Present investigation was carried out by collecting surface water and phytoplankton (mesoplankton) samples at monthly intervals from Nethravathi River for a period of 16 months to analyse selected physico-chemical parameters of water and community structure of Phytoplankton. Plankton community structure was represented by Chrysophyta (18 genera), Cyanophyta (16 genera), Chlorophyta (31 genera) and Rhodophyta (1 genera). Cyanophytes and Chlophytes seems to be the dominant plankters of the river. Seasonal impact was observed on the community structure, being dominated by cyanophytes during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, whereas, by chlorophytes during pre-monsoon season. The study infers that the phytoplankton diversity and distribution are subject to changes in the ecosystem. Therefore a frequent monitoring of these ecosystems is required by assessing biological diversity which is crucial to know the health of such globally threatened ecosystem.

Phytoplankton, Nethravathi River, Mesoplankton.

Present investigation was carried out by collecting surface water and phytoplankton (mesoplankton) samples at monthly intervals from Nethravathi River for a period of 16 months to analyse selected physico-chemical parameters of water and community structure of Phytoplankton. Plankton community structure was represented by Chrysophyta (18 genera), Cyanophyta (16 genera), Chlorophyta (31 genera) and Rhodophyta (1 genera). Cyanophytes and Chlophytes seems to be the dominant plankters of the river. Seasonal impact was observed on the community structure, being dominated by cyanophytes during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, whereas, by chlorophytes during pre-monsoon season. The study infers that the phytoplankton diversity and distribution are subject to changes in the ecosystem. Therefore a frequent monitoring of these ecosystems is required by assessing biological diversity which is crucial to know the health of such globally threatened ecosystem.

Madhavi, K. and Anupama, R. R. (2021). A Study on Phytoplankton Community Structure of Nethravati River (Mangaluru), South-west Coast of India. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 13(3): 701-705.