Plankton and Macrobiota Composition and Diversity of Three Tropical Freshwaters Rivers in Ogun and Ondo States, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Three different rivers in Ogun and Ondo states were investigated for both micro and macro-biota of the water bodies. Several physical and chemical properties of these rivers were determined. The pH value of the studied water bodies was essentially neutral with salinity values between 0.02 -4.0‰. Microalgae communities were represented by three divisions: Cyanophyta, Bacillariophyta and Chlorophyta at Oluwa and Ifara Rivers (Ondo state), while at Ibefun River (Ogun state), five divisions: Cyanophyta, Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta and Pyrrhophyta were identified. Diatoms dominated these water bodies, with Navicula radiosa Kutz. at Ifara River, Fragilaria sp. in Oluwa River, while out of 90 algal taxa identified in Ibefun river, 64 were diatoms species belonging to 26 genera, with Melosira sp. and Synedra sp. recording the highest numbers of cell count. Dinoflagellates recorded only Peridinium sp. while Phacus orbicularis Hubner and Trachelomonas sp. dominated the euglenoids. For the zooplankton composition at Ibefun, rotifers (75.95%) were represented by Brachionus sp., which recorded 62.03%, and Gastropus sp. with 13.92% of the total zooplankton, thus dominated the spectrum, while the copepod recorded 22.78% of the total organisms, with Copilia sp. and Euchirella sp. having 8.86% each. The macrobenthic invertebrates were represented by 3 taxa, belonging to 3 groups, with the dominant group Insecta accounted for 57% of the total individuals (7 individuals/m 2 ), while Oligochaeta and Hirudinea accounted for 29% and 14% respectively of the total individuals at Oluwa and Ifara Rivers. At Ibefun River, the macrobenthic invertebrates were represented by 5 taxa, belonging to 3 groups, Bivalves, Oligochaeta and Insecta, with bivalves being the dominant group (51.7% of the total individuals, as 64 individuals/m 2 ), while Oligochaeta and Insecta accounted for 26.6% and 21.9% respectively of the total individuals. The dominant taxon, Macoma cumana, accounted for 42.2%. A total of seventeen (17) finfish and shellfish species comprised of thirteen (13) finfish and four (4) shellfish species were recorded, being representative of freshwater and brackish water species; Clarias anguillaris (Clariidae), Tilapia zilli (Cichlidae), Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (Bagridae), Alestes spp. and Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Palaemonidae) were the most common species observed.

A critical review of soil algae as a crucial soil biological component of high ecological and economic significance

“…In general, algae of aero‐terrestrial habitats include many specific groups of algae. Accordingly, the literature on algal diversity of aero‐terrestrial habitats may be categorized into that of the Cyanobacteria (Kumar & Adhikary, 2015; Lemes‐da‐Silva et al., 2010; Pushkareva et al., 2018), Chlorophyta (Ray & Thomas, 2012; Vijayan & Ray, 2015), Bacillariophyta (Zhang et al., 2020), Streptophyta (Mikhailyuk et al., 2018), Xanthophyceae (Jimel et al., 2021; Rybalka et al., 2020), Eustigmatophyceae (Flechtner et al., 2013; Trzcińska et al., 2014), and Euglenophyceae (Adesalu & Olugbemi, 2015; Lin et al., 2013).…”

“…The authors also observed that a high diversity of algae occurred in orchards and paddy fields, whereas low diversity occurred in tea farms and sugarcane fields. In the crop fields of Nigeria, Adesalu and Olugbemi (2015) reported a high diversity of algae of the four classes Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Euglenophyceae, and Cyanophyceae. They observed that farming practices, such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and soil tillage, negatively affected algal diversity in agricultural fields.…”

Soil Microbiome: Diversity, Benefits and Interactions with Plants

“…Moreover, it is well-established that soil algae establish symbiotic relationships with plant roots, leading to the release of hormones that stimulate root growth [190][191][192]. This, in turn, facilitates the activities of other beneficial microorganisms associated with the plant's root system [193].…”