Diatom assemblages in three freshwater reservoirs of Himachal Pradesh species composition with spatial and temporal variations with higher altitudes

Abstract

Engineered structures constructed on the rivers affected flow fields as well as the ecosystem. With newlinethe forecast of environmental changes, there is a need to study indicators affecting the aquatic newlineregimes. The present study contributes to the knowledge of the microflora and ecology of surfacesediments and phytoplankton diatom assemblages of three major reservoirs and highlands located newlinein Himachal Pradesh, India. The results of this study showed that planktonic and surface-sediment newlinediatom communities, including trait-based communities, are mainly structured by environmental newlineand spatial variables. The present study provides a first insight into sites and seasonal-specific newlinediatoms that can be used as markers for the diagnosis of drowning deaths. Multivariate analyses newlineof diatom assemblages and physicochemical variables in the study sites showed a significant newlinedifference in species composition within each site which suggests that regional and climatic newlinefactors plays important role in species distribution. The CCA analysis showed a significant newlinerelationship between diatom species with seasons and environmental variables. The study also newlinehighlights that diatom species were homogenously distributed rather than heterogeneously which newlinesignifies the dominance of only certain species. The data of this study is also useful for forensic newlinescientists in solving drowning cases, especially where the drowning and recovery of a corpse have newlinea lapse of more than one season. A comprehensive study of diatoms and their list as micrographs newlinehave been compiled in the study. This is a valuable source of diatom studies and this should also newlinebe expanded to other reservoirs and highlands. The creation of a database in this study is a newlinevaluable tool for researche newline