ALBERT

Description: Benthic invertebrates are a well-established target in environmental quality status evaluations. The AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) was developed to determine the impacts and the quality status of soft-bottom marine benthic communities. The aim of this study was investigating multivariate pattern of benthic invertebrate community and application of AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) for determining quality of health status in Khuzestan coastal waters. Seasonal samplings were collected from eight creeks over one year study by Peterson grab sampler, beginning from October 2005. All creeks are characterized by muddy bottom. According to sensitivity to environmental stress, macrobenthic animals classified into 5 ecological groups. Among 28 identified faunal groups the most abundant groups were polychaets, molluscs, crustaceans and nematodes, respectively. Two way ANOVAs showed only seasonal significant differences in mean abundance (P〈0.05) and Margalef richness index values (P〈0.05), while all of studied creeks shows similar biological characters based on benthic communities. According to annual mean of AMBI value all creeks were in ecological group III with slightly polluted condition, except for Darvish that was in unpolluted category. In the present study, although the number of species initially increased, but due to appearance of dominant species such as Capitella sp. and nematods (as opportunist species), diversity values reduced. In general, according to AMBI and Biotic index values, the most creeks are classified into unpolluted and slightly polluted categories except for Zangy, Doragh and Patil in summer and also Zangy and Bihad in winter which was in moderate to heavily polluted category. Different types of exploitation, industrial and shipping activities in this area could result in unbalanced to polluted status in benthic animals (as the best indicators in sediment quality assessment) so these results can be acceptable.

Description: Published

Description: This study was done in 2008 on agricultural sewage for aquaculture in six stations. Two stations were in AhvazKhorramshahr road near sugar cane plantation sewage in west Karoon, Two stations were in Ahvaz-Abadan road in sugar cane plantation sewage in east Karoon and Azadegan sewage and two stations were in agricultural sewage in the north of Ahvaz. Monthly Samplings of planktons, physical, chemical parameters were taken during Aprile to March 2008. In addition seasonal sampling of benthic fauna and fish were carried out. Heavy metal and toxic samples were done only one time during the study period. Measurement of some parameters such as temperature and pH were done during sampling procedure and other parameters were measured in laboratory based on standard methods. Heavy metal concentrations were measured with polarography and voltammetry techniques and toxic substances were extracted and concentrated to determine the concentration of them in water using GC device. For identifying phytoplanktons, 1 liter water from middle depth was sampled in each station and 4% formalin was added. Zooplankton were sampled monthly using 55µ plankton net. Fish samplings were done using cast net regarding regional condition, and sampling from benthic invertebrate of river were done using Petersen grab with 15.5cm*15.5cm. Results of water quality index (WQI) from Koushk Talaieh (station1), Artificial lake station (station 2) , Farabi(station 3), and Azadegan aquaculture sewage station (station4) showed that water quality is in group four. WQS index was used for Maleh(station 5) and Pumping station ( 6 station) stations due to high levels of salinity. The WQS results showed that water quality of these stations were moderate to low. Heavy metals in water, the ordination is as follows: Ni 〉 Zn 〉 Pb 〉 Cu 〉 Co 〉 Cd 〉 Hg Mercury levels in all cases were less than the standard and all the elements have been somewhat less than chronic toxicity level. The values of all studied metals are lower than the WHO limit. The results indicated that chlorinated pesticides in all samples are at low level and they are at acceptable levels for aquaculture. In this study, 34 genus of phytoplankton from Bacilariophyceae (diatoms), Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Dinophyceae were present with 11, 8, 14 and one genus respectively and the percentage of frequencies were respectively 37.64, 34.26, 23.24 and 4.87%. In general phytoplanktons of wastewater were in modest condition for using in aquaculture. In this study, about 1,000 samples of zooplankton in 6 stations were identified and counted during the year. The high percentage of zooplankton were belonged to three groups of protozoa (mainly ciliates), Rotifer and copepods were. The Rotifers with more than 90 percent frequency had the maximum prevalence. The dominant rotifer species was Brachionus calciferous. Although in this study the dominant group of zooplanktons was rotifers but the frequency is not high. Therefore we cannot call this circumstance as eutrophic condition, however the growing trend of high food phenomenon has announced. High benthic diversity was observed in Artificial lake wastewater station and Azadegan aquaculture sewage station. The most frequent taxa were in Azadegan aquaculture sewage station during autumn and winter which belonged to resistant Chironemidae larvae. In Koushk Talaieh, Farabi and Maleh stations, Chironemidae was dominanted and in Pumping station Coleoptera was dominant group. Hilsenhoff index showed that most of waste water stations were in poor to very poor condition, indicating that they were heavily contaminated. The data analysis of macrobenthose data in wastewaters based on Satropi and biological value (Z) showed that potential of fish production in Azadegan and artificial lake was high during the year. These two water sources have suitable situation for potential production and biological value, therefore with special plans for culturing low demand fish would be possible. In this study, 7 fish species belongs to 7 genera from 4 families were collected. Freshwater and marine water species was observed in the catch composition. According to the results of the four studied stations, Artificial lake station and Farabi had the highest number of catch which mostly belonged to Acanttopetrus Latus and Liza Abuo. In general, based on biological parameters, such as zooplankton frequency, all stations had similar conditions but in terms of phytoplankton, Azadegan aquaculture sewage station, Pumping stations and Farabi wastewater have better condition for aquaculture. The FBI index showed that the artificial lake station and pumping station are more suitable for aquaculture activity. Low demand fish is recommended for Azadegan aquaculture sewage station. Artificial lake station had lower primary production but it is more suitable for aquaculture because of its lower FBI index value. Most of the fish presence was in the artificial lake station and Farabi wastewater which belonged to two predominant species of Acanttopetrus Latus and Liza Abuo. In general, based on biological and non-biological parameters, artificial lake station in the west Karoon and Azadegan aquaculture sewage station have better water quality than the other stations for aquaculture activities. This requires management action and special schemes.

