ABSTRACT

The present study deals with three fresh water ponds of district Aurangabad, Bihar, during the period of one year from Dec 2015 to Nov 2016 and was designed to assess the quality of pond water, pond sediments, relative abundance and richness of macro-invertebrate species inhabiting the selected ponds. The three ponds of known historic interest namely Pond I (Umgaa), Pond II (Ranipokharadeo ) & Pond III (Patalganga) have cultural and religious value. The study of the selected ponds was conducted with respect to the Physico-chemical parameters of pond water including Temperature, pH, Total alkalinity, Free CO2, Dissolved oxygen, Electrical conductivity, Transparency, and Biological oxygen demand as well as Physico-chemical parameters of pond bottom sediments including pH, Organic carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium to observe the nutrient status of ponds.. The results of the Physico-chemical parameters studied in various months were evaluated and compared for all the three fresh water ponds to quantify overall pond water quality status of the area to see their impact on macro- invertebrate survival and growth as well as other possibilities of utilizing the pond area as aquaculture. The attributes of macro-invertebrate, showing sensitivity to environmental changes makes them attractive biological indicators in biological assessment programs and hence acts as key indicators of water quality condition. Hence by measuring the number of different species of macro- invertebrate (Richness) and total number of macro- invertebrates (Abundance) in a pond, we can assess the health of the water ecosystem. Thus the relative abundance and richness of macro-invertebrate species inhabiting the selected ponds were also recorded.

Keywords: Physico-chemical parameters, Macro-invertebrate, Fresh water ponds,