Diatom indices in the biological assessment of the water quality based on the example of a small lowland river

Szczepocka, Ewelina; Szulc, Bogusław; Szulc, Katarzyna; Rakowska, Barbara; Żelazna-Wieczorek, Joanna

doi:10.2478/s13545-014-0141-z

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Benthic diatoms have become an essential part of water ecological status monitoring in the last decade in many countries, especially in Europe [16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic Diatoms of the Ying River (Huaihe River Basin, China) and Their Application in Water Trophic Status Assessment

Shen

Ren

et al. 2018

Water

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Abstract:Benthic diatoms are an indispensable link of the water ecological system in terms of energy flow and material cycling, and they directly or indirectly reflect the status of the water environment. We sampled benthic diatoms and environmental factors from April to May of 2013 from 53 sites along the Ying River to study their application in local water trophic status assessment, with a focus on the dominant benthic diatom species, their composition and distribution pattern, and the relationship between benthic diatoms and environmental factors. A total of 370 species and varieties were identified, belonging to 56 genera and six orders. The dominant species were as follows: Nitzschia inconspicua Grunow, Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki, Navicula aitchelbee L. L. Bahls, Nitzschia palea (Kützing) Smith, Cyclotella meneghiniana Kützing, Navicula submuralis Hustedt and Mayamaea atomus (Kützing) Lange-Bertalot. The Ying River was divided into five orders using the Strahler method and three regions according to total nitrogen, total phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen. In region Y-1, which had the lowest nutrient level, the dominant species was Achnanthidium minutissimum. In region Y-2, which had the highest nutrient level, Navicula aitchelbee, Nitzschia palea, and Cyclotella meneghiniana were dominant, while in region Y-3, which had moderate nutrient levels, Nitzschia inconspicua was dominant. Pearson's correlation analysis and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed a significant correlation between the environmental factors with dominant species and diatom indices (especially the SPI). Our study indicates that dominant species and diatom indices can, to some extent, indicate the environment, especially nutrient distribution.

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“…Benthic diatoms have become an essential part of water ecological status monitoring in the last decade in many countries, especially in Europe [16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic Diatoms of the Ying River (Huaihe River Basin, China) and Their Application in Water Trophic Status Assessment

Shen

Ren

et al. 2018

Water

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“…This low sensitivity may be caused by incorrectly selected indicator values of the diatoms from the list on which this index is based, or a too high number of eurytopic species, of wide occurrence spectrum. The index works correctly for rivers with clear water (Szczepocka et al 2014a), but in polluted rivers, it definitely overestimates the water quality. The other saprobic indices differentiated the quality between the study sites in the river, which implies their higher sensitivity to changes in the water quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Diatoms in the biological assessment of the ecological state of waters using the Czarna Staszowska River as an example

Szczepocka

Rakowska

2015

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

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I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f O c e a n o g r a p h y a n d H y d r o b i o l o g y by The Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies is online at oandhs.ocean.ug.edu.pl pages (254-266) AbstractThe object of the present research was the Czarna Staszowska River, which is located in south-eastern Poland and which is a left tributary of the upper Vistula River. The length of the river is 61 km and its sources are situated in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. The river flows across an area covered by Mesozoic rocks, mostly carbonate and sulfate ones. The upper and middle course of the river is of natural character, while increased pollution occurs downstream of the Chańcza Reservoir.In the present study, the water quality of the Czarna Staszowska is investigated in the pure and polluted sections using diatom indices, such as IO − Diatom Index, IPS − Specific Pollution Sensitivity Index, GDI − Generic Diatom Index and TDI − Trophic Diatom Index. In the four river sections distinguished on the basis of the hydrology and the degree of water pollution, the occurrence of different indicator species was determined in the respective diatom assemblages. Indicator species were determined, i.e. characteristic of oligosaprobic and mesosaprobic, limestone and silicon-rich waters. Also taxa indicating an increased trophic status of the river (occurring in its polluted sections) were identified.

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“…, Szczepocka et al. , , Żelazna‐Wieczorek and Nowicka‐Krawczyk ). However, it has been reported that in natural rivers, the IPS may significantly underestimate the actual ecological status (Szczepocka et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Polish biomonitoring studies most commonly use the IO index; however, it does not allow water quality to be differentiated in streams at individual sites, as it exhibits a low sensitivity to changes caused by pollutant inflows (Szczepocka et al. , Szczepocka and Rakowska ). Conversely, the IPS index allowed the most precise assessment to be performed, with its values varying in accordance with the physical and chemical parameters of the stream.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deceptive ecological status of urban streams and rivers—evidence from diatom indices

2018

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Urbanization directly affects the ecological status of streams and rivers: Their beds and drainage basins are often heavily transformed and their habitat conditions disturbed. The aim of the study was to evaluate the extent of human impact in streams in the city of Łódź, Central Poland (~700,000 inhabitants), by pattern recognition analysis of benthic diatom assemblage samples using a Kohonen artificial neural network, principal component analysis, and indicator species analysis. The study also determined the ecological status of the streams using five diatom indices: Multimetric Diatom Index, Specific Pollution Sensitivity Index, Generic Diatom Index, Biological Diatom Index, and Trophic Diatom Index. The samples demonstrated considerable variation in ecological status. Examples of poor and bad ecological status were observed, clearly resulting from strong human pressure; however, good status and moderate status were also recorded, both at natural sites and, unexpectedly, those which were severely transformed, whose beds were covered with concrete and which were located downstream from combined sewer overflows. Such sites demonstrated high water conductivity of up to 1440 μS/cm, but this was accompanied by other more favorable conditions: The water flowed from upstream stretches enclosed in downtown underground canals with a fast current, low water temperature, and high average concentration of dissolved oxygen (approximately 10 mg/dm3). These conditions had a mitigating effect, shaping the diatom assemblages to a specific form with the highest species richness and the highest number of indicator taxa observed in the study. In summary, the hydromorphological transformation of streambeds may result in seemingly good ecological status at heavily degraded sites. Therefore, conclusions based on diatom‐based biomonitoring of urban streams and rivers should be drawn with caution.

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Diatom indices in the biological assessment of the water quality based on the example of a small lowland river

Cited by 26 publications

References 23 publications

Benthic Diatoms of the Ying River (Huaihe River Basin, China) and Their Application in Water Trophic Status Assessment

Benthic Diatoms of the Ying River (Huaihe River Basin, China) and Their Application in Water Trophic Status Assessment

Diatoms in the biological assessment of the ecological state of waters using the Czarna Staszowska River as an example

Deceptive ecological status of urban streams and rivers—evidence from diatom indices

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