Composition and Abundance of Phytoplankton in Relation to Physical and Chemical Variables in the Kars River, Turkey
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Composition and abundance of phytoplankton ın relation to physical and chemical variables in The Kars River, Turkey Composición y abundancia del fitoplacton en relación a variables físicas y químicas en el río Kars, Turquía Özbay H Abstract. The phytoplankton of the Kars River was studied from Resumen. El fitoplacton del río Kars fue estudiado entre mayo y May to October 2005 at five sampling stations. Sixty-six phyto- octubre de 2005, en cinco estaciones de muestreo. Se determinaron plankton taxa were determined, consisting of Cyanophyta (9), Chlo- sesenta y seis taxa, pertenecientes a las Divisiones Cyanophyta (9), rophyta (25), Euglenophyta (18), Bacillariophyta (7), Cryptophyta Chlorophyta (25), Euglenophyta (18), Bacillariophyta (7), Crypto- (3), Dinophyta (1) and Chrysophyta (3). Total phytoplankton den- phyta (3), Dinophyta (1) y Chrysophyta (3). La densidad total del sity increased from May to July and then decreased until October. fitoplacton aumentó desde mayo hasta julio, y luego disminuyó hasta The dominant phytoplankton group was Cyanophyta (36.5 - 64.4%) octubre. El grupo de fitoplancton dominante fue Cyanophyta (36,5 for most of the study period, followed by Bacillariophyta (20.4 – – 64,4%) durante la mayor parte del período de estudio, seguido por 38.7%) and Chlorophyta (20.9 – 28.9%). Temperature, pH and dis- Bacillariophyta (20,4 – 38,7%) y Chlorophyta (20,9 – 28,9%). La tem- solved oxygen ranged from 9.6 °C to 21.6 °C; 7.6 to 8.0, and 5.9 peratura, el pH y el oxígeno disuelto varió de 9,6 °C a 21,6 °C; 7,6 a to 7.4 mg/L, respectively. Chlorophyl a level changed from 0.0025 8,0 y 5,9 a 7,4 mg/L, respectivamente. El nivel de clorofilaa cambió de to 0.0059 mg/L. On the other hand, both phosphate and nitrogen 0,0025 a 0,0059 mg/L. Por otra parte, los niveles de fosfato y nitrógeno levels tended to increase from May to July. The maximum and mini- tendieron a incrementar desde mayo a julio. Las densidades máxima mum densities of phytoplankton were 19781 ( July) and 8851 (Oc- y mínima de fitoplancton fueron 19781 (julio) y 8851 (octubre) org/ tober) org/mL, respectively, and this variable correlated significantly mL, respectivamente, y esta variable se correlacionó significativamente with temperature. Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP), Total Phos- con la temperatura, fósforo reactivo soluble (SRP), fosfato total (TP), phate (TP), Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and abundance of Cyanophyta, Oxígeno disuelto (DO), y abundancia de Cianofitas, Clorifitas, Baci- Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta and Cryptophyta. lorófitas y Criptófitas. Keywords: River Kars; Running water; Phytoplankton; Environ- Palabras clave: Río Kars; Agua corriente; Fitoplacton; Factores mental factors. ambientales. University of Kafkas, Faculty of Sciences, Biology Department, 36300, Kars, Turkey. Address Correspondence to: Hanife Özbay, e-mail: [email protected]. Fax +90 474 2251179, phone: +90 474 2120201/3084. Recibido / Received 2.XII.2010. Aceptado / Accepted 3.II.2011. FYTON ISSN 0031 9457, (2011) 80: 85-92 86 Özbay H, FYTON 80 (2011) INTRODUCTION sampling station, water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH were measured in situ, with commercial meters. Water sam- As a primary producer, phytoplankton uses abiotic factors ples (1 liter) were also collected for analysis of soluble reactive and processes such as photosynthesis to produce energy; pri- phosphorus (SRP), total phosphate (TP), ammonium-nitrogen mary and secondary consumers depend on primary producers (NH4-N) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), following Mackereth for energy. Therefore, phytoplankton is very important for the et al. (1978). Single subsurface phytoplankton samples were taken existence of all water ecosystems (Molles, 2005). Survey stud- with a Van Dorn sampler and preserved with Lugol’s solution ies, such as physical, chemical and biological investigations on immediately after sampling. Subsamples were examined and enu- rivers, produce important baseline data which support further merated with an inverted microscope at a magnification of X400, work on river systems. In general, however, phytoplankton according to the method described by Lund et al. (1958). Stan- composition and seasonal dynamics in rivers (Chessman, dard texts were used for identification of phytoplankton species 1985; Marvan et al., 2004; Domitrovic et al., 2007) have re- (Lind & Brook, 1980; Haris, 1986; Kramer & Lange-Bertalot, ceived very little attention compared with lake phytoplankton. 