A Contribution to the Epipelic Algal Ecology in Lotic Ecosystem of Iraq

Abstract

The study was conducted on epipleic diatoms in a lotic ecosystem. The Al-Shamiyah River was selected which is a distance from industrial activities. Four sites along the river were selected for sampling during the period from March 2013 to February 2014. A total of 173 species of epipelic diatoms were identified. The pennate diatoms predominated and represented about 92.49% of the total diatoms, while centric diatoms formed only 7.51%. The total number of diatoms ranged between 185.1-422.34 cell × 10 4 /cm 2. Some of the pennate diatom species were Achnanthes affinis Grunow , Achnanthes mintussima Küetzing, Cocconeis placentula var. euglypta (Ehr.) Cleve, Cymbella affinis Küetzing, Diatoma vulgare Bory, Fragilaria capucina Desmazieres , Gomphonema angustatum var. productu Grun., Navicula lanceolata (Ag.) Kuetzing, Navicula radiosa Küetzing, Navicula viridula Küetzing, Nitzschia palea (Kutz.) W. Smith, Nitzschia romana Grunow. The physicochemical and epipelic algae species indicated that the water quality of the river was clean to moderate water quality.

Biological and Ecological Monitoring Using Epiphytic Diatoms on Two Aquatic Plants to Estimate the Water Quality of Habbaniyah Lake, Western Iraq

“…4 ). Evidence that the adhesion ability of benthic algae on the Ceratophyllum plant is higher than that of the Phragmites plant, due to the nature of the outer surface of the Ceratophyllum plant [38] . Perhaps the high values of biodiversity in the dry season may be attributed to the availability of factors suitable for the growth of adherent algae and the increase in essential nutrients such as temperature, nitrates, phosphates, and the abundance of salts, which leads to the occurrence of the phenomenon of eutrophication, as well as the density of plants and weeds on the banks of the lake, which encouraged algae to adhere and grow [39].…”

Community Structure of Benthic Algae in a Lotic Ecosystem, Karbala Province-Iraq

“…This result was also reported by Hassan et al [25] in the Euphrates River in a region between two cities. Hassan and Shaawiat [6] noted the dominance of pennate diatom (92.59% of total identified diatoms) in an Al Shamiyah River in Iraq. These results are in agreement with the present study.…”

Study of Algal Diatoms in some water resources in Shaglawa District. Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq

“…Aquatic organisms have been utilized as bioindicators of pollution, as well as biological monitors to understand the interaction between organism's responses to environmental changes and their legal impact, and many microorganisms can be utilized as indicators for the quality of water in addition to pollutants that may lead to sudden death, or indicate the presence of toxic compounds in the environment. This makes them high value as indicators of environmental health [1,2] . Algae have many characteristics that make them considered biomarkers for identifying changes in the aquatic environment.…”

“…The; quality and quantity of diatoms depend on the nutritional status of the aquatic ecosystem. These algae are used as diagnostic tools in biological monitoring and as biomarkers [1] . Diatoms; are globally utilized as indicators of water quality, especially in removing water Europe, Asia, Australia and North America [11] .…”