Rotifers (Rotifera: Eurotatoria) from floodplain lakes of the Dibru Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve, upper Assam, northeast India: ecosystem diversity and biogeography

This study aims to assess ecosystem diversity of Rotifera of the floodplain lakes (beels) of the Brahmaputra river basin with reference to faunal diversity of the taxon in wetlands of conservation areas of India. We observed 141 rotifer species, belonging to 31 genera and 17 families, from three beels of the Dibru-Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve (DSBR) of Assam, northeast India (NEI) with high total richness (117±2 species) in individual beels. One, two and three species are new to the Oriental region, India and Assam state, respectively and 21 species are globally interesting. The diverse Lecanidae > Lepadellidae > Trichocercidae; the paucity and scarceness of Brachionidae and Brachionus spp. in particular; and rare nature of Keratella, Filinia, Asplanchna, Polyarthra, and Conochilus are salient. The monthly richness and community similarities affirmed heterogeneity in species composition in individual beels while this study exhibited overall rotifer homogeneity amongst beels. The richness followed monthly oscillations in the three beels and lacked significant variations amongst beels. The peak richness of 76 species during summer (May, 2014) from No. 11 beel is one of the richest rotifer assemblages known in single date collection from an aquatic ecosystem of South Asia. Our results explained little influence of individual abiotic factors while canonical correspondence analysis endorsed high cumulative influence of 17 abiotic factors on richness in all beels.