R. DRUSILLA, A. KUMARESAN and M. NARAYANAN
Abstract
Microbial populations and macroinvertebrate fauna of river Chittar were investigated for two years. Microbes analysed were:Total coliforms, Faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli. Results revealed the following trend: Total coliforms >Faecal coliforms > Escherichia coli. Macroinvertebrate fauna included crustaceans, insect nymphs, aquatic insects and molluscs. The percentage of crustaceans varied between 16.28 and 18.50, insect nymphs from 24.60 to 26.98, molluscs between 26.01 and 29.37 and aquatic insects from 28.24 to 30.01. Shannon Wiener index of diversity of macroinvertebrates ranged between 1.361 and 1.374 while Simpsons index of Dominance varied form 0.256 to 1.40.