EDP Sciences logo
Subscriber Authentication Point
Search
Menu
All issues Volume 55 (2019) Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim., 55 (2019) 11 Full HTML
Free Access
Issue
Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.
Volume 55, 2019
Article Number 11
Number of page(s) 11
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/limn/2019010
Published online 13 May 2019

© EDP Sciences, 2019

1 Introduction

The biological assessments of surface waters are becoming more important to evaluate the deterioration of aquatic ecosystems and to accomplish environmental sustainability since the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). This directive requires that European members have to enhance ecological qualities of deteriorated surface waters in order to achieve a good ecological status (European Commission, 2000; European Communities, 2009). Responses of phytobenthos, benthic invertebrates, phytoplankton, macrophytes, and fish have been addressed to assess the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems (European Communities, 2009).

Diatoms as ecological quality indicators have been widely used to evaluate changes in stream and river water quality due to their specific tolerances to nutrient gradients and a broad spectrum of ecological conditions (Rimet, 2012; Hamilton et al., 2015; Lobo et al., 2015, 2016; Çelekli et al., 2018a). Biological metrics provide information to identify biological changes under various pollutants gradients. These metrics are mainly developed according to the ecological responses and preferences of each species at different stressor gradients. A variety of diatom indices [e.g., Specific Pollution-Sensitive Index (SPI) in France (Cemagref, 1982), Trophic Index (TI) in Austria (Rott et al., 1999), Eutrophication and/or Pollution Index-Diatom (EPI-D) in Italy (Dell'uomo, 2004), and Trophic Diatom Index (TDI) in United Kingdom (Kelly and Whitton, 1995)] are used to assess water quality. The ecoregion is a geographical region that is characterized by specific ecological patterns, including geology, climate, vegetation, wildlife, hydrology, and human factors (Omernik, 1995). Trophic weights and indicator values of diatom species vary among the diatom metrics because the ecological preferences of diatom species can fluctuate in different ecoregions. Therefore, Trophic Index Turkey (TIT) was developed by Çelekli et al. (2019) to evaluate the ecological status of the Anatolia and Mediterranean region. This index was tested and compared with other known diatom indices in the different water bodies in Turkey (Toudjani et al., 2017; Çelekli et al., 2018) and the results pinpointed the better suitability of TIT than other indices (e.g., EPI-D and TI).

Studies dealing with the bioassessment of ecological conditions of surface waters based on the biotic indices have not been found in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment except Çelekli et al. (2016). This showed that studies to identify and monitor affected freshwaters and quantify their ecological status for achieving a good condition toward a target state are required. This showed the need of studies to identify and monitor affected freshwaters and quantify their ecological status for achieving a good condition toward a target state. Thereby, the main aim of the present study is to use various diatom metrics developed from different ecoregions for assessing the ecological status of 11 aquatic ecosystems in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment (Turkey). Based on this main aim, we also estimated the most important explanatory variable(s) drive the distribution of diatom composition and the ecological preferences of diatom species in this catchment.

2 Material and methods

A total of 11 surface waters in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment in Turkey ( Fig. 1) were sampled three times in October of 2013 and May and October of 2014. A few properties of the sampling stations are given in Table 1. This catchment includes three districts; Karkamış with three sampling stations, Oğuzeli with seven stations, and the Nizip region with one station. Unfortunately, the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment is poor in terms of the percentage of forest and so mostly includes agricultural lands. Agricultural lands are used especially for the production of pistachios, olives, and cereals and farming livestock in the ecoregion (Fig. 1). The ecosystems in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment are subjected to various sources of pollution including industrial and domestic wastes, livestock farming, and agricultural activities. Bahra Creek is located at 728 m a.s.l, whereas Karkamış Reservoir built on Fırat River for power and flood prevention is located at 340 m a.s.l. The industrial and municipal wastewaters of Gaziantep are transferred to the Hancağız Reservoir via Nizip and Mızar creeks and then connect to the Fırat River (Fig. 1). The district of Oğuzeli is close to the city center of Gaziantep. Annual precipitation is about 454 mm in this catchment where are used for the production of pistachios, olives, and cereals. The Gaziantep Airport and Gaziantep central domestic wastewater treatment plant are in this district. Discharging of the effluent of this plant into Alleben Creek joined to the Sacır Creek. Thus, Sacır Creek had relatively high turbid waters due to the impact of industrial and domestic waste, livestock farming, and agricultural activities. Additionally, this studied catchment has a semi-arid climate and annual precipitation varied from approximately 333 mm in the Karkamış district to 464 mm in the Nizip region (obtained from the Directorate of Gaziantep Meteorology).

