A water quality assessment based on benthic diatoms of the timok river basin (Eastern Serbia) under multiple anthropogenic pressures
2021
Authors:
Djukić, Nikola N.Vasiljević, Božica
Milosevic, Djuradj
Valjarević, Aleksandar Dj
Jakšić, Tatjana R.
Vasić, Predrag S.
Štrbac, Snežana
Document Type:
Article (Published version)
,
© 2020 Academic Publishing House.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract:
The study is focused on diatom communities as indicators of the water quality of aquatic ecosystems. The study included watercourses of the Timok River Basin in eastern Serbia. Sampling of algological material and physicochemical measurements were conducted at 30 locations in September 2016. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) showed that conductivity had an effect on the spatial variability of the diatom communities. At locations under influence of acid mine drainage along the Borska river, its tributaries and the Timok river, the diversity of benthic diatoms decreased and the abundance of metal tolerant taxa Achnanthidium minutissimum, Nitzschia capitellata and Nitzschia palea increased. Our study revealed that the combined effect of different pollutants significantly impacted on diatom assemblages; diatoms are good bioindicators of multiple pressures; and diatom indices with different types of pollution, may show an unreliable picture of the actual state, therefore, biological and physico-chemical parameters should also be observed when interpreting the results of a solely diatom-based assessment of the ecological condition of freshwaters.
Keywords:
Benthic diatoms; Biomonitoring; Diatom indices; Timok river; Water qualitySource:
Comptes Rendus de L'Academie Bulgare des Sciences, 2021, 73, 12, 1696-1702Funding / projects:
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200007 (University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research 'Siniša Stanković') (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200007)
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200026 (University of Belgrade, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy - IChTM) (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200026)
DOI: 10.7546/CRABS.2020.12.09
ISSN: 1310-1331