Assessment of Physicochemical Parameters and Plankton Abundance of Three Selected Oxbow Lakes (Baor) of Jhenidah District, Bangladesh

Abstract

A study was conducted in three selected baors (oxbow lakes) in Jhenaidah district, namely Kapashatia, Chandpur, and Nityanandapur baor, from December 2016 to May 2017, to observe the fluctuations in water quality parameters and to estimate the abundance of the plankton population. Different physicochemical parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate, phosphate, and ammonia were measured; those parameters varied from 21.8 to 32ºC, 8.5 to 12.5 mg/L, 5.5 to 8.5, 0.02 to 7.1 mg/L, 0.02 to 1.2 mg/L, and 0.02 to 0.96 mg/L, respectively, in the study baors. These values were within the acceptable ranges for fish production. A total of 26 genera of phytoplankton under 7 groups belonging to Bacillariophyceae (8), Cyanophyceae (10), Coscinodiscophyceae (1), Euglenophyceae (2), Mediophyceae (1), Chlorophyceae (2), and Trebouxiophyceae (2), and six genera of zooplankton under four groups belonging to Copepoda (2), Rotifera (2), Cladocera (1), and Crustacea (1) were recorded from the study boars. Among the phytoplankton, the highest abundance of Cyanophyceae and the lowest abundance of Trebouxiophyceae were observed. Among the zooplankton, Rotifera was the most abundant group, and Cladocera was the least abundant group.