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7th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

The relationship between water quality and aquatic organisms

in tidal lakes, Medan-Indonesia

A Muhtadi* and R Leidonald

Departemen of Aquatic Resources Management, Faculty of Agriculture Universitas
Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia.

E-mail: *ahmad.muhtadi@usu.ac.id

Abstract. Siombak Lake is a tidal lake in Indonesia. The dynamics of the lake's waters
experience two high tides and two low tides within 24 hours (except during neap water). Groups
of freshwater, brackish, and marine organisms make up Siombak Lake's aquatic biota, which
varies with the seasons and tidal conditions. The purpose of this study is to clarify how aquatic
biodiversity in lakes is impacted by tidal dynamics. This research was conducted at Lake
Siombak, Medan City, North Sumatra Province. Data collection was carried out from September
2018 to August 2019. The analysis carried out was a multivariate PCA analysis assisted by
Microsoft Excel 2016 and Minitab. The research results show that tidal dynamics cause
fluctuations and dynamics in lake water quality and lake biological communities. Plankton are
aquatic organisms greatly influenced by water dynamics and water quality. Phytoplankton
abundance is influenced by sunlight and nutrient levels, while TSS, salinity and phytoplankton
abundance influence zooplankton abundance. The abundance and presence of fish are closely
related to their food sources, namely zooplankton, crustaceans, and mollusks. The existence of
these tidal dynamics provides sustainability and stability to the environment and ecosystem of
Siombak Lake

1. Introduction
Siombak Lake is a tropical coastal lake in Medan, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. This lake is a
tidal lake, with the dynamics of its waters governed by the Malacca Strait tides [1,2]. Siombak Lake
covers 29.72 hectares and has an average lake depth of 1.63 - 4.53 m during rainy days (mean tide =
3.27 m) and 1.61 - 4.38 m during dry days (mean tide = 3.25 m). Except during dead tide (neap tide),
variations in the water level of Siombak Lake occur every 6 hours (experiences two high water and two
low water in a day). Because of the tidal cycle, the Lake Siombak’s water level changes throughout the
year. In November 2018, the greatest water level in Siombak Lake was 227 cm. The lowest water level
was recorded in February 2019 at -24 cm [2].
Siombak Lake is quite unique and different. The lake water system is an estuary. The river flow that
enters the lake seven kilometers from the Belawan River Estuary (Malacca Strait) is still influenced by
ocean tides [2]. Some mangroves develop around the lake's perimeter [3,4]. The aquatic biota of
Siombak Lake consists of groups of freshwater fish, brackish, and marine creatures [5-8]. Siombak Lake
serves as catchment area for water, a flood control zone, a fishing area for fish, shellfish, and crabs, and
a tourist attraction. There are additional pond fisheries, residential areas, industries, and the Terjun
Medan City Landfill in the area around the lake [9].

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Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
7th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

Various studies of Siombak Lake have been conducted, including on morphology and
hydrodynamics as well as the status and profile of lake water quality [1,2,10,11]. Studies on aquatic
biodiversity such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and plankton have also been conducted [3-8]. In
addition, studies on mangroves and bird and mammal biodiversity have been reported in 2020 and 2021
[3,12]. However, studies and discussions related to the relationship between water quality dynamics and
lake aquatic biodiversity need to be reported. The purpose of this research is to explain the impact of
tidal dynamics on the lake's aquatic biodiversity

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Study site

This research was carried out at Siombak Lake in Medan City, North Sumatra Province (Fig 1). Data
was collected between September 2018 and August 2019.

Figure 1. Map of the research location [2,4,5,6,7,8,10].

2.2. Data collection

Data collection on water quality and aquatic biology is carried out every full moon at high and low tide.
Water quality data refers to water biology and is further processed from previous research by
[2,4,5,6,7,8,10].

2.3. Data analysis

The analysis conducted was PCA multivariate analysis assisted by Microsoft Excel 2016 and
Minitab.

