Abundance and Diversity of Zooplankton and Its Seasonal Variation in the Water of Sahebbandh, Purulia, India: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

A quantitative study on the abundance and diversity of zooplankton and its seasonal variation in the water of SahebBandh, Purulia, the only source of drinking water in Purulia town, has been done. Four major groups of zooplanktons, viz. Rotifera, Copepoda, Cladocera and Ostracoda have been identified in the water. Bio-diversity indices have been used to monitor the community composition of the zooplanktons and environmental standards or quality of the environment of SahebBandh. Five indices, viz., Shannon-Wiener diversity index (ψ), Index of species richness (μ), Index of dominance (η), Evenness index (ε) and Sorensen's index of similarity (θ_S) are employed and estimated in the present investigation. Seasonal variation of these indices has been studied.