Ecological diversity of species and its measurement in lentic ecosystem in Mysuru

Abstract

The paper attempts to give an account of fresh water algae as an indicator of water quality. Eight lakes of Mysore have been studied. The Palmers Index IDSELS Diatom index and OMNIDA software, were used for calculated and analysed. The order of tolerance to organic pollution was calculated using the Garrett ranking techniques .According to Palmer index all the eight lakes were organically polluted. Bogadi lake was least polluted and Karanji lakes and mandakahalli lake were polluted. The present investigation compares the use of old and new techniques of detecting the water quality. It also enables us to understand whether the algae is imparting organic pollution of lake water. The species index indicated that Bogadi lake, Hadinarru lake, Karanji lake & Bilikere lake had low organic pollution. The diatom index showed that all lakes ranged between moderate and high organic pollution but the degradation levels in the water was also high. Dalvoi lake and Mandakahalli lake had the highest organic pollution. Species of Euglena and Scenedesmus were the most tolerant species found in organic polluted lakes. Algae were found to be highly resistant in Karanji lake, Dalvoi lake, Kukkarahalli lake and bilekere lake. These sites were found to be conducible for the growth of algae, while most of the other lakes had idiosynthcratic species. This study uses the advanced modern tools in determining levels of organic pollution in lake ecosystem.