XVI International Botanical Congess

Thermal springs are regarded as nature's constant temperature laboratory and have attracted the attention of many naturalists. Thermal spring are high temperature aquatic ecosystem. In India about three hundred thermal springs have been investigated. In this paper the limnological study of thermal algae of Unapdeo hot spring is reported. Unapdeo thermal spring is situated near village Advad of district Jalgaon, Maharastra State. Algal samples and water samples were collected from hot spring at monthly interval for the period of one year (1997-1998). Water samples were collected for physico-chemical analysis. The water temperature was recorded with a graduated thermometer, the hydrogen ion concentration and other chemical parameters determined according to standard methods of APHA (1975). The algal samples were collected for identification of algae. Algal taxa which were recorded in present study are belonging to groups of Cyanophyceae and Bacillariophyceae. In present investigation blue-green algae are dominant.