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7th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Aquatic biodiversity

The Siombak Lake ecosystem has a fairly high and complete biodiversity. Biodiversity in Siombak Lake
consists of 54 genera of phytoplankton, 12 genera of zooplankton, 9 families of nekton larva and
juvenile, 10 types of mollusks, 18 types of crustacean, 27 types of fish, 14 types of mangroves, 12 types
of birds, dan 2 types of primates (Table 1). The lake has a biological feature that is rarely encountered
elsewhere: diverse mangrove trees, dominated by Nipa (N. frutican) and Berombang (S. caesolaris),
grow on its numerous sides (borders). Other notable species in Siombak Lake include herring fish (M.
cyprinoides), eel fish (A. bicolor), and jellyfish (A. aurita). Siombak Lake's biological community
includes fresh, brackish, and marine biota, as well as newcomers and settlers [3,4,5,67,8,12].

Table 1. Aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in tidal lake.

Number Density
Number
of Spatial Temporal
No Group of Unit
family/ High Low High
species Low water
division water water water
1 Phytoplankton 54 3 million/cell/m3 5.52- 3.19- 5.02- 4.45-8.03
15.09 12.48 17.01
2 Zooplankton 12 7 million/cell/m3 0.71-3.51 1.01- 1.59- 0.34-6.06
3.74 3.62
3 Nekton Larva - 9 ind/100 m3 18-354 21-1797 17- 5- 1,924
& Juvenile 1,603
4 Mollusca 10 7 ind/m2 463- 504- 352- 1307-
6,148 14,693 10,237 51,044

5 Crustacean 18 3 ind/ 100m2 1- 9,332 81-3,839 784- 57-3527

8679
6 Fish 27 20 Ind 200-600 500- 32- 126-1666
1000 332
7 Mangrove 14 12 Ind/ha 150-2000 - -
Source: [3,4,5,6,7,8].

3.2. Linkage of habitat and water quality to biodiversity

The level of water in Siombak Lake is directly connected to various factors such as current, salinity,
total dissolved solids (TDS), organic matter, and nutrients. When water flows into the lake, it transports
organic matter and salinity from the sea, resulting in a higher concentration of these elements in Siombak
Lake. TDS and salinity have a strong correlation with each other, reaching 0.97 during high tide and
0.85 during low tide. High TDS levels in the water lead to an increase in salinity concentration, making
TDS and salinity closely related to quality parameters. Salinity, temperature, pH, and DO are water
quality characteristics in Siombak Lake that have a relationship with aquatic biology. At high tide,
salinity correlates with phytoplankton, the number of larval families, the distribution of mollusk species,
the abundance of crustaceans the distribution of crustacean species, and the distribution of fish species.
The abundance of aquatic life in Siombak Lake is linked to its salinity levels. When the salinity is low,
freshwater species are dominant, while brackish/marine organisms dominate in high salinity conditions.
The temperature in the waters of Siombak Lake is closely correlated with zooplankton, larvae, mollusks,
and fish. DO and pH showed a close correlation with mollusks and fish.
The results of spatial PCA analysis showed that in both high tide and low tide conditions aquatic
organisms (except plankton and larvae) were influenced by the basic characteristics of water quality,
namely water temperature, DO, and pH (Figure 2-3). The presence of these organisms also characterized
stations 3-6 at high water and stations 3 and 5 at low water. This indicates that at high water the
organisms in Siombak Lake are more abundant in the northern and eastern parts, while at low tide more
are found in the shallow areas at stations 3 and 5. Meanwhile, plankton itself both at high water and low

3
7th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

water is influenced by nutrients presence, brightness, turbidity, and organic matter. The presence of
plankton characterizes Station 1 in both high tide and low tide conditions. Furthermore, larvae and
juveniles are somewhat different among high water and low water, which at high tide are influenced by
pH, DO, and temperature and characterize stations 3-6. At low tide, larvae and juveniles characterise
station 1 which is influenced by the presence of plankton.

Figure 2. Principal component analysis of water quality characteristics and aquatic organisms spatially
in Siombak Lake at high tide.

Figure 3. Principal component analysis of water quality characteristics and aquatic organisms spatially
in Siombak Lake at low tide.

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7th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

3.3. Linkage of tidal dynamics to aquatic biota communities

The results of temporal PCA analysis (Figures 4-5) show that the presence of aquatic organisms is more
dynamic than spatially, following the highly dynamic conditions and characteristics of water quality
based on time conditions. Molucca is influenced by turbidity and characterizes the transitional months
of May and June. Feb-March is a time when aquatic organisms are very dominant and characterize both
months, the presence of fish, crustaceans, larvae, and juveniles as well as plankton. This is not surprising
as fish are especially abundant during this month, characterized by the presence of halfbeak fish,
snapper, and spotted scat fish as well as the abundance of Ambassies fish. Meanwhile, larvae were also
abundant, especially the post-larval phase of jellyfish, which was particularly abundant in March.

