Study on Freshwater Oligochaeta of Montenegro and Their Use as Indicators in Water Quality Assessment (original) (raw)

2012

Abstract

ABSTRACT The oligochaetes from freshwaters of Montenegro were studied in order to improve the recent knowledge about their faunistics and their use as bioindicators of water and sediment quality in aquatic ecosystems. Samples of sediments were taken from 16 rivers, 6 lakes, 3 springs, 3 reservoirs, and 2 creeks, at 78 different sampling sites, during six years of research (2005–2011), from the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea drainage basins. The oligochaete fauna of Montenegro includes 82 species, from 8 families. Thirty-six of them represent first records for the Montenegrin oligochaete fauna. Both qualitative and quantitative differences were found between the oligochaete fauna of the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea drainage basins. Sixty-four oligochaete species were found in rivers, 30 species in lakes, 20 species in reservoirs, 14 in creeks, and 9 species in the studied springs. The highest diversity of oligochaete species among studied rivers was found in the Zeta River, among lakes in Lake Skadar, among reservoirs in the Otilovići Reservoir, among creeks in the Rastovački Creek, and among springs in the Ali-Paša Springs. Five endemic species were confirmed in the Montenegrin oligochaete fauna. The values of the Jaccard’s index of similarity were the highest between the oligochaete fauna of Montenegro and Serbia, and the lowest between oligochaete fauna of Montenegro and Albania. Species richness estimators (Mao Tau, Uniques Mean, Chao 1, Chao 2, Jack 1, Jack 2, Bootstrap, ACE, and ICE) indicate that findings of new oligochaete species in Montenegro are expected. According to the trophic index, Lake Crno was oligotrophic, Lake Zminje and Lake Biogradsko were oligotrophic to eutrophic, while mesotrophic-eutrophic conditions were found in Lake Plavsko and Lake Skadar, depending on sampling location and period. According to the values of the saprobity index, rivers in their upper course were oligosaprobic to β-mesosaprobic (unpolluted to low polluted), and in their middle and lower course they were β-mesosaprobic, β-α-mesosaprobic, and α-mesosaprobic (moderately, critically, or strongly polluted). The low value of the saprobity index in Lake Crno indicates the oligosaprobic level. In the Piva Reservoir, two different levels of saprobity were detected, oligosaprobic and α-mesosaprobic. In the lakes Biogradsko, Plavsko, and Zminje, as well as in the reservoirs Krupac and Otilovići, saprobity level ranged from β-mesosaprobic to α-mesosaprobic. In Lake Skadar, some sampling sites were β-α-mesosaprobic or α-mesosaprobic, while others were α-p-mesosaprobic or polysaprobic. It was estimated that 23 species have the potential as biological indicators in waters of Montenegro.

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