Diversity and Abundance of Zooplankton in Nigeen Lake of Kashmir Himalaya

The present study was carried out on zooplankton community of the Nigeen lake from June 2014- November 2014. During the study period, a total of 25 taxa of zooplankton were recorded of which Cladocera constituted the most dominating group represented by 12 taxa, Rotifera contributed 10 taxa and Copepoda was the least represented group registering only 3 taxa. Numerically, Cladocera was the dominant group throughout the study period both in terms of density and diversity. Though 25 zooplankton taxa were identified in the Nigeen lake yet, only few like Alona sp., Alonella sp., Chydorus sp., Bosmina sp., Graptoleberis sp., Brachionus sp., Cephalodella sp. and Cyclops sp. were commonly encountered at all the study sites.The occurrence of these species indicates the general eutrophic nature of the lake.