Monitoring of algal taxa as bioindicator for assessing the health of the high altitude wetland, Dodi Tal, Garhwal Himalaya, India

Abstract

The present study has been carried out on the algal taxa of high altitude wetland, Dodi Tal (3,075 above m.s.l), located in the western Himalaya, India. A total of 47 taxa belonging to 43 genera of phytoplankton were represented by four classes, viz., Bacillariophyceae (20 genera), Chlorophyceae (16 genera), Cyanophyceae (4 genera) and Dinophyceae (3genera). The Palmer, Algal Genus and Species Pollution Index were employed to study the water quality of high altitude lake Dodi Tal. The total scores of S1 and S2 showed 10 indicating probable Lack of organic pollution while S3 and S4 showed moderate pollution due to tourist influx. Shannon wiener diversity index was recorded to be diversity index was recorded to be maximum (4.11) in summer and minimum (3.59) in monsoon, Thus, algal taxa can be considered as good bioindicator for assessing the health of the high altitude wetlands.