Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Identification of phytoplankton and evaluation of algal biomass in poultry manure fertilized concrete pond in Center for Aquaculture Research and Education, Hawassa University

Teklay Gebru Tikue^*, Kassaye Balkew Workagegn, Natarajan P and Belayneh Daniel Department of Aquaculture, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
^*Correspondence: Teklay Gebru Tikue, Department of Aquaculture, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia, Email:

Received: 25-May-2022, Manuscript No. JARD-22-16787; Editor assigned: 27-May-2022, Pre QC No. JARD-22-16787(PQ); Reviewed: 10-Jun-2022, QC No. JARD-22-16787; Revised: 25-Jul-2022, Manuscript No. JARD-22-16787(R); Published: 01-Aug-2022, DOI: 10.35248/2155-9546.22.13.701

Introduction

Algae are most diverse groups of organisms playing key roles in ecosystem as primary producers and also as symbiosis with other organisms including bacteria [1]. They sequester carbon dioxide by photosynthesis and supply food and oxygen to the consumers of aquatic environments, and thus play key roles in biogeochemical cycles [2]. Algal biomass serves as a sustainable raw material for producing pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, biofuels and food products [3]. Algae are ideal organisms for biological monitoring. Algal diversity, density and abundance are the main indicators of the condition of aquatic ecosystems and the quality water bodies. Due to this, measurement of algal biomass is very important in many ecological and biological studies and in microalgae industry. The application of manure enhances plankton productivity however; after a certain limit may be a cause for deterioration of water quality, plankton and fish growth. The biomass of plankton groups can be reduced because of undesirable water quality and the applications of excessive amount of fertilizers [4,5]. It has been reported that an increase in plankton biomass is often associated with nutrient enrichment [6]. Planktons are sensitive to an increase or decrease in nutrients [7]. Absence of large filter feeding Cladocerans such as Daphnia species could increase phytoplankton species of a pond [8]. Maximum amount of dry manure application to earthen ponds is recommended as 50 g/m²/week [9]. Livestock manure is a costless fertilizer that enhances the development of natural fish feeds especially phytoplankton and zooplankton. Poultry manure leads to increased biological productivity of ponds through various autotrophic (algae production) and heterotrophic (bacterial production) path ways, which results in an increased fish production [10]. Organic manures contain almost all the essential nutrient elements that stimulate the growth of plankton [11] and consequently, manure contains considerable quantities of nutrients for fish production [12].

Materials and Methods

Description of the study area: The experiment was conducted at the experimental site of Centre for Aquaculture Research and Education (CARE) Hawassa university and which is found in the southern part of Ethiopia at 275 km South of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. It is located at 7°3’7” N latitude and 38° 3’17” E longitude and situated at 1714 meter above sea level. The experiment was conducted from December 2020 to March 2021.

Algal biomass and identification of phytoplankton of pond water: Water samples for phytoplankton group identification and chlorophyll analyses were taken as described by [13] from three points of the pond on monthly basis using water column sampler (La Motte Water Sampler). These samples were pooled and preserved using 0.7% Lugol’s solution for laboratory analyses later. In the laboratory, water samples for phytoplankton groups were examined under a microscope (Kruss Optronic made in Germany) at 40x and 400x magnification. Identification of phytoplankton groups was done using available keys and manuals [14]. Enumeration of phytoplankton was made following the procedures outlined in [15] and abundance of each taxon was estimated using the following formula.

C (Cells/ml)=(N × 1000 mm³)/(A × D × F × concentration factor)

N=Number of individuals

A=Area of the field

D=Depth of the field

F=Number of fields counted

100 ml of water samples for chlorophyll analysis was filtered through a filter paper (Whatman GF/F with a pore size of 0.7 μm), using a water jet vacuum pump to get a filtrate. Filter papers containing algal samples were cut in to small pieces, 5 ml of 90% cold aceton was added in to test tubes which contain samples and kept for 24 hours in refrigerator. Then after filter papers was crushed and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. 5 ml of cold aceton was added and absorbance was recorded at 665 nm and 750 nm before and after acidification using a spectrophotometer (Jenway 6305 visible spectrophotometer). From the spectrophotometer chlorophyll a (μg/l) was calculated using the following formula as used by [16].

