Thecamoebian communities as proxies of seasonality in Lake Sadatal in the Ganga-Yamuna Plains of North India

Anjum Farooqui, Arun Kumar*, Graeme T. Swindles

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Thecamoebians are testate protists that occur in a variety of freshwater habitats and brackish environments. They have been successfully used as proxies for a variety of environmental and climatic parameters in limnological and paleolimnological studies. The perennial Lake Sadatal is situated near the small town of Mallanwan (Latitude 27° 3' 0" North and Longitude 80° 9' 0" East) in the Ganga-Yamuna Plains of North India. Lake Sadatal is a shallow remnant of a past oxbow lake left by the meandering Ganga River and its tributaries (maximum depth ~1.5 m during summer and ~3.0 m during July-August monsoon season). The soil around this region is saline, sodium rich, and the maximum soil alkalinity is pH 10. This region shows strong seasonality, and average atmospheric temperatures during winter (December-March) range between 7- 20°C and during summer (April-June) range between 21- 45°C (2005-2007). Taxonomically diverse and mixed thecamoebians were recovered from Lake Sadatal showing distinct summer and winter communities for three years. Centropyxids and Arcellenids dominate the low humidity, low precipitation cooler months (October- March) whereas Amphitrema spp. and Difflugia oblonga "triangularis" dominate summer and the high precipitation, high humidity monsoon months (April-September). Dominance of Amphitrema spp. is related to abundance of aquatic weed Lemna detritus at the lake bottom during summer. Total concentrations of thecamoebians were higher during summer monsoon months than winter.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPalaeontologia Electronica
Volume15
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 01 Dec 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Acid resistant thecamoebians
  • Ganga-Yamuna Plains
  • India
  • Lake sediments
  • Seasonality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oceanography

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Thecamoebian communities as proxies of seasonality in Lake Sadatal in the Ganga-Yamuna Plains of North India'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this