OCCURRENCE AND DIVERSITY OF MYCOFLORAL POPULATION IN SOIL OF TWO DIFFERENT LAND USE TYPES IN HARIDWAR REGION (UTTARAKHAND), INDIA

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate the mycofloral diversity in soils of two different land use types namely forest area and the industrial area in district Haridwar. Soil samples were collected and analyzed for selected soil physico-chemical parameters using standard analytical methods and enumeration of soil fungi by serial dilution agar plating method. Results revealed that the higher Colony Forming Unit (C.F.U.) values for soil fungi was observed in the forest area significantly correlated with varying meteorological factors viz. atmospheric temperature (ºC), relative humidity (%) and rainfall (mm). A total of 21 fungi species belonging to the Ascomycetes (01), Deuteromycetes (18) and Zygomycetes (02) were identified. The Shannon-wiener’s index of species diversity was maximum (2.968) in forest area followed by industrial area (2.84), respectively. Principal component analysis showed that out of 21 fungal species 7 species were highly substantial with good PC values (70.55%), rather 14 were less occurring (13.10%) to determine the mycofloral diversity.