Relation between Present Freshwater Diatom Assemblage and Grain Size of the Lake: A Comparative Case Study from the Two Swamps of Rani-Garbhanga Reserve Forest, Assam

Amulya Saxena^1, , Abhijit Mazumder¹, Dhruv Sen Singh² and Samir Kumar Bera¹

¹Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53, University Road, Lucknow, India

²Department of Geology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India

Cite this paper:
Amulya Saxena, Abhijit Mazumder, Dhruv Sen Singh and Samir Kumar Bera. Relation between Present Freshwater Diatom Assemblage and Grain Size of the Lake: A Comparative Case Study from the Two Swamps of Rani-Garbhanga Reserve Forest, Assam. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2022; 10(11):665-678. doi: 10.12691/aees-10-11-2

Abstract

Twelve surface sediment samples have been studied on micropalaeontological and sedimentological aspects in the Rani-Garbhanga Reserve Forest, Assam to establish the ecological and morphological influence on the biological entities. Twelve surface samples were collected from Forest, Margin area, and Open land areas from two widely separated regions, namely Nalapur and Sukurbaria. The results from this study of total diatom count, the relative abundance of individual diatom species, sand-silt-clay percentage, and quartz grain microtexture shows that the population of diatom is low and the sand percentage is maximum within the forest area, whereas in margin area, diatom is increased and the sand percentage is decreased compared to forest area, and in open land area diatom is maximum and the sand percentage is low. Quartz grain microtexture also exhibits the more aeolian signature of transportation in forest areas and a more aqueous signature in open land areas. The study infers that biological and sedimentological parameters vary with the different settings within the forest. This study can be useful to decipher shifts in forest setup in past from the core collected around the study areas.

Keywords:
Rani-Garbhanga reserve forest diatom sand-silt-clay percentage quartz grain microtexture different setups in forest

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