Description: Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute

Description: Published

Description: Rregarding the potential and capabilities of different socio-economic, ecological and recreational, Hurolazim wetland is allocated as a special place in the collection of ecosystems and environment and the study of existing ecological conditions is necessary to protect and restoring management. In this study, monthly Samples of four stations (stations north of the road , Imam Reza (1) and south of the road, Imam Reza (2) ,in the Rofayeh area and stations Tabor (3) and the Shatt Ali (4), in the Shatt Ali area) were taken during the year from April to March 2012. Samples included physical and chemical parameters , phyto and zoo planktons, benthos, fish, and fishing status. Phytoplankton samples using sampling bottles from 0.5 meters below the surface were taken and counted based on alive unit. Zooplankton samples were collected by 100 micron mesh size plankton net from a depth of 1.5-2 meters . Benthic animals and sediment were sampled by Van Vin grab(0.125 square meters). One sample for benthos and one sample for grain size analysis and percentage of organic matter were sampled from each stations. In order to estimate the monthly depleted catches, data collected from the census in place and sampling was done at the time. Three fishing area has inspected randomly once every 15 days and active fishermen and caches were recorded in the prepared forms during the day. In this way, the number of observed boats, the average boat per day, the catches of the boats and CPUE were registered and total fishing effort was calculated monthly. In this study, 194 species of phytoplankton were identified. Diatoms with 85 species, Cyanophyta with 59 species, Chlorophyta with 31 species, Euglenophyta and Dinophyta with 18 and one species were observed respectively. The highest abundance frequency of phytoplanktons with 38.96 percent were observed in Tabar station (3), Diatoms with 46% has shown the highest frequency and then Cyanophyta (34.17%), Chlorophyta (16.39%), Euglenophyta (1.6 %) and Dinophta (1.58%) were included of the total abundance respectively. In the summer colonies of Cyanophyta were in high density. A total of 35 species of zooplankton have been identified. from Rizopoda, the species of Arcellidae and Centripyxidae families, from Rotifera, the species of Brachionidae, Lecanidae, Asplanchnidae and Philodinidae families, from Cladocera ,the species of Daphnidae, Sisidae and Chydoridae families and from copepods, Cyclopoda families have been observed that included about 98 percent of identified zooplankton. Respectively, Copepoda (39.9 %), Rotifera (34.71 %), Cladocera (22.38 %) and Rizopoda (0.843 %) were dominant groups. The species Brachionus urceolaris with average density of 7.29 individual per liter, is the most abundant species that included 17 % of total abundance frequency in the wetland. The higher frequency of crustacean zooplankton such as Copepoda and Cladocera could be indicated an environment more favorable conditions and expected to be good status of food in the Horolazim wetland. Among the known benthic groups, families, Tephritidae (85%) and Chironomidae (7 %) of the order Diptera and Ostracoda (2 %) from crustacean, were the dominant macrobentic groups Among the studied stations, Station South Road Imam Reza (2), and the station Shatt Ali (4), were the highest and the lowest abundance respectively. The mean abundance of macrobenthos in different seasons showed the lowest and the highest abundance frequency in summer and winter respectively. According to diversity indices, The stations Tabar (3) was the highest and the Station South Road Imam Reza (2), was the lowest value of diversity index. The results showed the higher than 71.84 % of Silt-Clay percentage in all stations, The highest value of sediments TOM in the Station South of the Road Imam Reza(2) in the winter and the lowest in station Shat Ali(4) in summer were recorded. Based on HFBI index the stations north of the road Imam Reza (1) and the station Shatt Ali (4) in moderate status and the stations south of the road Imam Reza (2) and Tabar (3) in good status were classified. In this study, 15 species of fishes belonging to 8 genera and 3 families were identified. It was noticed that 87.4 percent of all identified species in the wetland belonged to the Cyprinidae family. The results of previous studies in 2006 and 2008 in the Iraqi part of Hawizeh wetland showed that the most common fish species belonged to Biah, Karas, Hemry and Shelej that included 89.3 percent of total fishing in the current study .Finally, It is evaluated that changes in water regime of freshwater wetlands, controlled the environmental characteristics and conditions. That means water plays a decisive role in the vital characteristics of wetlands. changes of quantity and quality of water may be associated with changing the quantity and quality of biotic fauna in wetland system. In the management and protection of a wetland system, it is necessary to adopt measures based on scientific principles and reasonable methods in order to protect water quality.

