Elmada Auma
Kenya
Research Article
Evaluation of Plankton Community Structure in Fish Refugia Acting as Oreochromic niloticus Propagation and Nursery Units for Rice/Fish Trials, Uganda
Author(s): Grace A Ssanyu *,Joseph Rasowo ,Elmada Auma ,Moses Ndunguru
Grace A Ssanyu *,Joseph Rasowo ,Elmada Auma ,Moses Ndunguru
To determine the possible success or failure of the propagation system, plankton species diversity and biomass were investigated for 98 days in relation to fish fingerling numbers produced from the fish refugia along rice paddies. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design, with a rice variety (Kairo 25) as the main plot and method of rice-fish culture (fish refugia) as the sub-plot. The fish refugia were propagating Tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) and were manure only once at the beginning. The results showed that the level of nutrients (nitrate-nitrogen and orthophosphate) was low during the growing season limiting the phytoplankton wet biomass. However, a diverse phytoplankton community was realised with Euglenophyta having the higher number of species followed by Chlorophyta, Cyanobacteria, Bacillariophyceae, Dinophya and Cryptophyta... View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2155-9546.1000116