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Impact of barrages on assemblage pattern of phytoplankton in tropical river Ganga, India

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Abstract

The occurrence, abundance, and distribution of phytoplankton have been investigated upstream and downstream of three barrages on the river Ganga at Bijnor, Narora, and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. A total of 104 phytoplankton species belonging to eight phyla (Bacillariophyta, Charophyta, Chlorophyta, Cryptophyta, Cyanophyta, Euglenophyta, Miozoa, and Ochrophyta) were identified during the sampling period. During the summer, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons, the density of phytoplankton (Ind. L−1) ranged from 9.6 × 104 to 2.03 × 107, 9.6 × 104 to 4.5 × 105, and 2.2 × 105 to 2.17 × 106, respectively. The species abundance and the relative abundance showed an increasing trend from the first (Bijnor) to the third (Kanpur) barrage, suggesting a gradual decrease in river flow and an increase in residence time. Phytoplankton cell density in Kanpur, however, was unexpectedly higher and showed eutrophic conditions attributable to elevated organic load and surplus nutrients from the land runoff. One-way ANOVA (post-hoc Tukey test) showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) seasonal variation in temperature, transparency, free CO2, PO43−, and dissolved organic matter. Analysis of Pearson’s correlation coefficient suggested a statistically significant correlation (p < 0.05) of mostly phytoplanktonic groups with free CO2, CO32−, HCO3−, Cl−, specific conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, Mg2+, PO43−, and SiO44−. The minimum species diversity was recorded during the monsoon season, while the maximum diversity was reported during the post-monsoon season which might be due to high nutrient load and a high concentration of PO43− post-monsoon. We concluded that aquatic biodiversity and ecological structure could be adversely influenced by a series of obstructed barrages and dams, which influenced the assemblage pattern of phytoplankton communities.

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Data availability

The data of the present study are available from ICAR-CIFRI. However, restrictions may be applied to the availability which was used under license for this study. Data can be available from the corresponding author with the permission of the funding agency upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Director, ICAR-CIFRI, for supporting and carrying out this study. The authors are thankful to S. K. Srivastava and Vijay Kumar for technical support and Jai Ram Prasad and Munshi Ram Rana for field support.

Funding

This study was part of the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR) project “Impact assessment of multiple habitat alterations on ecosystem functions and fisheries in rivers”.

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  1. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute 24, Panna Lal Road, Allahabad-211002, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Jeetendra Kumar, Absar Alam & Dharm Nath Jha

  2. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, CGO Complex, (2nd floor, C-Wing), DF Block, Salt Lake, Kolkata, 700064, West Bengal, India

    Pranab Gogoi

  3. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute Regional Center, HOUSEFEED Complex, Dispur (Last Gate), Guwahati, 781006, Assam, India

    Simanku Borah

  4. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata, 700120, West Bengal, India

    Basanta Kumar Das

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Kumar, J., Alam, A., Jha, D.N. et al. Impact of barrages on assemblage pattern of phytoplankton in tropical river Ganga, India. Environ Monit Assess 194, 804 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10484-z

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