Description: Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute

Description: Published

Description: This study was done in 2008 on agricultural sewage for aquaculture in six stations. Two stations were in Ahvaz Khorramshahr road near sugar cane plantation sewage in west Karoon, Two stations were in Ahvaz-Abadan road in sugar cane plantation sewage in east Karoon and Azadegan sewage and two stations were in agricultural sewage in the north of Ahvaz. Monthly Samplings of planktons, physical, chemical parameters were taken during Aprile to March 2008. In addition seasonal sampling of benthic fauna and fish were carried out. Heavy metal and toxic samples were done only one time during the study period. Measurement of some parameters such as temperature and pH were done during sampling procedure and other parameters were measured in laboratory based on standard methods. Heavy metal concentrations were measured with polarography and voltammetry techniques and toxic substances were extracted and concentrated to determine the concentration of them in water using GC device. For identifying phytoplanktons, 1 liter water from middle depth was sampled in each station and 4% formalin was added. Zooplankton were sampled monthly using 55µ plankton net. Fish samplings were done using cast net regarding regional condition, and sampling from benthic invertebrate of river were done using Petersen grab with 15.5cm*15.5cm. Results of water quality index (WQI) from Koushk Talaieh (station1), Artificial lake station (station 2), Farabi(station 3), and Azadegan aquaculture sewage station (station4) showed that water quality is in group four. WQS index was used for Maleh(station 5) and Pumping station (6 station) stations due to high levels of salinity. The WQS results showed that water quality of these stations were moderate to low. Heavy metals in water, the ordination is as follows: Ni〉Zn〉Pb〉Cu〉Co〉Cd〉Hg Mercury levels in all cases were less than the standard and all the elements have been somewhat less than chronic toxicity level. The values of all studied metals are lower than the WHO limit. The results indicated that chlorinated pesticides in all samples are at low level and they are at acceptable levels for aquaculture. In this study, 34 genus of phytoplankton from Bacilariophyceae (diatoms), Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Dinophyceae were present with 11, 8, 14 and one genus respectively and the percentage of frequencies were respectively 37.64, 34.26, 23.24 and 4.87%. In general phytoplanktons of wastewater were in modest condition for using in aquaculture. In this study, about 1,000 samples of zooplankton in 6 stations were identified and counted during the year. The high percentage of zooplankton were belonged to three groups of protozoa (mainly ciliates), Rotifer and copepods were. The Rotifers with more than 90 percent frequency had the maximum prevalence. The dominant rotifer species was Brachionus calciferous. Although in this study the dominant group of zooplanktons was rotifers but the frequency is not high. Therefore we cannot call this circumstance as eutrophic condition, however the growing trend of high food phenomenon has announced. High benthic diversity was observed in artificial lake wastewater station and Azadegan aquaculture sewage station. The most frequent taxa were in Azadegan aquaculture sewage station during autumn and winter which belonged to resistant Chironemidae larvae. In Koushk Talaieh, Farabi and Maleh stations, Chironemidae was dominanted and in Pumping station Coleoptera was dominant group. Hilsenhoff index showed that most of waste water stations were in poor to very poor condition, indicating that they were heavily contaminated. The data analysis of macrobenthose data in wastewaters based on Satropi and biological value (Z) showed that potential of fish production in Azadegan and artificial lake was high during the year. These two water sources have suitable situation for potential production and biological value, therefore with special plans for culturing low demand fish would be possible. In this study, 7 fish species belongs to 7 genera from 4 families were collected. Freshwater and marine water species was observed in the catch composition. According to the results of the four studied stations, artificial lake station and Farabi had the highest number of catch which mostly belonged to Acanttopetrus Latus and Liza Abuo. In general, based on biological parameters, such as zooplankton frequency, all stations had similar conditions but in terms of phytoplankton, Azadegan aquaculture sewage station, Pumping stations and Farabi wastewater have better condition for aquaculture. The FBI index showed that the artificial lake station and pumping station are more suitable for aquaculture activity. Low demand fish is recommended for Azadegan aquaculture sewage station. Artificial lake station had lower primary production but it is more suitable for aquaculture because of its lower FBI index value. Most of the fish presence was in the artificial lake station and Farabi wastewater which belonged to two predominant species of Acanttopetrus Latus and Liza Abuo. In general, based on biological and non-biological parameters, artificial lake station in the west Karoon and Azadegan aquaculture sewage station have better water quality than the other stations for aquaculture activities. This requires management action and special schemes.