Geographical data of the sampling stations were obtained with a geographical positioning system. Before the diatoms sampling, water temperature (°C), electrical conductivity (EC, µS cm−1), total dissolved solid (TDS, mg L−1), pH, oxygen saturation (%), dissolved oxygen concentration (mg L−1), and salinity (ppt) were measured using an oxygen–temperature meter (YSI professional plus) in situ and water samples were taken and protected in an icebox for the chemical analyses. Diatom samples were collected by brushing and scraping the upper surfaces of at least five stones taken from the riffle parts of running water ecosystems and the littoral zones of the reservoirs. Resulting suspensions were fixed with Lugol-glycerol solution in polyethylene bottles and stored in dark conditions until the laboratory analysis (European Committee for Standardization, 2004). In the laboratory, the suspension was oxidized with hydrogen peroxide and heated on a hotplate at 90 °C to remove organic acid material in samples (European Committee for Standardization, 2004). Clean diatom frustules were mounted on the Entellan (refraction index 1.49–1.52). Subsequently, at least 500 diatom valves were counted from each sample and then identified under a light microscope with a magnification of 1000× (Olympus BX53 attached a DP73 model) using the taxonomic books of Krammer and Lange-Bertalot (1991a, b, 1999a, b), Lange-Bertalot (2001), Krammer (2000, 2002), and Bey and Ector (2013).

Chemical analyses of the water samples were done by the standard methods of APHA (1989). Sartorius filtration process was applied to remove the particles from the water samples. Then, chemical analyses [e.g., nitrate-nitrogen (N-NO3), orthophosphate (P-PO4), ammonium-nitrogen (N-NH4), and nitrite-nitrogen (N-NO2)] were performed using Ion Chromatography (Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS-5000, HPIC system). Heavy metals (e.g., copper, chromium, nickel, lead, etc.) in the water samples were measured using ICP-OES – inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (Perkin Elmer, Optima 2100 DV).

Diatom indices, e.g., TI in Austria (Rott et al., 1999), EPI-D in Italy (Dell'uomo, 2004), and TIT in Turkey (Çelekli et al., 2019) were used to assess the ecological quality of sampling stations in the south-east of Gaziantep.

Duncan's multiple range test (SPSS version 15.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to compare physico-chemical variables among the sampling stations. The percentile analysis was carried out to determine the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of P-PO4 gradients. The Spearman correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationships between diatom indices and environmental factors. Detrended correspondence analysis was applied to the dataset of diatom assemblages to determine the gradient length for deciding to use which one of the linear or unimodal analysis. The lengths of gradient are larger than 3.0, which justified the performing of unimodal ordination techniques (ter Braak and Šmilauer, 2002). A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was conducted using CANOCO 4.5 software to evaluate the relationship between 10 environmental (explanatory) variables and 58 diatom species from the 11 sampling stations (ter Braak and Šmilauer, 2002). Physico-chemical variable data with exception of pH were log(x + 1) transformed to reduce skewness and to obtain a normal distribution (ter Braak and Šmilauer, 2002). The Monte Carlo permutation test was performed to identify which environmental factor(s) was/were significantly affected the diatom composition. The optima and tolerance values of diatom species for environmental variables were calculated according to the weighted averaging regression model (Juggins and ter Braak, 1992).

thumbnail Fig. 1

Sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment. Full names and codes of stations are given in Table 1.
Table 1

Sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment. Fir1 and Fir2 are in pool-locations of Fırat River.

3 Results

3.1 Physical and chemical variables

Environmental variables among the sampling stations changed during the study and the main results of descriptive analyses are given in Table 2. The lowest mean temperature value (12.2 °C) was found in Bahra Creek, whereas the highest mean temperature (21.2 °C) was recorded in the Hancağız Reservoir. Most of the sampling stations had relatively high water EC. The Hancağız Reservoir had the highest mean value of EC (1606 μS cm−1) that is followed by Sacır Creek with 980 μS cm−1 while the lowest mean value of EC was measured in the Karkamış Reservoir (347 μS cm−1). The mean pH values ranged from 7.8 in Bahra Creek to 8.7 in Fırat River1 (Tab. 2).

