INDEXING THE CYANOBACTERIAL COMMUNITIES OF DIFFERENT ECOLOGICAL HABITATS OF MALAKAND PAKISTAN

The fresh water habitat studied were river, streams, ponds, stagnant water and waste water. Among this stagnant water, ponds were found to be most favorable for the growth of most of the species. Similarly, slow running water was also found to favor algae growth. Algae species were reported from all water bodies. There is a great variety of algae existing in the water bodies of District Malakand. It is evident that among the seasons the best growth season for almost all genera of cyanobacteria was summer. Apart from summer some of the species were common for all the seasons and some were common to summer with early winter or spring. A total of 68 blue-green algal species belonging to 29 genera were recorded from the various habitats in five major regions of district Malakand. The genera identified were: Anabaena (4 spp.), Anacystis (1 sp.), Aphanocapsa (3 spp.), Aphanothece (2 spp.), Arthrospira (3 spp.), Calothrix (4 spp.), Chroococcus (4 spp.), Cyanobacterium (1 sp), Cylindrospermum (3 sp.), Geitlerinema (2 spp.), Gloeocapsa (4 spp.), Gloeothece (1 sp.), Gloeotrichia (2 spp.), Lyngbya (3 spp.), Merismopedia (6 spp.), Microchaete (1 sp.), Microcoleus (1 sp.), Microcystis (4 spp.), Nodularia (1 sp.), Nostoc (2 spp.), Oscillatoria (4 spp.), Pleurococcus (1 sp.), Phormidium (1 sp.), Planktothrix (1 sp.), Plectonema (1 sp.), Rivularia (1 sp.), Scytonema (2 spp.), Spirulina (2 spp.) and Synechococcus (2 spp.). The present study showed that District Malakand is rich in algal diversity and needs firther investigations.