1991; Canter-Lund & Lund, 1996). Chl a was extracted with Although during the past twenty years riverine phytoplankton acetone, and concentration calculated from absorbance reading at have been popular among the hydrobiologists, the river phy- 663 nm (Talling & Driver, 1961). The Shannon-Wiener species toplankton of Mediterranean Europe is still poorly known. diversity index (H’) was calculated as follows: Turkish research on phytoplankton communities has also fo- ∑ H’= - Pi(lnPi) cused predominantly on lakes rather than rivers. Kars River is one of the important sources for irrigation purposes, fishing and where Pi is the proportion of each species in the sample. recreational uses in the region. Dilber (2007), in a previous study, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed us- ing SPSS 16.0 to assess the influence of the physico-chemical reported the river turbidity (Sechi depth), NO3-N, NH4-N, SRP, TP, silica and Chl a levels between: 32.5 cm (May) and 38.3 cm variables on the abundance of phytoplankton. ( July); 0.14 mg/L ( June) and 0.542 mg/L (October); 31 µg/L Fig. 1. Sampling stations in Kars River. ( June) and 65µg/L ( July); 47 µg/L (November) and 159 µg/L Fig. 1. Estaciones de muestreo en el río Kars. (August); 61 µg/L (October) and 237 µg/L (September); 1.96 µg/L (August) and 5.56 µg/L (November), 0.0033 mg/L (June) and 0.020 mg/L (September), respectively. No phytoplankton studies have been conducted to date in the Kars River. The pres- ent study, therefore, is the first attempt to describe the seasonal abundance of phytoplankton in this ecological system. The ef- fects of physico-chemical parameters, such as temperature, DO, pH, conductivity, SRP, TP, NH4-H, NO3-N and chlorophyl a on the phytoplankton community were also evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Kars River, which is 93 km long, has its source in the mountains which lie near the town of Sarıkamıs, in north- eastern Turkey. The river is a tributary of the Aras River, and RESULTS discharges into the Arpacay Dam via the Arpacay Creek. Based on previous records from the State Hydraulic Works A total of sixty-six phytoplankton taxa were identified Department (2005), the mean current speed of the river is in the Kars River (Table 1). Throughout most of the study 0.468 m/s. No information is available about the seasonal hy- period, the dominant group was Cyanophyta, except in June drological regime. The river is contaminated with urban, rural when it was overcome by Bacillariophyta. Within Cyanophy- and industrial waste. The river basin is in a temperate zone ta, four species excedeed the 10% dominance: Anabaena circi- with 3.9 °C mean annual temperature (State Meterological nalis, A. elenkinii, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Lyngbya con- records, 2005), where the absolute minimum and maximum corta. For the second group (Bacillariophyta), only Fragillaria temperatures are -14.6 °C and 28.7 °C. ulna reached such high values. Another important group was Samples were collected monthly, from May to October 2005, Chlorophyta (global dominance > 20% during all the study); from the edge of the water, where the velocity is low, at five stations only two taxa (Chlamydomonas sp. and Monoraphidium con- scattered along the river (Fig.1; beware of the waste- discharged tortum) exceeded the 5% dominance. The Shannon-Wiener point throughout the sampling). Sampling was not carried out species diversity index, based on the number of individuals, during the winter because of severe weather conditions. At each ranged from 2.05 (October) to 4.20 ( July) (Table 1). FYTON ISSN 0031 9457, (2011) 80: 85-92 Phytoplankton in the Kars River 87 Table 1. Species composition, dominance values and diversity (H’: Shannon-Wiener diversity index) of phytoplankton in Kars River. Tabla 1. Composición específica, dominancia y diversidad (H’: índice de diversidad de Shannon-Wiener) del fitoplancton en el río Kars. Dominance (%) 34 Tetrastrum 0.83 0.47 0.22 0.24 0.33 0.17 triangulare May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 EUGLENOPHYTA 0.18 0.20 0.19 0.31 0.40 0.57 CYANOPHYTA 49.5 36.5 37.5 50.6 46.5 64.4 35 Euglena agilis 0.04 0.03 0.06 0.06 0.09 0.13 1 Anabaena circinalis 20.91 5.80 2.96 4.00 0.80 2.24 36 Euglena - 0.004 0.002 0.003 0.001 0.004 chlamydomorpha 2 Anabaenopsis elenkinii 15.56 5.02 4.49 3.79 0.71 2.59 37 Euglena elastica - 0.002 0.005 0.004 0.001 0.009 3 Aphanizomenon 2.71 14.19 10.6 12.01 18.17 25.79 flos-aquae 38 Euglena gracilis 0.03 0.03 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.11 4 Chroococcus minor 0.72 0.98 2.06 5.68 0.66 2.47 39 Euglena minuta 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.07 0.10 0.12 5 Gloeocapsa rupestris 2.98 1.36 2.33 4.87 1.48 1.90 40 Euglena polymorpha - 0.004 0.001 0.003 0.007 0.004 6 Lyngbya contorta 2.06 8.23 11.16 1.98 19.65 23.83 41 Euglena proxima - 0.001 0.001 0.006 0.003 0.006 7 Lyngbya 1.21 1.44 1.15 3.26 2.74 2.00 42 Euglena variabilis - 0.004 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.004 vanderberghenii 43 Euglena sp.