Thesis Submitted DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY the Faculty Of
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OCCURRENCE OF FILAMENTOUS ALGAE AND SOIL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE PADDY FIELDS OF KUTTANAD AND KOLE LANDS OF KERALA Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Under The Facullty of Enviironmentall Studiies Cochiin Uniiversiity of Sciience and Technollogy By SMITHA SEBASTIAN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY KOCHI-682022, KERALA, INDIA MAY 2015 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis entitled, “Occurrence of filamentous algae and soil characteristics in the paddy fields of Kuttanad and Kole lands of Kerala” is an authentic record of the research work carried out by me under the guidance of Dr. Ammini Joseph, Professor, School of Environmental Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Faculty of Environmental Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology and no part of this thesis has been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, or any other title or recognition from any University / Institution. Smitha Sebastian Kochi-682022 May 2015 This is to certify that this thesis entitled, “Occurrence of filamentous algae and soil characteristics in the paddy fields of Kuttanad and Kole lands of Kerala” is a bonafide record of research carried out by Ms. Smitha Sebastian under my guidance and supervision in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Faculty of Environmental Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology and that no part thereof has been included for the award of any other degree. All the relevant corrections and modifications suggested by the audience during the pre-synopsis seminar and recommended by the Doctoral Committee of the candidate has been incorporated in the thesis. Dr. Ammini Joseph Professor School of Environmental Studies Kochi-682022 Cochin University of Science and May 2015 Technology Acknowledgement The work presented here in this could not have been done without the help of many people with whom I am associated. Thanking them with few words is an impossible task but I believe through these acknowledgements I am able to carry my deepest and sincere feelings to them. To start with my sincere and deep felt gratitude to my supervising guide Dr. Ammini Joseph, Professor, School of Environmental Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology for her guidance, constant encouragement and continuous support in the work. Her great expertise and commitment inspired me to approach this work in different ways making it exciting and successful. I would like to thank Dr.M.V. Harindranathan Nair, Director, School of Environmental Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, for providing me necessary facility for doing my research work. My sincere thanks to all the faculty members, Office staff and technical staff of SES. I express my sense of gratitude to Mr. Rakesh V.B, Mr.Shyam Kumar Mr. Amarnath and Mr. Jomon Choorapuzha as always they gave unselfishly of their time energies and competence. I would like to thank my labmates Divya, Dhanya, Lakshmi, Hema and all my friends in SES for the joyful time spent together during the course and for the discussions, suggestions and support. My family have been unbelievably supportive throughout my life, without which it would have been impossible to lead such a long student life as I had. I have no words to extend my deep sense of gratitude to my parents, husband, son, sister and all other family members who contributed their patience, moral support, encouragement, co-operation and blessings throughout this work. I take this opportunity to dedicate this work to them. It is to God Almighty that I owe all my achievements. His blessings showered on me gave me strength to complete the course successfully. Smitha Sebastian CONTENTS Page No. Chapter1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1-7 Chapter 2 Algae of paddy fields ................................................................................... 9-18 2.1 Diversity of Algae .................................................................................................. 9 2.2 Ecology of rice field algae ................................................................................... 12 2.3 Allelopathic effects of algae ................................................................................ 16 2.4 Relevance of the present study ......................................................................... 18 2.5 Objectives of the study ....................................................................................... 18 Chapter 3 Study Area .................................................................................................. 19-25 3.1 Kuttanad.............................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Kole lands ........................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 4 Methods of observation and analysis ....................................................... 27-36 4.1 Algal sampling ..................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Soil sampling ....................................................................................................... 27 4.3 Analysis of filamentous algae .............................................................................. 28 4.3.1 Direct observation ..................................................................................... 28 4.3.2 Enrichment method ................................................................................... 28 4.3.3 Identification and classification of algae .................................................... 29 4.4 Quantitative analysis of soil algae ....................................................................... 30 4.4.1 Frequency distribution of algal species ..................................................... 30 4.4.2 Estimation of soil chlorophyll a .................................................................. 30 4.5 Analysis of soil properties ................................................................................... 31 4.5.1 Texture .................................................................................................... 32 4.5.2 pH ........................................................................................................... 32 4.5.3 Electrical Conductivity ............................................................................. 32 4.5.4 Organic Carbon ....................................................................................... 32 4.5.5 Available phosphorus .............................................................................. 33 4.5.6 Available Potassium ............................................................................... 33 4.5.7 Total Inorganic Nitrogen .......................................................................... 33 4.5.8 Available Calcium and Magnesium ......................................................... 34 4.5.9 Correlation of soil physico-chemical and biological properties ................ 34 4.5.10 Nutrient index ......................................................................................... 34 Chapter 5 Results and discussion ............................................................................ 37-143 5.1 Diversity of filamentous algae ............................................................................. 37 5.1.1 Filamentous algae of paddy fields of Kuttanad ......................................... 39 5.1.2 Filamentous algae of paddy fields of Kole ................................................ 53 5.2 Distribution of filamentous algae in Kuttanad ...................................................... 59 5.2.1 Filamentous algae in the six agronomic zones of Kuttanad ...................... 61 5.2.2 Similarity of algal flora ............................................................................... 68 5.3 Distribution of filamentous algae in Kole lands .................................................... 69 5.3.1 Filamentous algae in the sampling locations of Kole lands ...................... 72 5.3.2 Similarity of algal flora ............................................................................... 76 5.4 Distribution of soil chlorophyll .............................................................................. 76 5.4.1 Chlorophyll a in Kuttanad soil ................................................................... 76 5.4.2 Chlorophyll a in Kole land soil ................................................................... 78 5.5 Soil Fertility ......................................................................................................... 82 5.5.1 Fertility of paddy fields of Kuttanad ........................................................... 82 5.5.2 Fertility of paddy fields of Kole lands ...................................................... 106 5.6 Correlation of soil properties with algae ........................................................... 124 5.6.1 Correlation of soil physico-chemical and biological properties in Kuttanad ............................................................................. 125 5.6.2 Correlation of Soil Physico-chemical and biological