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Wetland Water Quality Biological Assessment Presentation
Wetland Water Quality Biological Assessment Presentation
Wetland Water Quality Biological Assessment Presentation
Raywadee Roachanakanan, Ph.D. Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies Mahidol University November 9, 2007
Tools
*Selected physico-chemical parameters: Standard *Chemical index *Biological indicators/ index
Chemical index
*Saubain et al. index I = 1/n n qi
I = Chemical index n = Number of parameter (can be calculated even on a number of parameters less than 7) qi = Index value of parameter
Seven parameters are Dissolved oxygen, Nitrate-N, Nitrite-N, Ammonia-N, TotalN, Phosphate, Chemical oxygen demand. Interpretation: Classes 1-5= Very low water quality-Very good water quality
Chemical index
*Dutch score I = n qi
I = Chemical index n = Number of parameter qi = Score for each parameter
Three parameters are Dissolved oxygen, Biochemical oxygen demand, Ammonia-N. Interpretation: Classes 1-5= Very good water quality-Very low water quality
Chemical index
*Only in some European countries are interested and developed these indices: France, Dutch and Belgium. *Not popular and not in use. In Thailand, it is used to be a research on this index (almost 20 years ago). *Problem: it is difficult to identify the relationship amongst the parameters (the summation??).
Bioindicator
The use of individual plant and/or animal species or, more rarely, groups of closely interdependent species to indicate the quality of an environment. Evaluation of ecosystems usually involves the identification of indicator species which have critical environmental requirements. Example: Ecdyonuridae (belonging to Ephemeroptera: May fly) is the most sensitive group for very good water quality (high dissolved oxygen).
Food web
Plankton
Plankton=microscopic aquatic forms having little or on resistance to currents/ living free-floating and suspended in open or pelagic waters/ ranging in size from single-celled picoplankton, which are < 5 um in diameter, to colonial form Algae=simple plants that lack true stems, roots and leaves but perform photosynthesis/diverse life forms-simple unicellular forms to complex colonial and filamentous forms
Plankton
-Phytoplankton (plant) and Zooplankton (animal) Generally zooplankton are larger than phytoplankton -Holoplankton (whole life) and Meroplankton (a certain stage in life cycle e.g. larva stage of shrimp and dragon fly)
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
Plankton
*Short life cycles: planktons environmental changes. respond quickly to
*Standing crop and species composition indicate the quality of the water mass. *Plankton are predominant in lentic habitats (ponds, lakes and oceans) and large rivers with slow moving waters. *Eutrophication *Drawback: small size and difficulty of specific identification.
Fish
*Species composition and abundance of fish are important in assessing the health of water body. *In the aquatic food webs, normally fish occupy the highest trophic level therefore they can represent the summation of conditions for lower biological forms and the overall water quality. *Certain fish species or group of species are more sensitive to pollutants including siltation.
* Catfish generally are considered pollution-tolerant but many species such as madtoms are sensitive to some environmental alterations. *Drawback: being more mobile therefore they can avoid pollution to some extent.
Macrophyte
*Higher plants are affected by oxygen conditions and turbidity. *High nutrients contents can lead to high biomass. Good?? *Drawback: difficulty to interpret according to water quality; being not very diverse; being not good as indicators
Benthos
Benthos = Greek bottom = the plant or animal communities associate with the bottom or any solid-liquid interface in the aquatic systems *Now: Animals associate with substrata -Epifauna (on: attatched, motile forms) -Infauna (in: tubes/burrows) Macroinvertebrate = a heterogenous assemblage of animal phyla: Mollusc/Insect larvae/Worm/Star fish etc.
Importance
the diversity of invertebrates, particularly insects, makes up about 54% of all described species of organisms invertebrates are almost ubiquitous in aquatic systems invertebrates have limited mobility; the history of the site, enabling intermittent contaminants to be detected their life cycles are usually on the order of months to years long, which limits their ability to recolonize sites rapidly
Biotic index
A rating used in assessing the quality of the environment in ecological terms. Rivers can be classified according to the type of invertebrate community present in the water using a biotic index which is largely an indication of the amount of dissolved oxygen present = a measure of the level of organic pollution.
Biotic index
Example: very clean water, holding a wide variety of species including pollution-sensitive animals (e.g. stonefly and mayfly nymphs) has a high biotic score. As pollution increases, oxygen levels decrease and the more sensitive species disappear. Badly polluted water, in which only a few tolerant species (e.g. red midge larvae and annelid worms) can survive, together with a few animals which breathe air at the surface, has a very low biotic source.
Biotic index
Macroinvertebrate community assessments are being used as a planning tool for managing water uses, for ambient monitoring and for evaluating the effectiveness of pollution control measures owing to the following reasons: 1) macroinvertebrates are differentially sensitive to pollutants of various types and react to them quickly (wide range of tolerances). 2) macroinvertebrates are ubiquitous, abundant and relatively easy to collect, their identification and enumeration is not as tedious and difficult (especially for most family level).
Biotic index
3) benthic macroinvertebrates are relatively sedentary and are therefore representative of local conditions. 4) macroinvertebrates have life spans long enough to provide a record of environmental quality. 5) macroinvertebrate community is very heterogeneous consisting of representatives of several phyla (high diversity). 6) the ease of sampling in most rivers.
Ephemeroptera
Mayfly
Adult
Plecoptera
Stonefly
Perlodidae
Trichoptera
Caddisfly
Limnephilus lunatus Glossosomatidae
Leptoceridae
Diptera
Truefly
Family :Chironomidae