Temporal and spatial changes in nutrient values were recorded from the sampling stations during the study time. High nutrient values were found in Sacır Creek (49.2 μg L−1 P-PO4, 64.00 mg L−1 N-NO3, 3.75 mg L−1 N-NO2, and 60.0 mg L−1 SO4), Hancağız Reservoir (86.6 μg L−1 P-PO4, 3.12 mg L−1 N-NH4, and 64.0 mg L−1 SO4), and Kayacık Reservoir's stations, whereas relatively low mean values were measured in the Karkamış Reservoir (30.0 μg L−1 P-PO4 and 2.57 mg L−1 N-NO3) and Fırat River1 (28.8 μg L−1 P-PO4 and 1.43 mg L−1 N-NO3). Sacır Creek showed relatively high mean calcium values (p < 0.05), followed by Hancağız Reservoir. The mean values of heavy metals in Sacır Creek (e.g., 0.65 mg L−1 Pb and 0.40 mg L−1 Cu), Hancağız Reservoir (e.g., 0.40 mg L−1 Pb and 0.27 mg L−1 Cu), and Kayacık Reservoir's stations (e.g., 0.40 mg L−1 Pb and 0.27 mg L−1 Cu at Kay3) are relatively higher than other stations (Tab. 2).

Table 2

Mean ± standard deviation of physical and chemical variables at sampling stations. Full names and codes of stations are given in Table 1. Temp. – temperature, EC – electrical conductivity, TDS – total dissolved solid, DO – dissolved oxygen, NH4 – ammonium, PO4 – orthophosphate, SO4 – sulfate, NO2 – nitrite, NO3 – nitrate, Cl – chloride, Na – sodium, Mg – magnesium, Ca – calcium, Ni – nickel, Cr – chromium, Pb – lead, Cu – copper, and n.d. – not detected.

3.2 Diatom composition–environment relationships

In total, 58 diatom species were identified ( Tab. 3) from 11 sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment. Cocconeis placentula, Cyclotella meneghiniana, Gomphonema parvulum, Navicula phyllepta,Nitzschia palea, N. umbonata, and Ulnaria ulna species were frequently encountered during the study.

The first two axes (λ1 = 0.744 and λ2 = 0.465) of CCA explained 94.3% of the relationship between diatom assemblages and environmental factors with a relatively high percentage (27.4%) of the total variance of diatom species. Among environmental variables, calcium (λ = 0.688, F = 4.426, p = 0.002), EC (λ = 0.647, F = 4.120, p = 0.002), P-PO4 (λ = 0.616, F = 3.887, p = 0.002), sodium (λ = 0.562, F = 3.500, p = 0.002), N-NO2 (λ = 0.512, F = 3.144, p = 0.010), N-NO3 (λ = 0.425, F = 2.554, p = 0.010), ORP (λ = 0.392, F = 2.335, p = 0.002), SO4 (λ = 0.383, F = 2.280, p = 0.004), pH (λ = 0.349, F = 2.057, p = 0.004), and temperature (λ = 0.326, F = 1.913, p = 0.020) played significant roles in the distribution of the diatom assemblages among the sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment ( Fig. 2). All environmental factors positively correlated with the first canonical axis except pH, while negatively correlated with the second canonical axis except calcium and oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) (Fig. 2).

Sampling stations were separated into four groups by CCA: Group A is pollution-tolerant diatom species closely related to Hancağız and Kayacık Reservoirs and high nutrients and EC, Group B is ORP-tolerant diatom species associated with Sacır Creek, Group C is pollution-sensitive diatom species associated with Karkamış Reservoir and Fırat River1 located at negative site of the first axis, and Group D is diatom species that prefer warm waters integrated Bahra Creek and Katu Creek 1 and 2 situated on the positive site of the second canonical axis of the ordination and are located at high altitude (Fig. 2). Stations of the first two groups were mainly characterized by the occurrence of pollution-tolerant diatom species, e.g., N. phyllepta, N. amphibia, N. palea, N. umbonata,N. linearis, Pinnularia brebissonii, and Tryblionella calida were associated with the Hancağız and Kayacık Reservoir stations. However, pollution-sensitive diatom species, e.g., Cymbella affinis, Encyonema minutum, E. silesiacum, Cymbopleura amphicephala, and N. radiosa corresponded to stations of the Group C.

