THE STUDY OF ALGAE: THE NON-VASCULAR AQUATIC WEEDS FROM VARIOUS FRESH WATER BODIES OF PESHAWAR PAKISTAN

The study of algae is very attractive due to their prehistoric and cosmopolitan nature. Algae are capable to survive in uncertain environment. Peshawar has many rivers and lakes i.e. River Kabul, Adezai, Naguman, Shah Alam and Bara River, where fresh water algae may exist abundantly, but very little notice has been paid to the algal diversity of all these rivers of Peshawar. To investigate the algae of Sheikh Muhammadi area of District Peshawar, a comprehensive study was conducted during 2013. A total of 22 algal species belonging to 10 families were recorded. Among them Oedogoniaceae appeard as the dominant family with 5 species followed by Stegeoclonium (3 spp.) while Cladophoraceae and Bulbochaete having two species each. Characiaceae, Scenedesmaceae, Oocystaceae, Centritractaceae, Coleochaetaceae, Tetrasporaceae Aphanochaete, Gongrosira, Characium, Cenedesmus, Closteriopsis, Centritractus, Coleochaete and Chaetopeltis got one species each. Some of the algal species are very useful for medicinal purpose, while others can be used as feed or food. Still most of the filamentous are noxious weeds of water bodies and hinder the intended use of water body. This study covers only a small portion of algae and a lot of species are still to be discovered, hence further studies are suggested to be undertaken in this regard.