Where, Eo665=Absorption at 665 nm before acidification,

Eo750=Absorption at 750 nm before acidification;

Ea665=Absorption at 665 nm after acidification;

Ea750=Absorption at 750 nm after acidification;

2.43=factor to equate the reduction in absorbance to the initial concentration of chlorophyll; 11.49=absorption coefficient of chlorophyll, V=Volume of the sample filtered (l),

L=Length of the cuvette (cm) and V=Volume of the extract in ml;

Results

Phytoplankton and zooplankton groups composition

The phytoplankton community was dominated by green algae followed by diatoms and blue green algae from the beginning up to the end of the experimental period. A total of 20 phytoplankton groups were identified during the study period. From those which were identified four were blue green algae (Cyanophyceae ), seven green algae (Chlorophyceae ), six diatoms (Bacillariophyceae ), one Dinophyceae and two of them were Euglenophyceae . The most frequently observed an algal genus was Scenedesmus. Three zooplankton groups were identified and those were Copepods, Rotifers and Cladocerans (Table 1) and (Figures 1 and 2).

Table 1: Phytoplankton groups identified during the study period (1-5 indicates frequency of occurrence of species: 1=rare, 2=sporadic, 3=common,4=abundant, 5=very abundant).

Figure 1: Percentage contribution of phytoplankton and zooplankton groups to the total counts (Cyano= Cyanophyceae, Eugle=Euglenophyceae, Dino=Dinophyceae, Chloro=Chlorophyceae, Bacilla=Bacillariophyceae).

Figure 2: Phytoplankton abundance of pond water.

Discussion

Phytoplankton groups composition and phytoplankton biomass

The result of the present study of chlorophyll a was from 58.4-64.3 μg/l. High amount of chlorophyll a were recorded in pond fertilized with chicken manure which favors good growth of phytoplankton in fish ponds. The current chlorophyll a value is greater than the value reported by [17] who recorded chlorophyll a value from 18.2 ± 2 to 23.4 ± 3.9 μg/l. The reason for the difference in chlorophyll a may be due to the difference in phytoplankton abundance. Therefore, in the current study there is higher phytoplankton abundance than the report of. The chlorophyll a value recorded in the present experiment is in agreement with the works of [16] who reported a chlorophyll a value of 59.22 ± 9.54 μg/l. Furthermore, the chlorophyll a value of the current study is within the recommended range by [18] who reported that productive aquaculture ponds often have chlorophyll a concentration of 50 μg/l-200 μg/l. These showed that poultry droppings are most suitable for phytoplankton production based on its nutrient composition which stimulates optimal production of natural food in an aquatic system [19]. Among the phytoplankton species Scenedesmus was the dominant and this may be due to the higher nutrient level of the chicken manure. Nutrients extracted from chicken manure accelerate growth of microalga Scenedesmus and it can efficiently utilize the available nitrogen and phosphorus in the manure to support a high growth and biomass production [20]. The reason for the occurrence of diverse phytoplankton groups could be due to the absence of large filter feeding Cladocerans such as Daphnia species [8]. On the other hand, absence of large Daphnia species could favor the diversity of rotifers. This was inconsistent with the works of [17] who reported the percentage contribution of rotifers in pond waters was more than 70% of the total zooplankton groups.

Conclusion

In the current study high amount of chlorophyll a was recorded which indicates that there was plenty of phytoplankton biomass needed for pond productivity and for fish feed, these phytoplankton was grown as a result of poultry manure application. Green algae, diatoms and blue green algae were the dominant food items of the fish in the integrated aquaculture system. Similarly, these algae were the dominant algal groups found in the pond. Particularly, Scenedusmus was the most abundant phytoplankton species found both in the pond and in the stomach content of the fish. In addition to these, Dinophyceae and Euglenophyceae were found in a limited amount in the pond water.

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