KONAM RESERVOIR, VISAKHAPATNAM,
ANDHRA PRADESH-INDIA
Dr V.RATNA BHARATHI
LECTURER IN ZOOLOGY
Dr. V.S. KRISHNA GOVT. DEGREE & PG COLLEGE
(AUTONOMOUS) NAAC-A GRADE,
VISAKHAPATNAM

INTRODUCTION
 Planktonic protozoa are ubiquitous group of microorganisms
endowed with significant role in the overall productivity and
economy of aquatic ecosystems.
 Exhibit wide variety of life strategies quickly responds to the
environmental changes spatially & temporally (leakey et. al.,
1992)
 Act as Important links in Microbial loop (Azam et. al., 1983)
 Key role in Energy flow and nutrient recycling
 Act as biological indicators of changing environmental
conditions
 Their distribution, abundance and diversity has significant
impact on micro zooplankton community, existing hydrological
conditions and fisheries of aquatic ecosystems.

 India a peninsular subcontinent and highly populated
country has immense need of water conservation
mechanisms for potable water, agriculture and freshwater
aquaculture to cater the needs of population.
 Increased agriculture activities and fresh water conservation
is possible only through irrigation. Government of India
undertaken measures to conserve water through Irrigation
projects in suitable geographical areas of significant rainfall,
foot hills of mountain ranges etc.
 Reservoirs are kind of freshwater ecosystems provide
water supply and flood control downstream and study on
such storage reservoirs helps us to monitor the healthiness of
water by studying the hydrological conditions and biotic
communities.
INTRODUCTION TO RESERVOIRS

 Study aimed at Evaluating the Physico-Chemical
variables for understanding the prevailing water
quality of reservoir waters.
 To examine the species composition of Proto-
zooplankton
 To enumerate the abundance of protozooplankton
 To analyse the faunal assemblages and correlate
with prevailing hydrological conditions
OBJECTIVES

 Konam Reservoir is Located at Visakhapatnam District,
Andhra Pradesh.
 Govt. of Andhra Pradesh constructed Minor Irrigation
Project on River Bodderu that formed by rain fed water
from eastern ghats and flowing in southeast for 16 kms and
finally join the tributaries of Sarada River.
 863 acres of Agricultural land is using the waters of this
reservoir.
 20 water users associations formed
 Depth of the reservoir is nearly 12m during monsoon period
(July - September)
Description of study Area

Station locations (Towards dam gates)

 Monthly sampling from July 2015- June 2016 along six
selected locations (GPS)
 Field observations and Laboratory analysis of Water quality
variables include Water temperature, pH, turbidity, sechhi-
disc transparency, DO, chlorophyll-a, nutrients, TN, TP,
estimated by following APHA .
 Biological observations included fresh observations and
quantitative enumeration by lugol’s iodine fixation method.
 Taxonomic Identification of dominant genera
 Enumeration by using Sedjwick-Rafter counting Chamber and
the counts expressed in nos/ml
 Statistical analysis of Data by using Primer. (MDS and Cluster
analysis).
Sampling protocols

 Notable spatial and temporal changes in the water quality
observed during the study period
 Spatial differences revealed that dam side area is varied
from catchment area with perceptible temporal variations
noticed.
 Hot month season (April 2016 to June 2016) showed raise in
the values of turbidity, pH, Dissolved oxygen, nitrite,
ammonia and chlorophyll-a.
 Monsoon period showed maximum values of depth, secchi-
disc transparency and nitrate were observed.
 Linear regression analysis carried out to find the one to one
relationships of water quality parameters.
Results

Characteristics Min Max Mean SD
Water temp. (°C) 25 33 29.74 2.34
Depth (m) 3 11.95 8.11 2.83
Secchi disc (m) 0.76 2 1.09 0.22
Turbidity (NTU) 2.74 106 26.4 33.13
pH 6.5 8.49 7.75 0.52
Dissolved oxygen (mg.l-1
) 3.95 12.78 8.59 2.01
Nitrite (µM) 0.06 0.6 0.19 0.13
Nitrate (µM) 2.42 12.33 6.58 2.61
Ammonia (µM) 0.18 6.34 1.83 1.65
DIN (µM) 3.64 13.55 8.6 2.31
Phosphate (µM) 0.41 2.44 0.99 0.58
Silicate (µM) 146.48 508.91 321.98 119.59
Total nitrogen (µM) 93.58 322.92 175.77 63.13
Total phosphorous (µM) 0.68 2.67 1.34 0.57
Chl-a (mg.m-3
) 8.31 35.4 16.32 8.32
Summary of physico-chemical characteristics

