Limnology and Rotifer Fauna of Khushalsar Lake, Kashmir.

Kashmir traditionally known as heaven on earth for its beauty is gifted with water resources comprising rivers, lakes, streams and springs. Lakes provide a multitude of uses and are prime regions of human settlement and habitat. One such water body is Khushalsar Lake located in the downtown area of Srinagar city. It is noticed that Khushalsar at present has fallen victim to extensive encroachment, garbage dumping and the release of untreated sewage. Taking the pathetic condition of this lake and dynamic nature of water bodies in general into consideration this study was taken up to analyse the different physicochemical parameters and the rotifer abundance of this water body since rotifers are considered to be important indicators of trophic conditions of any aquatic habitat. The data collected was analysed using standard tools, statistical software's SPSS (version 20) and PAST3. Nutrient content of this water body was found to be high and only sixteen species of Rotifera were observed. Statistically different physico-chemical parameters were compared at inlet, middle and outlet of the study lake. Only few parameters showed significant differences. Shannon-Wiener index of rotifer signifies the water body to be moderately diverse as the values lies below 5.00 while as values of Simpson diversity index indicate accelerated eutrophication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]