Aquatic biodiversity is threatened primarily by human abuse and mismanagement of living resources and the ecosystems that support them. Most of the reservoirs are getting polluted due to domestic waste, sewage, industrial and agricultural effluents. The distribution of the zooplankton community depends on a complex of factors such as change of climatic conditions, physical and chemical parameters, and vegetation. In the present study, seasonal fluctuations, correlation coefficients at Sukhana dam, Dist. Aurangabad (M.S.), India has been revealed. A total of 25 zooplankton species were recorded, comprising Cladocera (8 species), Copepoda (5 species), Rotifera (10 species), and Ostracoda (2 species). The present study found that a total of 10,860 (organisms/liter) zooplankton was noticed in Sukhana dam in summer 6130, in monsoon 3300 and winter 3680, which constituted 40.19% of Cladocera, 36.76% of Copepoda, 18.15% of Rotifera and 4.88% Ostracoda were recorded. A recent study showed that the most critical factors for zooplankton growth are temperature, pH, and calcium. A high value of biodiversity in summer shows a longer food chain than in other seasons. According to the Shannon index, the values show that the waters of the Sukhana dam are contaminated significantly. Evenness indices indicate whether all species are equally common in the samples.
Keywords: Zooplankton; Biodiversity Indices; Sukhana Dam;