Current World Environment

Introduction

Biodiversity refers to the variability among living organisms from all sources including inter alia, terrestrial, freshwater and marine aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are the part (Convention on biological diversity, UNEP, 1992). Hosetti (2002) has described it as the library of life, i.e., variety of all genes, species of microorganisms, plants animals and ecosystems that are found on our planet. India has rich biodiversity as it lies at the junction of three bio-geographical provinces of Africa, Temperate Eurasia and Oriental and, as a result, it has biological heritage that qualifies it as one of the 12 mega diversity nations of the World (Kothari, 1994). According to Hosetti and Caplan (2001), more than 45000 species of plants and 65000 species of animals have been recorded from the Indian subcontinent representing 7 % and 6.5 % of the world’s flora and fauna respectively. Wetlands are one of the crucial natural resources and are areas of land that are either temporarily or permanently covered by water. This means that a wetland is neither truly aquatic nor terrestrial; it is possible that wetlands can be both at the same time depending on seasonal variability. Thus, wetlands exhibit enormous diversity according to their genesis, geographical location, water regime and chemistry, dominant plants and soil or sediment characteristics (National Wetland Atlas, 2010).Water resources support rich biodiversity. The qualitative and quantitative studies have been utilized to assess the quality of water (Adoni et al., 1985; Shekhar et al., 2008). Phytoplankton are the primary producers forming the first trophic level in the food chain. Many phytoplankton species have served as bio-indicators (Tiwari and Chauhan, 2006; Hoch et al., 2008). In an aquatic system zooplankton play a critical role not only as primary consumer but also they themselves serve as a source of food for higher organisms. Zooplankton provide the main food for fishes and can be used as an indicator of trophic status of any aquatic body (Verma and Munshi, 1987).There are many wetlands available in different parts of the country. The wetlands are highly productive areas with rich biodiversity. They serve as spawning and nursery ground for birds and hence can be used as an excellent area for conservation of rare and endangered species (Rao, 2008). According to Buckton (2007), wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world and their functions include flood control, aquifer recharge, nutrient absorption and erosion control. In addition, they provide home for huge diversity of wildlife such as birds, mammals, fish, frogs, insects and plants. Very scanty information is available on biodiversity of wetlands in the study area. Therefore, the present investigation was planned to record the biodiversity (avian diversity, phytoplankton diversity and zooplankton diversity) prevalent in wetlands of district Hisar (Haryana).

Materials and Methods

Study Area

The Hisar district, a part of the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plain is situated between 28°53’45” to 29°49’15” N latitudes and 75°13’15” to 76°18’15” E longitudes (Fig. 1). The area experiences a sub-tropical climate. To record the prevalent avian, phytoplankton and zooplankton diversity in the study area, four ponds were selected, one from each of the village, namely, Dabra, Dhamana, Kanwari and Nalwa.
 

Figure 1: Showing Map of study area  Click here to View figure

Methodology

To achieve the proposed objectives, following methodology was used:

To identify the avian diversity of the study area

Periodic fortnightly visits were conducted in the selected sites in the morning (06:00 to 10:00 hrs) and later in the evening (15:00 to 18:00 hrs) using line transect method (Gaston, 1975; Sales and Berkmuller, 1988), and point count method (Altman, 1974). Birds were photographed and were subsequently identified using “A pocket guide of the birds of the Indian subcontinent” by Grimett et al. (1999). Classification of the observed bird species was done following Manakandan and Pittie (2001).

Table 1: Waterbird species and their distribution in study sites  

S. No.	Order	Common Name	Scientific Name	Study sites
				Dabra	Dhamana	Kanwari	Nalwa
1	Anseriformes	Spotbilled Duck	Anas poecilorhyncha	+	+	+	+
2	Coraciiformes	Pied Kingfisher	Ceryle rudis	+	+	+	+
		White-throated Kingfisher	Halcyon smyrnensis	+	+	+	+
3	Cuculiformes	Asian Koel	Eudynamys scolopacea	+	+	+	+
		Crow Pheasant	Centropus sinensis	+	+	+	+
4	Psittaciformes	Rose ringed Parakeet	Psittacula krameri	+	+	+	+
5	Gruiformes	White breasted Waterhen	Amaurornis phoenicurus	+	+	+	+
		Indian Purple Moorhen	Porphyrio poliocephalus	+	+	+	+
6	Charadriiformes	Common Sandpiper	Actitis hypoleucos	+	+	+	+
		Black winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus	+	+	+	+
		Red-wattled Lapwing	Vanellus indicus	+	+	+	+
7	Pelecaniformes	Little Cormorant	Phalacrocorax niger	+	+	+	+
		Indian Pond Heron	Ardeola grayii	+	-	+	+
8	Ciconiformes	Little Egret	Egretta garzetta	+	+	-	+
		Great Egret	Casmerodius albus	+	+	-	+
9	Passeriformes	White-browed Wagtail	Motacilla maderaspatensis	+	+	+	+
		Red-vented Bulbul	Pycnonotus cafer	+	+	+	+

