Author(s):

Kusumlata Goswami and M Das Trakroo

Abstract: Lake Nainital is situated at Nainital district (known as Lake District of India) in Uttarakhand. The climate of Nainital is sub-tropical to sub-humid, which provides soothing environment for luxurious growth of planktons. Qualitative and quantitative structure of phytoplankton was assessed for a period of eight months from September, 2016 to April, 2017 for evaluation of their diversity at lake using diversity indices. On the basis of human interference three sites were selected. Site1 (S₁) was near pump house at Thandi sadak, which was operated to improve the dissolved oxygen content of the lake. Site 2 (S₂) was near Naina Devi Temple, where drainage of temple is flushed into the water. Site 3 (S₃) was at platform near Boat stand, where there was a lot of human intervention by tourist activities. The floristic composition of Nainital Lake consisted of total number of 41 different taxa belonging to 4 classess and the density of phytoplankton varied from 2 × 10⁴ to 4.26 × 10⁴ cells L^-1, with a mean population of 3.13 × 10⁴ cells L^-1. Calculation of various diversity and evenness indices depicted that Site S₁ possess maximal diversity, whereas Site S₂ possess maximum density of phytoplankton.

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