Weighted average (WA) regression results indicated that each diatom assemblage had different optima for the used environmental factors ( Tab. 4). Some of the species showed high EC and nutrient optima such as N. palea (1025 μS cm−1 EC, 58.3 μg L−1 P-PO4, 19.4 mg L−1 N-NO3, and 60.5 mg L−1 SO4), N. umbonata (1101 μS cm−1 EC, 55.6 μg L−1 P-PO4, 17.9 mg L−1 N-NO3, and 54.0 mg L−1 SO4), N. linearis (1338 μS cm−1 EC, 59.2 μg L−1 P-PO4, 18.9 mg L−1 N-NO3, and 57.4 mg L−1 SO4), P. brebissonii (1399 μS cm−1 EC, 62.4 μg L−1 P-PO4, 8.7 mg L−1 N-NO3, and 57.9 mg L−1 SO4), and Craticula cuspidata (1203 μS cm−1 EC, 61.8 μg L−1 P-PO4, 48.3 mg L−1 N-NO3, and 64.5 mg L−1 SO4). On the other hand, a few diatom species such as C. affinis (26.7 μg L−1), C. amphicephala (26.8 μg L−1), E. silesiacum (26.7 μg L−1 P-PO4), E. minutum (26.5 μg L−1), and N. radiosa (26.7 μg L−1) associated with relatively low P-PO4 optima. The percentile analysis indicated that 25th, 50th, and 75th of P-PO4 were found as 28.7, 45.0, and 55.3 μg L−1, respectively. The diatom species related to sampling stations of the Group A (Fig. 2) had higher P-PO4 optima than the 75th percentile, whereas species associated with the Group C's optima were lower than the 25th percentile.

Table 3

List of diatom species found in the present study.

thumbnail Fig. 2

CCA plot of diatom assemblages (circle) related to environmental (arrow) variables in the sampling stations (triangle-creeks and square-reservoirs). PO4 – orthophosphate, SO4 – sulfate, NO3 – nitrate, NO2 – nitrite, Na – sodium, EC – electrical conductivity, Ca – calcium, and ORP – oxidation-reduction potential. Full names and codes of stations and species are given in Tables 1 and 3, respectively.
Table 4

The optimum and tolerance values of diatom species were determined by using weighted average regression. opt and tol indicate optima and tolerance, respectively. Codes of species are given in Table 3. RMSE is the root mean square error.

3.3 Ecological status

The results of TIT, TI, and EPI-D with the ecological status of sampling stations are given in Table 5. TIT values ranged from 1.71 at the Karkamış Reservoir with a good ecological condition to 3.35 at the Hancağız Reservoir with a bad condition. Similar to TIT, TI indicated a good ecological condition with a score of 1.46 for the Karkamış Reservoir and a poor condition for the Hancağız Reservoir with a score of 3.27. Kayacık Reservoir1 had the highest EPI-D value (2.75) that means it had a poor ecological condition, while the lowest score (0.99) was found at the Karkamış Reservoir with high ecological status. All diatom indices indicated that Kayacık Reservoir stations had poor ecological conditions. TI mainly showed similar results with the findings of TIT but different from EPI-D (for more see Tab. 5).

Spearman correlation analysis revealed that TIT, TI, and EPI-D showed significantly positive correlations with P-PO4 (r = 0.732, 0.720, and 0.632) and EC (r = 0.764, 0.734, and 0.715) at cut-off level 0.01, respectively.

Table 5

Characterization of the sampling stations in the south-east of Gaziantep by Trophic Index Turkey (TIT), Trophic Index (TI), and Eutrophication and/or Pollution Index-Diatom (EPI-D). Fir1 and Fir2 are in pool-locations of Fırat River.

4 Discussion

Ecological characterizations of sampling stations were endorsed by performing TIT, TI, and EPI-D. TIT separated the sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment from bad to good ecological statuses. TIT and TI indicated that the Hancağız Reservoir had a bad ecological status and a poor ecological condition, respectively. Besides, all diatom indices indicated that Kayacık Reservoir stations had poor ecological statuses. The ecological status of Sacır Creek was characterized as a poor environmental condition by TIT and TI when it had a moderate ecological status according to EPI-D. Hancağız Reservoir and Sacır Creek were under the pressures of loading organic and inorganic nutrients from municipal and industrial waste, livestock farming, and agricultural land-use, whereas the Kayacık Reservoir was under the impacts of the discharge of domestic waste, livestock farming, and agricultural activities. Çelekli et al. (2016) also reported that Sacır Creek has high EC and nutrients. With regard to the Hancağız and Kayacık Reservoirs, deposition of nutrients and pollutants along the watersheds could be a consequence of the transferring of nutrients and metals from loading catchments via the drainage systems. Similar findings were also reported in some previous limno-ecological studies (Kibena et al., 2014; Çelekli et al., 2016). Additionally, the semi-arid climate in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment causes excessive evaporation, resulting in the worsening of water quality of aquatic ecosystems. The Eastern Mediterranean is affected by climate change, associated with human affairs, which causes fluctuations in the water levels of freshwater bodies during the drought and flood seasons (Lelieveld et al., 2012). Results showed that TI mainly showed similar results with the findings of TIT but it shows differentiation from EPI-D (Tab. 5).

