Plankton diversity, physico-chemical parameters and conservation value of temporary freshwater rock pools

Rock pools occur everywhere in the world and are geo-morphologically similar because they originated from weathering and erosion although vary in surface and depth. Interestingly, rare species are found as rock pool communities, which have never been recorded from open water. Temporary fresh water support invertebrate communities ranging from the complex, with many species to those that support only one or two species. The high variability in environmental condition connected with relatively unpredicted flooding regime limit for specialized species with high tolerance to stress and specific feature for surviving the dry phase. The differences in number of rocks and pools together with sampling intensity of individual pool may probably explain part of the variation in recorded diversity. Indeed, it is an established fact that the rock pools biotas are fully dependent on length and abundance of inundation and for that, the active communities will reflect the current climatic conditions. Temperature, Dissolved oxygen and pH are vital to the survival of many temporary water species as it provides essential indications that regulate the timing of life cycles, flight periodicities and colonization dynamics. Freshwater ecosystem served as an important asset for man and habitation for an extraordinary rich, endemic and sensitive species. Increase in human demand on these ecosystems results to large and rising threats to biodiversity and for that recording diminishes of biodiversity, identifying their causes, and finding solutions have become necessity in freshwater ecosystem