Investigation on Hydrobiology and Water Quality Parameters of Periyar Lake, Thekkady, Kerala
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INVESTIGATION ON HYDROBIOLOGY AND WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS OF PERIYAR LAKE, THEKKADY, KERALA THESIS SUBMITTED TO MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, KERALA AS PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy in Botany IN THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE BY JITHESH KRISHNAN.R ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE RESEARCH LAB DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY ST.BERCHMANS COLLEGE CHANGANACHERRY KERALA 686101 JANUARY 2008 i Dedicated To My parents and wife ii DECLARATION I, Jithesh Krishnan. R, do here by declare that the thesis entitled “Investigation on hydrobiology and water quality parameters of Periyar Lake, Thekkady, Kerala” is an authentic record of research work done by me under the guidance and supervision of Dr. J.G Ray, Reader, Environmental Science Research Lab, Department of Botany, St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry. This work has not been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma earlier. Changanacherry Jithesh Krishnan. R Date: iii CERTIFICATE I certify that the thesis entitled “Investigation on hydrobiology and water quality parameters of Periyar Lake, Thekkady, Kerala” is an authentic record of research work carried out by Mr. Jithesh Krishnan. R in the Environmental Science Research Lab, Department of Botany, St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry, under my guidance and supervision. I further certify that this work is original, and no part of this has been presented for the award of any degree or diploma of this or any other universities. Changanacherry Dr. J.G Ray Date: Reader Environmental Science Research Lab, Department of Botany St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry iv ABSTRACT This is the case study of anthropogenic impacts on the hydrobiology of a Lake, which is commercially exploited over a hundred years and is integral to a wildlife sanctuary. A comprehensive and systematic analysis of the physico-chemical environmental complex, nutrient and pollution status, phytoplankton density and community structure are critically examined in the thesis. Pertinent literature related to all the aspects of the problem are reviewed in the beginning. Regular monthly investigations from six permanent sampling stations for three years were carried out to collect baseline data on the seasonal changes in climate, hydrology, physico-chemical water quality parameters, nutrient content, primary productivity, pollution status and hydrobiology in relation to tourism in the Lake. Yearwise and seasonwise variations in total density and also density of different species of phytoplankton were found out. The significance of such variations of each particular parameter across the stations and that over the seasons and the years were calculated. The observations point to the significance of considering reservoirs and the surrounding forested watershed systems as integrated whole systems requiring careful management and continuous monitoring. Overall, the discussions explain how the environmental complex of a precious tropical biological system is disturbed under the pressure of developmental activities such as tourism. KEYWORDS Periyar Lake, freshwater lake, physico-chemical parameters, nutrient status, pollution status, productivity, BOD, COD, oil and grease, hydrology, hydrobiology, phytoplankton density, community structure, periphyton, benthon, Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Cyanophyta, Euglenophyta, desmids, diatoms, Chlorococcales. v ABBREVIATIONS USED PTR Periyar Tiger Reserve TN Tamil Nadu KTDC Kerala Tourism Development Corporation KFD Kerala Forest Department PDS Peermade Development Society PWD Public Works Department RRI Rubber Research Institute PM Pre-monsoon SWM South-West-Monsoon NEM North-East-Monsoon P1 Pre-monsoon-1 P2 Pre-monsoon-2 P3 Pre-monsoon-3 S1 South-West-monsoon-1 S2 South-West-monsoon-2 S3 South-West-monsoon-3 N1 North-East-monsoon-1 N2 North-East-monsoon-2 N3 North-East-monsoon-3 FRL Full Reservoir Limit MCFT Million Cubic Feet PPM Parts Per Million µS Micro Siemens vi ANOVA Analysis Of Variance S Surface-water B Bottom-water TS Total Solids TSS Total Suspended Solids TDS Total Dissolved Solids EC Electric Conductivity Ca Calcium Mg Magnesium Na Sodium K Potassium Cl Chloride C Carbon P Phosphorus N Nitrogen DO Dissolved Oxygen BOD Biological Oxygen Demand COD Chemical Oxygen Demand MPN FC Maximum Possible Number of Fecal Coli form GPP Gross Primary Productivity CR Community Respiration NPP Net Primary Productivity L Litre vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I like to express my gratefulness, first to my esteemed teacher Dr. J.G Ray, Reader, Environmental Science Research Lab, Department of Botany, St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry