Macrophyte diversity and physico-chemical characteristics of Tyrrhenian coast ponds in central Italy: implications for conservation

Awareness of pond conservation value is growing all over Europe. Ponds are recognized as important ecosystems supporting large numbers of species and several rare and threatened aquatic plants, macroinvertebrates and amphibians. Notwithstanding ponds, particularly temporary ones, are still neglected in Italy. There are some gaps in our understanding of the macrophyte ecology and the conservation value of Mediterranean small still waters. Therefore, this study investigated the macrophyte communities and physico-chemical characteristics of 8 permanent and 13 temporary ponds along the Tyrrhenian coast near Rome, with the aim to relate the distribution of aquatic plants to environmental variables, and to define the botanical conservation value of ponds. Throughout the study period (Spring 2002), Principal Component Analysis performed on abiotic variables clearly discriminated temporary ponds, smaller and more eutrophic, from permanent ponds, larger and with higher pH and oxygen concentration. A total of 73 macrophyte taxa were collected in the study ponds. Temporary waters hosted a smaller number of plant species than permanent ones. Besides hydroperiod length, the environmental factors related to plant richness were maximum depth, surface area, dissolved oxygen and nitrogen concentration in the water. Moreover, the Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling showed a high dissimilarity in the taxonomic composition of aquatic plants between temporary and permanent ponds. The former contained more annual fast-growing species (Callitriche sp. pl. and Ranunculus sp. pl.), while in the latter species with long life-cycles (i.e. Potamogeton sp. pl.) were more abundant. Our results highlighted that temporary and permanent ponds in central Italy have different macrophyte assemblages, with aquatic species (including some of conservation interest at regional scale) exclusively found in each pond type. This suggested that both type of ponds could give an irreplaceable contribution to the conservation of aquatic plant diversity of these freshwater ecosystems. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Seasonal and spatial changes in water and sediment quality variables in Bafa Lake

The brackish Bafa Lake located in the southwestern part of Turkey is under stress because of both natural and untreated wastewater effluents. The purpose of this research is to determine spatiotemporal distributions of some physicochemical variables in water column (temperature, salinity, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, NH4-N, NO2-N, NO3-N, oPO(4)-P, TPO4-P, chlorophyll-a, total suspended solids) and sediment (TN, TC, TOC, TP) and their relationships at coastal stations. In the water column, nitrate and phosphate concentrations showed seasonal variations with high values recorded in winter period. Ammonium was determined as a main source of TIN component. During summer period, a large amount of total phosphorus was found as dissolved organic form. However, in the winter period, inorganic phosphate levels increased at sampling stations. N limitation was a common feature throughout the lake where P-limitation was only observed in summer period. The total phosphorus levels which showed hypereutrophic condition at the western part of the lake changed between 1.55 and 4.99 mu M and did not remain in the range for uncontaminated condition. In the lake sediment, a strong relationship was found between TOC and TC levels. Generally, the mean TOC concentrations constitute small amount of TC values in the sampling stations. The results also indicated that a strong correlation exists between TOC and TN values, and TN was greatly regulated by organic sources. In the lake, TOC: TN ratios changed between 5 and 13; the ratio greater than 10 could be an indicator of algal and land plant sources mixing as an organic matter

Assessment of heavy metal contamination in Hediste diversicolor (O.F. Müller, 1776), Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758), and surface sediments of Bafa Lake (Eastern Aegean)

In the present study, the bioaccumulation of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn) in Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor (O.F. Muller, 1776) and also in the muscle and liver of Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) collected from seven stations in the Bafa Lake was investigated. Sediment samples were also collected in each site to assess heavy metal levels and to provide additional information on pollution of the lake. The mean concentrations of heavy metals in sediment, H. diversicolor, and muscle and liver of the fish were found to be in the magnitude of Cr > Pb > Zn > Cu > Cd > Hg, Zn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Hg > Cd, Zn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Hg > Cd, and Cu > Zn > Cr > Cd > Pb > Hg, respectively. Hg, Cu, and Zn in H. diversicolor and Hg and Zn in muscle and also Hg, Cd, Cu, and Zn in liver of fish accumulated in a higher degree than in sediment. There was no clear relationship between metal concentrations in sediments, polychaetes, and fish, except Cr. According to international criteria and Turkish regulations, Pb and Zn values in edible muscle of the fish collected from stations S6 and S5 exceeded the food safety limits, respectively. The results of this study suggest that these sentinel species can be considered as good anthropogenic biological indicators for heavy metal pollution along the Bafa Lake