Used diatom indices indicated good ecological conditions for Karkamış Reservoir and Fırat River1 and also Karkamış Reservoir had high ecological status due to the result of EPI-D. These stations were characterized by the pollution-sensitive diatom species (e.g., C. affinis, E. minutum, E. silesiacum, and C. amphicephala) in agreement with previous limno-ecological studies (Van Dam et al., 1994; Potapova et al., 2004; Rimet et al., 2004; Delgado et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2014; Çelekli et al., 2019). Also, relatively low EC and nutrient contents were measured in the Karkamış Reservoir and it fed by a large water potential of the Fırat River.

Discharging organic and inorganic nutrients from waste is a major driver of deterioration in surface waters, leading not only to water quality impairments but also to biological community impairments (Stevenson et al., 1996). The CCA could separate sampling stations into four main groups. Group A, the Hancağız Reservoir related to high nutrients especially P-PO4 and high conductivity. Therefore, pollution-tolerant species such as N. palea, N. umbonata, N. linearis, and P. brebissonii (Fig. 2) are also associated with this group. A similar situation is also present for the Kayacık Reservoirs that was closely related to calcium, EC, sodium, and nutrients. Group B, Sacır Creek was associated with ORP and corresponded with pollution-tolerant species, e.g., G. parvulum,Gomphonema angustatum, Diploneis oblongella, N. cryptotenella, and N. recens. In addition, high nutrient and conductivity and aforementioned pollution-tolerant taxa were also endorsed previously explained ecological statuses of Sacır Creek, Hancağız, and Kayacık Reservoirs. Furthermore, the WA indicated that aforementioned diatom species preferred high nutrients and EC values in the present study (Tab. 4). These diatom species had higher P-PO4 optima than the 75th percentile of phosphate gradient that sound tolerant taxa. The occurrences of these diatom species in polluted ecosystems were previously reported from different region of the World, e.g., the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe (Bere, 2016), the Ul River, a tributary of the Vouga River, in north-central Portugal (Resende et al., 2010), the subtropical temperate Brazilian rivers (Lobo et al., 2010), Mountain Rivers of the Segre basin of Catalonia (Goma et al., 2005), the western Mediterranean river basin of Turkey (Toudjani et al., 2017), and the Richmond River Catchment of Australia (Oeding and Taffs, 2017).

Group C, the Karkamış Reservoir and Fırat River1 closely corresponded to the pollution-sensitive diatom species, e.g., C. affinis, E. minutum, E. silesiacum, C. amphicephala, and N. radiosa, which were located at the opposite sites of high nutrient, EC, and ORP (Fig. 2). Also, these species called as sensitive taxa preferred low P-PO4 optima than the 25th percentile. This finding corresponds to the previous limno-ecological studies (Gómez and Licursi 2001; Delgado et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2014; Rimet et al., 2016; Marcel et al., 2017; Çelekli et al., 2018). Fırat River2 had a poor ecological condition and located at the center of CCA diagram (Fig. 2). This station was under pressures of loading organic and inorganic nutrients from livestock farming, agricultural land-use with manure, and fertilizers and characterized by the occurrence of a pollution-tolerant N. cryptocephala (Lobo et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2014; Çelekli et al., 2019). Group D, Bahra Creek and Katu Creek1 and 2 located at the positive site of the second canonical axis and at the opposite of temperature (Fig. 2). The species preferring relatively low water temperature (e.g., Surirella subsalsa, Surirella minuta, Epithemia argus, and P. microstauron) were encountered in these stations during the present study. Aforementioned species were also recorded in various aquatic ecosystems (Çelekli and Külköylüoğlu, 2007; Dell'uomo, 2004; Cochero et al., 2015; Çelekli et al., 2019). The occurrence of the pollution tolerant and/or sensitive species can reflect the integrated effect of different pressures that may affect the quality of the water bodies, e.g., organic and inorganic pollutants. Discharging organic and inorganic nutrients and pollutants from domestic and industrial wastes, livestock farming, and agricultural land-use could lead to the deterioration of water quality, which causes biological impairment in aquatic ecosystems. Unlike Bahra Creek and Katu Creek1, Katu Creek2 had a poor ecological condition. Deterioration of the water quality of this station could be the consequences of a number of more anthropogenic pressures (e.g., sewage discharges from settlements, livestock, runoff from fertilized agricultural land-uses, habitat destruction, and flow modification, etc.) than those of Bahra Creek and Katu Creek1.

Results of Spearman correlation analysis revealed that all diatom indices (TIT, TI, and EPI-D) showed significant positive correlations with P-PO4 (p < 0.01). TIT and TI had higher correlation coefficient values than that of EPI-D. Previous studies in the Western Anatolia basin (Toudjani et al., 2017) and the North Aegean catchment (Çelekli et al., 2018) showed that TIT was suitable to assess ecological conditions of surface waters in Anatolia. With regard to the separation of the ecological status of sampling stations, TIT and TI had mainly similar results (see more detail in Tab. 5). This could be a consequence of the unsuitability of EPI-D's class boundary values for the Anatolia catchment.

