India, Nov. 6 -- Urban pollution is having a stronger influence than seasonal monsoon changes on microscopic, aquatic life in the Mula-Mutha river system with pollution-tolerant species increasingly dominating the system's more polluted stretches; according to a study by researchers at Pune's Agharkar Research Institute (ARI).

Published recently in the journal, River Research and Applications, the study found that though the overall diversity of diatoms - microscopic algae that play a crucial role in freshwater ecosystems - remained relatively stable across seasons and river stretches, the composition of species varied significantly from one stretch to another. The findings suggest that persistent pressures from urbanisation and pollutio...