Chapter 2 - A mathematical model-based approach to assessing water pollution through the ecodynamics of freshwater zooplankton community and remediation strategies

Abstract

Water pollution including eutrophication of freshwater bodies is one of the biggest universal concerns of 21st century which might result in biodiversity loss of aquatic environment producing a lethal impact on native aquatic organisms and thereby negatively affecting human health. In our study, the eutrophication status of wetlands was evaluated by doing bioassessment of ecological variations using various biostatistical tools and biotic indices. Three ecologically distinct aquatic systems were studied in temporal and spatial scales over 2years to enlighten unresolved issues on zooplanktonic diversity and its reciprocity with the physicochemical parameters. Various causal relationships between anthropogenic activities and environmental impacts were represented via different mathematical models. Zooplankton species showed highest density in pisciculture impoundments (ECO1). The maximum species diversity was noted in macrophyte-infested wetlands (ECO2). A bimodal fluctuation in zooplankton density was noticed in ECO1 annually whereas a unimodal trend was seen in ECO2 and ECO3 (perennial floodplain waterbodies).