Description: Benthic invertebrates are a well-established target in environmental quality status evaluations. The AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) was developed to determine the impacts and the quality status of soft-bottom marine benthic communities. The aim of this study was investigating multivariate pattern of benthic invertebrate community and application of AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) for determining quality of health status in Khuzestan coastal waters. Seasonal samplings were collected from eight creeks over one year study by Peterson grab sampler, beginning from October 2005. All creeks are characterized by muddy bottom. According to sensitivity to environmental stress, macrobenthic animals classified into 5 ecological groups. Among 28 identified faunal groups the most abundant groups were polychaets, molluscs, crustaceans and nematodes, respectively. Two way ANOVAs showed only seasonal significant differences in mean abundance (P〈0.05) and Margalef richness index values (P〈0.05), while all of studied creeks shows similar biological characters based on benthic communities. According to annual mean of AMBI value all creeks were in ecological group III with slightly polluted condition, except for Darvish that was in unpolluted category. In the present study, although the number of species initially increased, but due to appearance of dominant species such as Capitella sp. and nematods (as opportunist species), diversity values reduced. In general, according to AMBI and Biotic index values, the most creeks are classified into unpolluted and slightly polluted categories except for Zangy, Doragh and Patil in summer and also Zangy and Bihad in winter which was in moderate to heavily polluted category. Different types of exploitation, industrial and shipping activities in this area could result in unbalanced to polluted status in benthic animals (as the best indicators in sediment quality assessment) so these results can be acceptable.

Description: Rregarding the potential and capabilities of different socio-economic, ecological and recreational, Hurolazim wetland is allocated as a special place in the collection of ecosystems and environment and the study of existing ecological conditions is necessary to protect and restoring management. In this study, monthly Samples of four stations (stations north of the road, Imam Reza (1) and south of the road, Imam Reza (2), in the Rofayeh area and stations Tabor (3) and the Shatt Ali (4), in the Shatt Ali area) were taken during the year from April to March 2012. Samples included physical and chemical parameters, phyto and zoo planktons, benthos, fish, and fishing status. Phytoplankton samples using sampling bottles from 0.5 meters below the surface were taken and counted based on alive unit. Zooplankton samples were collected by 100 micron mesh size plankton net from a depth of 1.5-2 meters. