Enumeration of freshwater algae in Godawari area, Lalitpur district, central Nepal

Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems vary in size and composition, and contain large variety of organisms. Freshwater algae are globally ubiquitous and a highly diverse group. Algae are a vast group of photosynthetic organisms and found in many forms, viz. individual cells, colonies or extended filaments (Chaterjee & Raziuddin, 2006). They play an important role in the primary producers of ecosystem for various consumers of aquatic fauna. They are one of the most helpful indicators to monitor freshwater ecosystem because of their position at the base of aquatic food webs, and algal indicators provide rapid response to environmental changes compared with commonly used higher organisms (McCormick & John, 1994).