author(s)
Vibha Lohani, Bonika Pant, Hema Tewari and Malobica Das Trakroo

abstract
Lake Bhimtal is a natural lentic water body in the Nainital District in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Well known for its vast size, socio-economic importance and aesthetic beauty the lake is a habitat for diverse micro and macro communities including Periphyton, attached to a fixed substrate. The present study was performed to observe the species abundance of periphyton in the lake. The dominant species of periphyton during the study were Navicula, Cymbella, Amphora, Fragilaria, Tabellaria, Synedra and Cosmarium. The study revealed that the diatom groups were dominant throughout the study period as compared to other groups. In that group, different genera like Cymbella sp., Navicula sp. and Tabellaria sp. were the major contributors to the overall density.