5 Conclusion

In the present study, stressors, e.g., calcium, conductivity, orthophosphate, nitrate, nitrite, sodium, and sulfur had significant effects on the distribution of diatom assemblages. Ecological characterization of the sampling stations was introduced by TIT, TI, and EPI-D. The occurrences of pollution tolerant and sensitive diatom species were also strengthening the results of these indices. Used diatom indices have high potential to clearly separate the ecological conditions of the studied stations. Diatom indices separated the ecological status of the sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment that is also supported by the water chemistry and response of diatom assemblages to stressor factors.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey) with the project No: 112Y054 and also thanked Scientific Research Projects Executive Council of University of Gaziantep and Dr. Mehmet Yavuzatmaca (Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Turkey) for his help.

References

  • APHA. 1989. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 17th edn. Washington, D.C.: American Public Health Association. [Google Scholar]
  • Bere T. 2016. Are diatom-based biotic indices developed in eutrophic, organically enriched waters reliable monitoring metrics in clean waters? Ecol Indic 62: 312–316. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Bey MY, Ector L. 2013. Atlas des diatomées des cours d'eau de la région Rhône-Alpes. Tome 1 Centriques, Monoraphidées. Tome 2 Araphidées, Brachyraphidées. Tome 3 Naviculacées: Naviculoidées. Tome 4 Naviculacées: Naviculoidées. Tome 5 Naviculacées: Cymbelloidées, Gomphonématoidées. Tome 6 Bacillariacées, Rhopalodiacées, Surirellacées. Direction régionale de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement Rhône-Alpes, Lyon, 1182 pp. [Google Scholar]
  • Çelekli A, Arslanargun H, Soysal Ç, Kapı E, Bozkurt H. 2016. Biochemical responses of filamentous algae in different aquatic ecosystems in South East Turkey and associated water quality parameters. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 133: 403–412. [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Çelekli A, Külköylüoğlu O. 2007. On the relationship between ecology and phytoplankton composition in a arstic spring (Çepni Bolu). Ecol Indic 7: 497–503. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Çelekli A, Toudjani AA, Gümüş EY, Kayhan S, Lekesiz HÖ, Çetin T. 2019. Determination of trophic weight and indicator values of diatoms in Turkish running waters for water quality assessment. Turk J Bot 43: 90–101. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Çelekli A, Toudjani AA, Lekesiz HÖ, Çetin T. 2018. Ecological quality assessment of running waters in the North Aegean catchment with diatom metrics and multivariate approach. Limnologica 73: 20–27. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Cemagref. 1982. Etude de Mthodes Biologiques Quantitatives d'Appreciation de la Qualit des Eaux. Rapport Q.E. Lyon- A.F.B. Rhȏne-Mediterrannee-Corse. [Google Scholar]
  • Cochero J, Licursi M, Gómez N. 2015. Changes in the epipelic diatom assemblage in nutrient rich streams due to the variations of simultaneous stressors. Limnologica 51: 15–23. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Delgado C, Pardo I, García L. 2012. Diatom communities as indicators of ecological status in Mediterranean temporary streams (Balearic Islands, Spain). Ecol Indic 15: 131–139. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Dell'uomo A. 2004. L'indice diatomico di eutrofizzazione/polluzione (EPI-D) nel monitoraggio delle azque correnti, line guida. Dipartimento di Botanica ed Ecologia, Universita di Camerino. [Google Scholar]
  • European Commission. 2000. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy. Off J Eur Communities 327: 1–72. [Google Scholar]
  • European Committee for Standardization. 2004. Water quality − Guidance standard for the identification, enumeration and interpretation of benthic diatoms from running waters. European Standard EN 13946. Brussels, 12 pp. [Google Scholar]
  • European Communities. 2009. Water Framework Directive intercalibration technical report. Part 2. in Poikane S. (ed.), Lakes. Ispra, Italy: European Commission, Joint Research Centre. [Google Scholar]
  • Goma J, Rimet F, Cambra J, Hoffmann L, Ector L. 2005. Diatom communities and water quality assessment in Mountain Rivers of the upper Segre basin (La Cerdanya, Oriental Pyrenees). Hydrobiologia 551: 209–225. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Gómez N, Licursi M. 2001. The Pampean Diatome Index (PDI) for assessment of rivers and streams in Argentina. Aquat Ecol 35: 173–181. [CrossRef] [EDP Sciences] [Google Scholar]
  • Hamilton PB, Lavoie I, Alpay S, Ponader K. 2015. Using diatom assemblages and sulfur in sediments to uncover the effects of historical mining on Lake Arnoux (Quebec, Canada): a retrospective of economic benefits vs. environmental debt. Front Ecol Evol 3: 1–16. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Juggins S, ter Braak CFJ. 1992. Calibrate-Program for species-environment calibration by (weighted averaging) partial least squares regression. Environmental Change Reserch Center, University College, London. [Google Scholar]
  • Kelly MG, Whitton B. 1995. The Trophic Diatom Index: a new index for monitoring eutrophication in rivers. J Appl Phycol 7: 433–444. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Kibena J, Nhapi I, Gumindoga W. 2014. Assessing the relationship between water quality parameters and changes in landuse patterns in the Upper Manyame River, Zimbabwe. Phys Chem Earth 67–69: 153–163. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H. 1991a. Bacillariophyceae. 3 Teil: Centrales. Fragilariaceae. Eunotiaceae. in: Ettl H., Gerloff J., Heynig H. and Mollenhauer D. (Hrsgb.), Süß-wasser- flora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2. Stuttgart: Fischer Verlag. [Google Scholar]
