Assessment of Physico-Chemical and Zooplankton Assemblages in Some Ponds within Wilberforce Island, Nigeria

This study investigated the physicochemical and zooplankton assemblages in some selected ponds within Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The study was carried out in August 2015 covering five selected ponds following standard procedure. Results of the physiochemical parameters were in the range of 6.45 – 6.68 (pH), 15.1 – 21.57NTU (turbidity), 9.19 – 10.60mg/l (biological oxygen demand), 0.00 – 0.10mg/l (salinity), 53.33 – 217.00μS/cm (conductivity), 32.67 -114.67mg/l (total dissolved solid), 2.04 – 5.83mg/l (total suspended solid), 6.21 – 6.87mg/l (dissolved oxygen), 85.13 – 143.10mg/l (chloride), 0.02 – 0.02mg/l (manganese) and 0.19 – 0.26mg/l (iron). Analysis of variance showed that there was significance variation (P<0.05) among the various locations for most of the physicochemical parameters. A total of 89 zooplankton species were identified and were classified into 13 taxonomic groups namely; Nematoda (17), Protozoa (19), Rotifera (27), Annelida (8), copepoda (1), Chordata (3), Chaetognatha (1), Gastropoda (3), Cladocera (2), Bryozoan (1), Crustaceans (2) and Porifera (3). In the study several zooplankton species that serve as indicator organisms were identified.

Keywords:

Species Diversity , Physico-chemical Characteristics , Ponds , Wilberforce Island , Zooplankton