Community Structure of Plankton at Central Kalimantan Peat Swamp Area

Abstract

Land opening activities for agricultural purposes in Central Kalimantan peat swamp area lead the change of water quality. There will be a different pattern of hydrology between wet and dry season that will influence the existence of plankton. The aim of the study was to understand the plankton community structure of Central Kalimantan peat swampin two different seasons, the wet and dry season. The research was carried out by taking samples for water quality and plankton observation in eight sites. The data analysis consisted of spatial clustering analysis based on Canberra Index of water quality, diversity index, and PCA of plankton community and water quality relationship. The result showed that there were separately clustered channel waters between natural and artificial; with 56 and 36 species of phytoplankton, and zooplankton, respectively. The numbers of species were higher in wet season than in dry season. The most different conditions between the seasons were water current velocity and depth of waters. The plankton communities were highly correlated to depth, conductivity, and water current condition.