+ indicates presence, - indicates absence

Table 2: Phytoplankton species and their distribution in the selected study sites
 

S. No.	Phytoplankton		Study Sites
			Dabra	Dhamana	Kanwari	Nalwa
1.	Chlorophyceae (5 species)	Chlorella vulgaris	+	+	+	+
		Scenedesmus sps	+	+	+	+
		Ulothrix sps	+	+	+	+
		Tetraspora sps.	+	+	+	+
		Coelastrum sps	+	+	+	+
2.	Cyanophyceae (4 species)	Microcystis aeruginosa	+	+	+	-
		Oscillatoria sps	+	+	+	+
		Spirulinasps	+	+	-	-
		Synechococcussps	+	-	-	-
3.	Bacillariophyceae (7 species)	Navicula radiosa	+	+	+	+
		Navicula oblonga	-	+	+	-
		Cyclotella sps	+	+	+	+
		Gomphonema gracile	+	-	+	+
		Nitzschia sps	+	+	+	+
		Cymbella sps	+	-	-	+
		Cocconeis placentula	+	+	+	-
4.	Euglenophyceae (2 species)	Euglena sps	-	+	-	+
		Phacus sps	-	+	-	+

+ indicates presence, - indicates absence

To study the diversity of phytoplankton and zooplankton

Approximate 50 L of water from each selected site was filtered through planktonic net (50µm mesh size). Samples were preserved in 4% formalin and were analyzed as per the standard methodologies (Needham and Needham, 1962; APHA, 1998; Shrivastava, 2005).

Results and Discussion

Avian Diversity

A total number of 17 wetland bird species (Table 1) belonging to 9 orders (Anseriformes, Charadriiformes, Ciconiformes, Coraciiformes, Cuculiformes, Gruiformes, Passeriformes, Psittaciformes, Pelecaniformes) were recorded from all the selected sites in the study area. However, Gupta and Bajaj (1997) recorded 23 wetland bird species at Brahmsarovar, Kurukshetra (Haryana). Similarly, Bajaj (2002) observed 88 wetland bird species in 4 bird sanctuaries in Haryana. Tirshem (2008) reported 80 waterbirds from Northern districts of Haryana, India.

Table 3: Zooplankton species and their distribution in the selected study sites
 

S. No.	Zooplankton		Study sites
			Dabra	Dhamana	Kanwari	Nalwa
1.	Rotifera (7 species)	Brachionus angularis	+	+	+	+
		Brachionus quadridentatus	+	+	+	+
		Brachionus forficula	+	-	-	+
		Brachionus caudatus	+	-	+	-
		Asplanchna  sps	+	+	+	+
		Testudinella sps	+	+	+	+
		Keratella sps	+	+	-	+
2.	Cladocera (3 species)	Daphnia sps	+	+	+	+
		Miona sps	+	+	-	+
		Bosmina sps	-	+	-	+
3.	Copepoda (1 species)	Cyclops sps	+	+	+	+

+ indicates presence, - indicates absence

Phytoplankton Diversity

Eighteen species of phytoplankton (Table 2) were recorded from the selected sites during the study period. Bacillariophyceae was predominant accounting for 7 species, followed by Chlorophyceae with 5 species, Cyanophyceae with 4 species and Euglenophyceae with 2 species. Dominance of Bacillariophyceae was also reported in earlier studies (Das and Panda, 2010; Mary Kensa, 2011).

Zooplankton Diversity

During the present investigation, a total number of 11 species  of zooplankton were encountered. Out of these, 7 species belonged to Rotifera, 3 species to Cladocera and only 1 species to Copepoda. Rotifers were dominant in comparison with Cladocera and Copepod. This is supported by different research articles (Güher, 2003; Saksena, 1987; Kumar et al,. 2011) in which predominance of rotifers were observed. Dominance of Rotifers is characteristic of tropical water bodies as it has been reported by various authors (Egborge, 1981 and Mwebaza-Nadwula, 2005).

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