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Author(s): Amadi S., Omokheyeke O..

Volume/Issue: Volume 3 , Issue 6 (2020)

Abstract:

Studies on the periphyton speciesin the New Calabar River were conducted in the months of March and April, 2014. The aim was to ascertain the abundance and distribution of periphyton species. The experimental approach includes: the use of the ARC GIS tool to select six geo-reference stations; a horiba water checker to investigate the physicochemical characteristics of the river, the collection of scrapings from the substrates from an area of 6cm x 2cm and a light microscope to determine the periphyton. The results for physico chemical parameters ranged from 24˚C to 31˚C; 3.7 mg/L and 7.08 mg/L; 4.98 and 7.05; 2.2 mg/L – 4.14 mg/L; 10.34ppm to 2446.5ppmand 17.2µs and 2693µsfor Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Biological Oxygen Demand, Conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids respectively in the six stations. Analysis of Variance show some level of variability between the physicochemical parameters tested in all stations. The Periphyton recovered was a total of five phyla, representing thirteen genera. Bacillariophyta had the highest number of genera (8) while Chlorophyta had (2), Cyanophyta (1), Dinoflagellata (1) and the cysts of zooplankton and invertebrates (1). Shannon-Wiener’s and Margalef indices revealed that station 1 had maximum diversity.Pielou’s index of evenness revealed that the species were more evenly distributed in station 5 while Station 2 recorded the lowest species evenness. This study therefore, provided information on the distribution and the abundance of periphyton communities in the Study area. However, the variation in some water quality variables and possibly substrate type may have influenced the distribution and abundance of periphyton species.

Keywords:

Periphyton, New Calabar River, Physico-chemical parameters, Shannon-Wiener, Abundance

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