The Karun River is the most important watershed in the southwestern region of Iran. Water quality parameters were sampled from October 2006 through July 2007 at three sites along a 4 km gradient, covering both the wet and the dry season. Surface water was collected at three different stations per site (close to the banks and in the middle of the river) and analysed for 14 parameters and heavy metals. The values of 1300, 196.8 and 4042.9 ppm for chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand and chloride, respectively, were higher than the standards limits. water quality index (WQI) values were very useful for the classification of the waters monitored. The averaged WQI was low (47%), and quality declined significantly during the dry season [analysis of variance (ANOVA, P < 0.05)]. The annual WQI values of 54.60, 40.29 and 45.71 from sites 1, 2 and 3 correspond to medium, bad and bad water qualities, respectively.
This study was carried out to evaluate the seasonal variations of seaweed biomass and species composition at six different sites along the coastal areas in Bushehr Province. Sampling depths varied among sites, from 0.3 to 2.0 m below mean sea level. A total of 37 (i.e., 10 Chlorophyta, 12 Phaeophyta and 15 Rhodophyta) seaweed species were collected. Studies were conducted for quantifying the seaweeds during four seasons from October 2008 until July 2009. During present research, Ulva intestinalis and Cladophora nitellopsis of green, Polycladia myrica, Sirophysalia trinodis and Sargassum angustifolium of brown and Gracilaria canaliculata and Hypnea cervicornis of red seaweeds showed highest biomass in coastal areas of Bushehr Province. The Cheney's ratio of 2.1 indicated a temperate algal flora to this area. All sites exhibited more than 50% similarity of algal species, indicating a relatively homogenous algal distribution. Total biomass showed the highest value of 3280.7 ± 537.8 g dry wt m −2 during summer and lowest value of 856.9 ± 92.0 g dry wt m −2 during winter. During this study, the highest and lowest seaweed biomass were recorded on the site 2 (2473.7 ± 311.0 g dry wt m −2) and site 5 (856.7 ± 96.8 g dry wt m −2), respectively.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.