Effects of prevailing anthropogenic and environmental factors on fauna composition and distribution of zooplankton in Ethiope River, Delta State, Nigeria
Paper Details
Effects of prevailing anthropogenic and environmental factors on fauna composition and distribution of zooplankton in Ethiope River, Delta State, Nigeria
Abstract
This study was aimed at evaluating composition and distribution of zooplankton fauna of River Ethiope, Delta State, Nigeria. Sampling and survey of zooplankton was carried out for 24 (twenty four) months (January, 2016 to December, 2017) across the wet and dry seasons. Five designated stations were sampled with varying anthropogenic activities along the river stretch. The five stations included station1 (Umuaja) which is the main source of the river, station 2 (Umutu), station 3 (Ubiaruku), station 4 (Abraka) and Station 5(Eku). The zooplankton species recorded in the study comprised of one thousand six hundred and sixty two individuals. A total of 47 zooplankton taxa comprising 19 Copepoda, 7 rotifers and 21 Cladocera species were encountered during the study period. The Copepoda was the most abundant constituting (45%) followed by theCladocera (40%) and Rotifera which accounted for 15%. Abundance was highest at stations 1 and 4. The dominant zooplankton was Tropocyclops prasinus, Mesocyclops bodanicola, Metacyclops minutes and Thermocyclops neglectus. The rotifers were dominated by Platyias lelupui and Lecane ungulate. The values of diversity (H), Evenness (E) and Dominance were highest at station 3, while species richness value (D) was highest at station 4. The similarity index (Bray Curtis) showed that stations 1 and 4, and stations 2 and 5 had the highest similarities. The results obtained showed variation in the composition and distribution in the stations.
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