| Abstract | Plankton is a major component of the food chain in the aquatic ecosystem. Phytoplankton are mostly found on the surface of the waters during the day, whereas zooplankton are mostly found on the surface of the waters at night. Plankton act as an important bioindicator to find out fertility and changes in aquatic environmental conditions. Changes in aquatic environmental conditions will have an impact on decreasing the abundance, diversity and distribution of plankton. The existence of plankton is also influenced by the physic-chemical factors of the waters. Plankton have different tolerances to waters physic-chemical factors. Based on these, the purpose of this research was to find out the abundance, diversity, uniformity and dominance of plankton at night and during the day in Kumpe Lake and also knowing the comparison of the abundance of plankton at night and during the day in Kumpe Lake. The research was carried out at three sampling locations, such as Inlet, Middle and Outlet. The main parameters, included the number of individuals and plankton species, whereas the support parameters, include the physic-chemical factors of the waters such as water temperature, light intensity, depth, pH and TDS levels. The results of the research at night and during the day showed that the highest abundance of phytoplankton was Microcystis aeruginosa and Mougeotia viridis, whereas zooplankton was Diaptomus siciloides and Cyclops vicinus. The diversity of phytoplankton and zooplankton at night is in the moderate category, whereas during the day is in the low to moderate category. The uniformity of phytoplankton and zooplankton at night and during the day is in the low to high category. The dominance of phytoplankton and zooplankton at night belongs to the category where there is a dominant species, whereas during the day is included in the category of no dominant species until there is a dominant species. The dominant species were Microcystis aeruginosa, Mougeotia viridis, Diaptomus siciloides and Cyclops vicinus. The abundance of phytoplankton was higher during the day than at night, whereas the abundance of zooplankton was higher at night than during the day. |
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