  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H. 1991b. Bacillariophyceae. 4 Teil: Achnanthaceae. Kritische Erganzungen zu Navicula (Lineolatae) und Gomphonema. in Ettl H., Gartner G., Gerloff J., Heynig H. and Mollenhauer D. (eds.), Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2. Stuttgart: Fischer Verlag. [Google Scholar]
  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H. 1999a. Bacillariophyceae. 1 Teil: Naviculaceae. in Ettl H., Gerloff J., Heynig H. and Mollenhauer D. (eds.), Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2. Heidelberg. Berlin: Akademischer Verlag. [Google Scholar]
  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H. 1999b. Bacillariophyceae. 2 Teil: Bacillariaceae. Epithemiaceae. Surirellaceae. in Ettl H., Gerloff J., Heynig H. and Mollenhauer D. (eds.), Süß-wasser- flora von Mitteleuropa, Band 2. Heidelberg. Berlin: Akademischer Verlag. [Google Scholar]
  • Krammer K. 2000. The Genus Pinnularia. in Lange-Bertalot H. (ed.), Diatoms of Europe − Diatoms of the European Inland Waters and Comparable Habitats, Vol. 1. Ruggel: Gantner Verlag, pp. 1–703. [Google Scholar]
  • Krammer K. 2002. The Genus Cymbella. in Lange-Bertalot H. (ed.), Diatoms of Europe − Diatoms of the European Inland Waters and Comparable Habitats, Vol. 3. Ruggel: Gantner Verlag, pp. 1–584. [Google Scholar]
  • Lange-Bertalot H. 2001. Navicula sensu stricto 10 Genera Separated from Navicula sensu lato Frustulia. in Lange-Bertalot H. (ed.), Diatoms of Europe − Diatoms of the European Inland Waters and Comparable Habitats, Vol. 2. Ruggel: Gantner Verlag, pp. 1–526. [Google Scholar]
  • Lelieveld J, Hadjinicolaou P, Kostopoulou E, Chenoweth J, El Maayar M, Giannakopoulos C, Hannides C, Lange MA, Tanarhte M, Tyrlis E, Xoplaki E. 2012. Climate change and impacts in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Clim Change 114: 667–687. [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Lobo EA, Heinrich CD, Schuch M, Wetzel CE, Ector L. 2016. Diatoms as bioindicators in rivers. in Necchi, Jr. O. (ed.), River Algae. Berlin: Springer International Publishing, pp. 245–271. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Lobo EA, Schuch M, Heinrich CG, et al. 2015. Development of the Trophic Water Quality Index (TWQI) for subtropical temperate Brazilian lotic systems. Environ Monit Assess 187: 1–13. [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Lobo EA, Wetzel CE, Ector L, Katoh K, Blanco S, Mayama S. 2010. Response of epilithic diatom communities to environmental gradients in subtropical temperate Brazilian rivers. Limnetica 29: 323–340. [Google Scholar]
  • Marcel R, Berthon V, Castets V, Rimet F, Thiers A, Labat F, Fontan B. 2017. Modelling diatom life forms and ecological guilds for river biomonitoring. Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 418: 1–15. [CrossRef] [EDP Sciences] [Google Scholar]
  • Oeding S, Taffs KH. 2017. Developing a regional diatom index for assessment and monitoring of freshwater streams in sub-tropical Australia. Ecol Indic 80: 135–146. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Omernik JM. 1995. Ecoregions: a framework for managing ecosystems. George Wright Forum 12: 35–50. [Google Scholar]
  • Potapova M, Charles DF, Ponade KC, Winter DM. 2004. Quantifying species indicator values for trophic diatom indices: comparison of approaches. Hydrobiologia 517: 25–41. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Resende PC, Resende P, Pardal M, Almeida S, Azeiteiro U. 2010. Use of biological indicators to assess water quality of the Ul River (Portugal). Environ Monit Assess 170: 535–544. [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • Rimet F. 2012. Recent views on river pollution and diatoms. Hydrobiologia 683: 1–24. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Rimet F, Ector L, Cauchie HM, Hoffmann L. 2004. Regional distribution of diatom assemblages in the headwater streams of Luxembourg. Hydrobiologia 520: 105–117. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Rimet F, Bouchez A, Tapolczai K. 2016. Spatial heterogeneity of littoral benthic diatoms in a large lake: monitoring implications. Hydrobiologia 771: 179–193. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Rott E, Pipp E, Pfister P, Van Dam H, Ortler K, Binder N, Pall K. 1999. Indikationslisten für Aufwuchsalgen in österreichischen Fliessgewässern. Teil 2: Trophieindikation (sowie geochemische Präferenzen, taxonomische und toxikologische Anmerkungen). Wasserwirtschaftskataster, Bundesministerium f.Land-u. Forstwirtschaft, Wien, 248 p. [Google Scholar]
  • Stevenson RJ, Bothwell ML, Lowe RL. 1996. Algal Ecology: Freshwater Benthic Ecosystems. California, USA: Academic Press. [Google Scholar]
  • ter Braak CJF, Šmilauer P. 2002. CANOCO Reference Manual and CanoDraw for Windows User's Guide: Software for Canonical Community Ordination (version 4.5). Ithaca: Microcomputer Power Press. [Google Scholar]
  • Toudjani AA, Çelekli A, Gümüş EY, Kayhan S, Lekesiz HÖ, Çetin T. 2017. A new diatom index to assess ecological quality of running waters: a case study of water bodies in western Anatolia. Ann Limnol − Int J Lim 53: 333–343. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
  • Van Dam H, Mertens A, Sinkeldam J. 1994. A coded checklist and ecological indicator values of freshwater diatoms from The Netherlands. Neth J Aquat Ecol 28: 117–184. [Google Scholar]
  • Wang X, Zheng B, Liu L, Li L. 2014. Use of diatoms in river health assessment. Annu Res Rev Biol 4: 4054–4074. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Cite this article as: Çelekli A, Arslanargun H. 2019. Bio-assessment of surface waters in the south-east of Gaziantep (Turkey) using diatom metrics. Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim. 55, 11

