Evaluation of Toxicity of Tannery Effluent on Plankton Community Structure: A Multispecies Microcosm Study II

Authors: YALAVARTHI NAGA KOTESWARI, RAVICHANDRAN RAMANIBAI

Abstract: Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the dose-dependent response of tannery effluents on plankton community structure using polyurethane foam (PF) as artificial substrate. Naturally derived planktonic communities on PF provided colonists for the development of new communities under stress conditions in the laboratory. Predictions of colonization rate, taxonomic richness and relative abundance in a series of microcosms dosed with a gradient of tannery effluent from 20% to 35% concentration were assessed after the initial dosage study (1% to 15%). Changes in taxonomic composition occur at high levels of stress. End points responding at increasing levels of stress are declines in species numbers relative to expected numbers followed by an increase in nutrient concentration from control to tannery effluent treated microcosms.

Keywords: Multispecies, plankton community structure, tannery effluent, taxonomic richness

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