Figure 4. Principal component analysis of temporal characteristics of water quality and aquatic
organisms in Siombak Lake at high tide.

Figure 5. Principal component analysis of water quality characteristics and aquatic organisms spatially
in Siombak Lake at low tide.

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7th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

Spatially, phytoplankton and zooplankton were highly correlated with moderate (0.53) to strong
(0.85) correlations. Temporally, the relationship was lower than spatially (r<5). However, when plotted
in PC1 and PC2 phytoplankton and zooplankton remain on the same axis and close together, as seen in
Figure 4-5. Similarly, fish are spatially and temporally closely related to their food sources, namely,
zooplankton, crustaceans, and mollusks. The waters of Siombak Lake are a food search area for fish
organisms, both fresh and marine fish that alternately enter the lake according to salinity conditions
[5,8]. Based on correlation and regression and the descriptive analysis between salinity and aquatic
organisms in Siombak Lake, it can be said that salinity influences the distribution and number of
plankton., larvae, crustaceans, and fish species and populations. While mollusks themselves are more
influenced by the characteristics of DO, pH, TSS, and turbidity values in the waters.
Salinity, temperature, pH, and DO are water quality characteristics in Siombak Lake that have a
relationship with aquatic biology. At high tide, salinity correlates with phytoplankton, the number of
larval families, the distribution of mollusk species, the abundance of crustaceans the distribution of
crustacean species, and the distribution of fish species. The presence of aquatic biota species in Lake
Siombak is closely in relation to the level of salinity which in low salinity conditions will be dominated
by fresh biota, and vice versa in high salinity will be dominated by brackish/marine organisms. The
temperature in the waters of Siombak Lake is closely correlated with zooplankton, larvae, mollusks, and
fish. DO and pH showed a close correlation with mollusks and fish. Phytoplankton in Siombak Lake
correlated with salinity, turbidity, brightness, currents, zooplankton, and larvae. The intensity of sunlight
entering the water is one of the important factors in the phytoplankton community [8,13,14]. Sunlight is
needed in the process of photosynthesis in water [15,16].
The population and "presence" of fish in Siombak Lake are influenced by water quality (DO, pH,
temperature, and salinity) and food sources (plankton, mollusks, and crustaceans). DO, pH, and
temperature are important parameters in the life of aquatic biota in aquatic ecosystems, including coastal
lakes [17]. Another parameter that affects the fish population in coastal lakes is salinity. Salinity
dynamics in coastal lake waters play a role in fish species' different 'presence'. High salinity conditions
will be dominated by the presence of marine fish, and vice versa in low salinity will be dominated by
freshwater fish [17,18,19].
Another factor affecting the prevalence and presence of fish species in Siombak Lake is the
availability of food in the lake, particularly plankton, mollusks, and crustaceans. Spotted Barb, Tilapia,
and Mozambique Tilapia fishes are common plankton-eating fish in Siombak Lake. Indo-Pacific tarpon
fishes are also fish that are often found in Siombak Lake. Indo-Pacific tarpon fish are plankton feeders
(especially zooplankton) and eat crustaceans. Other fish that feed on crustaceans are Northern mud
gudgeon and Scalloped perchlet fish, which are commonly found in the dry season [20,21,22].

4. Conclusions
The occurrence of tidal dynamics causes fluctuations and dynamics of lake water quality and the
dynamics of the lake's biological community. Plankton is a type of water organism heavily influenced
by dynamics of water and quality of water. Phytoplankton abundance is affected by the presence of
sunlight, nutrients and amout of zooplankton. Zooplankton abundance is influenced by TSS, salinity and
phytoplankton abundance. The abundance and presence of fish are closely related to their food sources,
namely, zooplankton, crustaceans, and molluscs.

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7th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment, and Food Security IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

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IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1302 (2024) 012061 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1302/1/012061

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Acknowledgments
Thanks are conveyed to Lake Siombak team for assisting with field biological data collection.