All Tables

Table 1

Sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment. Fir1 and Fir2 are in pool-locations of Fırat River.

In the text
Table 2

Mean ± standard deviation of physical and chemical variables at sampling stations. Full names and codes of stations are given in Table 1. Temp. – temperature, EC – electrical conductivity, TDS – total dissolved solid, DO – dissolved oxygen, NH4 – ammonium, PO4 – orthophosphate, SO4 – sulfate, NO2 – nitrite, NO3 – nitrate, Cl – chloride, Na – sodium, Mg – magnesium, Ca – calcium, Ni – nickel, Cr – chromium, Pb – lead, Cu – copper, and n.d. – not detected.

In the text
Table 3

List of diatom species found in the present study.

In the text
Table 4

The optimum and tolerance values of diatom species were determined by using weighted average regression. opt and tol indicate optima and tolerance, respectively. Codes of species are given in Table 3. RMSE is the root mean square error.

In the text
Table 5

Characterization of the sampling stations in the south-east of Gaziantep by Trophic Index Turkey (TIT), Trophic Index (TI), and Eutrophication and/or Pollution Index-Diatom (EPI-D). Fir1 and Fir2 are in pool-locations of Fırat River.

In the text

All Figures

thumbnail Fig. 1

Sampling stations in the south-east of the Gaziantep catchment. Full names and codes of stations are given in Table 1.
In the text
thumbnail Fig. 2

CCA plot of diatom assemblages (circle) related to environmental (arrow) variables in the sampling stations (triangle-creeks and square-reservoirs). PO4 – orthophosphate, SO4 – sulfate, NO3 – nitrate, NO2 – nitrite, Na – sodium, EC – electrical conductivity, Ca – calcium, and ORP – oxidation-reduction potential. Full names and codes of stations and species are given in Tables 1 and 3, respectively.
In the text

Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.

Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.

Initial download of the metrics may take a while.