The Use of Phytobenthos for the Ecological Status Assessment in Upper Sakarya Basin, Turkey

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to use diatoms as representatives of phytobenthos for estimating the ecological status in Upper Sakarya Basin. Samples were taken seasonally from ten stations from April 2015 to December 2015. Stations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were selected from rivers, stations 8 and 9 were selected from ponds which form Sakarya Springs. Station 10 was located at the outlet of Cifteler Aquaculture and Research Station. Diatoms were identified, counted and 19 diatom indices were calculated. Moreover, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity were measured in situ, and total nitrogen, orthophosphate and alkalinity were analysed. Finally, ecological status was estimated by evaluating biological, chemical and hydromorphological status according to Water Framework Directive. In total, 96 diatom species were identified from samples and Achnanthidium minutissimum, Cymbella excisa, Craticula subminuscula and Fragilaria brevistriata were the dominant species. Among diatom indices, IDP index which shows a high correlation with total nitrogen was used for the evaluation of the biological status. As a result, ecological status of the station 2 was estimated as high (class I), the status of stations 1, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 was estimated as good (class II), and the status of stations 3, 5, 6 was estimated as moderate (class III).

Use of Diatoms in Monitoring the Sakarya River Basin, Turkey

“…In a study carried out in the Upper Sakarya Basin [29], Achnanthidium minutissimum showed domination, but was not a dominant diatom species in the present study. In earlier classifications this species was considered as indicator of high ecological studies-for IPS index [21] was highly sensitive.…”

“…This is why, as pointed out recent studies [12,18], this species should be excluded from water quality assessments in Europe. This issue likely explains why the earlier studies [29] show mainly good and/or high quality status in the Sakarya River. Contrary to previous studies, the present study indicates much lower water quality around the same bodies of water.…”

“…Recently, warmer and tropical regions have been studied by using diatom indices [24]. Important data for biological water quality assessment are publish from Mediterranean areas [25][26][27][28][29][30], which also covering the south part of Turkey.In Turkey, the biomonitoring program has been carried out since 2011 [31] and is still developing in order to adapt to European Union legislation, especially in relation to the Water Framework Directive. Turkish waters are especially subject to this legislation and examined accordingly.…”

“…The first diatom studies in the region were conducted by Atıcı and Yıldız [33,34]. A study concerning using diatoms to assess water quality was conducted by Çetin and Demir [29], mainly in the upper section of the river. A few studies concerning diatoms have also been conducted in some tributaries of the Sakarya River [32,34,35].The Sakarya River Basin is the third-biggest river basin in Turkey, and includes highly populated cities.…”

Substratum‐associated microbiota

“…To develop metrics or indices for bioassessment, algal species need to be linked to their autecological traits, such as organic pollution tolerance or functional groups, but sources of trait information are not available for many regions. To monitor pollution from agriculture, aquaculture, and recreation in rivers and ponds within the Sakarya Basin in Turkey, Cetin, and Demir (2019) selected the Pampean Diatom Index (PDI) after comparison with 18 other indices calculated using the OMNIDIA software because of higher correlations between the PDI and total N.…”