Assessment of Plankton Diversity and Water Quality in Dahod Reservoir, Madhya Pradesh, India
Shongza Lungleng
Department of Aquaculture, School of Agriculture, Sanjeev Agrawal Global Educational (SAGE) University Bhopal, M.P, India.
Mahendra Kumar Yadav
*
Department of Aquaculture, School of Agriculture, Sanjeev Agrawal Global Educational (SAGE) University Bhopal, M.P, India.
Shriparna Saxena
Department of Aquaculture, School of Agriculture, Sanjeev Agrawal Global Educational (SAGE) University Bhopal, M.P, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study assessed planktonic diversity and water-quality conditions in Dahod Reservoir, a man-made freshwater ecosystem in Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Water and plankton samples were collected twice monthly from four sites between December 2025 and March 2026. Selected physicochemical parameters, including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, total alkalinity and total hardness, were evaluated along with phytoplankton and zooplankton composition. A total of 29 plankton genera were recorded, comprising 14 phytoplankton genera from 11 orders and 12 families and 15 zooplankton genera from 5 orders and 13 families. Cyanophyceae contributed 54% of the phytoplankton density, followed by Chlorophyceae (24%), Zygnematophyceae (15%), Dinophyceae (4%) and Bacillariophyceae (3%). Zooplankton density was represented mainly by Cladocera (41%), Rotifera (31%), Copepoda (21%) and Protozoa (7%). Phytoplankton Shannon-Wiener diversity (H') ranged from 2.12 to 2.41, while Simpson's diversity (D) ranged from 0.84 to 0.91. Zooplankton H' ranged from 2.24 to 2.52 and Simpson's D ranged from 0.87 to 0.93. Statistical analysis of the existing dataset indicated significant temporal variation in temperature and TDS, whereas pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, alkalinity and hardness did not differ significantly among months. The dominance of Microcystis sp. and the gradual rise in TDS suggest nutrient enrichment, while the diversity indices indicate a moderately diverse plankton community during the study period.
Keywords: Planktonic diversity, dahod reservoir, phytoplankton, zooplankton, water quality, shannon-wiener index, simpson's diversity index, microcystis sp., temporal variation, principal component analysis, jaccard similarity, freshwater reservoir.