for his esteemed guidance, supervision and valuable suggestions at each and every step. The ever memorable hours which I shared with him helped me a lot in developing a patient and calm mind, that a researcher should posses. I also wish to express my thanks to his spouse and family for their hospitality during the period of this research. The fellowship received during the project period under the major project of the UGC, Govt. of India is gratefully acknowledged. I remember with gratitude Dr. K.S. Unni, Retired Professor, Ravishankar University, Raipur for his valuable advice and support. My special thanks are also due to Dr. K.J Joseph, Retired Professor, Department of Marine Biology, Cochin University of Science And Technology, and Mr. Sanil Kumar, Research Scholar of the same Department for their advice and help in the identification of micro algae. I am thankful to the Principal, Head of the Department of Botany, and the management of St. Berchmans College for all the necessary facilities provided in the College to carry out this work. I also gratefully acknowledge the teachers of the Department of Botany and Chemistry who helped me during the period of my research in the College. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. C.C Thomas, Dept. of English for the thesis manuscript correction and Mr. M.C Jose, Lecturer, Selection grade, Dept. of Mathematics, for the assistance in statistical analysis. viii Kerala Forest Department provided necessary facilities for water sample collection, Tamilnadu PWD provided the rainfall data, RRI, Kottayam helped in bacterial analysis. All are greatly acknowledged. I also express my heartfelt appreciation to my fellow researchers in the Department for lending a helping hand in need and to all those who rendered immense help directly or indirectly in the completion of the study. Words cannot express heartfelt gratitude towards my dearest family members for bearing all the inconveniences in the due course of completion of this work. My father Mr. R.K. Nair, my mother Mrs. Lalitha my sister Miss. Jisha and my wife Mrs. Resmy have many personal sacrifices towards the completion of this work. Without their support this thesis would not have seen the light of the day. I am grateful to each and every one of my family for their valuable prayers. Above all I am thankful to God Almighty, who blessed me to find solutions to difficult circumstances, in successfully completing this work. Jithesh Krishnan. R ix LIST OF PAPERS PUBLICATION/COMMUNICATED 1. Ray, J. G. & J. Krishnan, 2003. Recent studies on the hydrobiology and water quality parameters of Periyar Lake, Thekkady, Western Ghats, Kerala, Procee. of International Congress on Sustainable Development and Management of Natural Resources, Holy Cross College, Thiruchirappalli. 2. Ray, J. G., K. S. Unni & J. Krishnan, 2004. Some Preliminary observations on the water quality parameters and hydrobiology of Periyar Lake, SB Academic Review 11. 3. Ray, J. G., J. Krishnan, K. S. Unni & V. Shobha, 2007. Impact of tourism on nutrient status, productivity and pollution of a tropical freshwater reservoir, Kerala, India, Submitted to Journal Oikology. 4. Ray, J. G., J. Krishnan & K. S. Unni, 2007. Physico-Chemical Environmental Complex of a Commercially Exploited Tropical Freshwater System within a Wildlife Sanctuary, Submitted to Journal Ecology and Noospherology. SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS 1. Krishnan, J., J. G. Ray, K. S. Unni, 2003. A report on the ecology of Periyar Lake, Paper presented in the National level Seminar (Technofest-23rd to 25th July) held at CUSAT. x CONTENTS CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGES 1. Introduction 1-10 2. Review of Literature 11-33 3. Materials and Methods 34-42 4. Results 43-127 5. Discussion 128-209 6. General Conclusion 210-217 Bibliography Figures and Plates xi LIST OF TABLES SERIAL TITLE NO. 1. Average seasonal air temperature - pre-monsoon 2. Average seasonal air temperature - southwest monsoon 3. Average seasonal air temperature - northeast monsoon 4. Seasonal air temperature - average of three-year period 5. Seasonal details of precipitation in the Lake Area (2002 to 2005) 6. Year wise and season wise comparison of hydrology of the Lake 7. Average surface water temperature - pre-monsoon 8. Average surface water temperature - southwest monsoon 9. Average surface water temperature - northeast monsoon 10. Three-year average surface water temperature 11. Bottom water temperature - pre-monsoon 12. Bottom water temperature - southwest monsoon 13. Bottom water temperature - northeast monsoon 14. Average bottom water temperature over three-years 15. Secchi depth or Transparency - pre-monsoon 16. Secchi depth or Transparency - southwest monsoon 17. Secchi depth or Transparency - northeast monsoon 18. Three- year average secchi depth 19. pH of surface water during pre-monsoon 20. pH of surface water during southwest monsoon xii 21. pH of surface water during northeast monsoon 22. Three-year average