Group average
1
2
3
4
5
6
Stations
0 2 4 6
Distance
Normalise
Resemblance: D1 Euclidean distance
Groups
I
II
III
Normalise
Resemblance: D1 Euclidean distance
Groups
I
II
III
Distance
4.01
1
2
3
4
5
6
2D Stress: 0.01
Group - I
Group - II
Group - III
Euclidean Cluster Analysis
Results of cluster analysis were
super imposed on study area
Group-I
Group-II
Group-III

Water quality variation (station wise)
in Konam Reservoir
1.00
1.02
1.04
1.06
1.08
1.10
1.12
6.0
6.2
6.4
6.6
6.8
7.0
7.2
7.4
1 2 3 4 5 6
Secchi-disc
(mtrs)
Depth
(mtrs)
Stations
Depth Secchi-disc
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
0.15
0.17
0.19
0.21
0.23
0.25
1 2 3 4 5 6
Ammonia
(µM)
Nitrite
(µM)
Stations
Nitrite Ammonia
6.00
6.75
7.50
8.25
9.00
9.75
10.50
4.4
4.7
5.0
5.3
5.6
5.9
1 2 3 4 5 6
DIN
(µM)
Nitrate
(µM)
Stations
Nitrate DIN
1.80
1.85
1.90
1.95
2.00
2.05
2.10
2.15
2.20
2.25
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
145
1 2 3 4 5 6
TP
(µM)
TN
(µM)
Stations
TN TP

0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
Ammonia
(µM)
Nitrite
(µM)
Stations
Nitrite Ammonia
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
DIN
(µM)
Nitrate
(µM)
Stations
Nitrate DIN
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
Dissolved
oxygen
(mg/l)
Chlorophyll-a
(mg/m
3
)
Stations
Chl-a DO
Water quality variation (seasonal)
in Konam Reservoir

-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
pre monsoon monsoon post monsoon
28
A
Min
24
25
Wa
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Depth
(m)
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min -SD
SD
50%
Max
Min -SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
0.9
1.2
1.5
1.8
2.1
2.4
Secchi-disc
(m)
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
3
4
5
30
45
60
75
Turbidity
(NTU)
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
pH
***
ns
*** ns
ns
ns
***
***
**
***
***
ns
Box plots for spatial variations
* Indicates statistical significance level

-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
7.2
8.0
8.8
9.6
10.4
11.2
Dissolved
Oxygen
(mg.l
-1
)
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Nitrite
(

mol.l
-1
)
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
0
1
2
3
4
5
Ammonia
(

mol.l
-1
)
SD
Max
2.5
3.0
)
SD
Max
-SD
SD
50%
Max
450
500
550
*
***
*** ns
ns
ns
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
3.0
4.5
6.0
7.5
9.0
10.5
12.0
Nitrate
(

mol.l
-1
)
ns
ns
** ns
*
ns
***
*** ns
ns ***
***

-SD
50%
Min
-SD
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
0
1
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min -SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
0.5
1.0
2.0
2.5
3.0
Phosphate
(

mol.l
-1
)
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
Silicate
(

mol.l
-1
)
-SD
Min
-SD
50%
Min
3.0
4.5
***
*** ns
ns ***
***
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min -SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Chlorophyll-a
(mg.m
-3
)
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
-SD
SD
50%
Max
Min
M
M
pre monsoon monsoon post mon
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
Carbonate
(mg.l
-1
)
90
ns
**
ns ***
ns
***
ns

y= -65.86x + 86.55
R² =0.597
-10.0
10.0
30.0
50.0
70.0
90.0
110.0
0.50 0.70 0.90 1.10 1.30 1.50
Turbidity
(NTU)
Secchi-disc transparency(mtrs)
y= -37.26x + 186.3
R² =0.516
0.0
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
250.0
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00
DON
(µM)
Phosphate (µM)
y= 0.825x +2.986
R² =0.589
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00
Nitrate
(µM)
DIN (µM)
y= 21.80x +21.3
R² =0.747
0.0
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
250.0
300.0
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00
Nitrate
(µM)
TN (µM)
Linear regression plots of water quality
in Konam Reservoir

 Flagellates and ciliates are the two major groups observed
during one year study
 Total of 52 species encountered of which 17 species flagellates
and 35 species ciliates
 Flagellates mainly cryptomonads, dinoflagellates and euglenoids
Ciliates belonging to prostomatians, oligotrichs,
Choreotrichs, and peritrichs.
 Numerically flagellates outnumbered ciliates
 Spatially species composition and abundance patterns do not
varied much. Seasonally flagellates were numerically abundant
during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods followed ciliates.
Biological Observations

Area Total flagellates % composition Total ciliates % composition
Station 1 1916 14.2 528 15.6
Station2 2263 16.8 634 18.7
Station3 2186 16.2 713 21.0
Station4 2417 17.9 556 16.4
Station5 2754 20.4 522 15.4
Station6 1940 14.4 437 12.9
Total 13476 100.0 3390 100
Abundance

362 366
218
230 223
379
335
186
370
299 303
243
883
1481
1676
1135
910
304
697
1683
1802
1227
1802
1227
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Ciliates
Seasonal abundance of flagellates and ciliates at konam
reservoir (July 2015 to June 2016)
Ciliates Flagellates

Faunal Assemblages (Flagellates)
Group average
Cryptomonas sp.
Peridinium bipes
E. acus
Paranema sp
E.obtusa
Trachelomonas sp.
Spumella sp
Euglena viridis
Notosolenus sp.
E. oxyuris
Phacus tortus
Petalomonas sp.
Samples
100 80 60 40
Similarity
Transform: Square root
Resemblance: S17 Bray Curtis similarity
Group average
T. thermophila
Strobilidium gyrans
Halteria grandinella
Podophrya sp
Strombidium sulcatum
Tintinnids
Urotricha sp
Pelagostrombidium fallax
Prorodon sp
Holophry sp
Vorticella natans
Vorticella comapanula
Lohmaniella spiralis
Cyclidium sp
Coleps hirtus
Samples
100 90 80 70 60
Similarity
Transform: Square root
Resemblance: S17 Bray Curtis similarity
Faunal Assemblages (Ciliates)
Flagellates
Ciliates Assemblages

Coleps hirtus
Vorticella natans
oligitrichs
Indicative species

Planktonic flagellates of Konam Reservoir

Planktonic flagellates & ciliates
of Konam Reservoir

Conclusions
Species composition and abundance do not varied much
spatially.
Seasonally flagellates were numerically abundant during
pre-monsoon and post monsoon periods and ciliates
followed the flagellate abundance.
Cluster analysis revealed two assemblages of flagellates
and three assemblages of ciliates
Flagellate assemblage 1. belongs to euglenoids and
2. cryptomonads
Ciliate assemblage mostly by Oligotrichs and
prostomatians. Halteria grandinella and Strobilidium sp. are
most abundant species observed during the study
How ever the damside protozoan community differed from
catchment area with more existence of indicator species
like Coleps hirtus and vorticella natans at station 1 and
oligitrichs at catchment areas.

Conclusions
• Cluster analysis revealed two assemblages of flagellates
and three assemblages of ciliates
• Flagellate assemblage 1. belongs to euglenoids and 2.
cryptomonads
• Ciliate assemblage mostly by Oligotrichs and
prostomatians. Halteria grandinella and strobilidium sp.
Are most abundant species observed during the study
• How ever the damside protozoan community differed from
catchment area with more existance of indicator species
like Coleps hirtus and vorticella natans at station 1 and
oligitrichs at catchment areas.
Acknowledgements:
We are thankful to UGC for sponsoring this minor research project. We are grateful
to Marne Biological Laboratory, Andhra University for their logistic and laboratory
support. Also thankful to Principal Dr. V. S. Krishna Govt. degree college, VSP.

ecology of konam reservoir

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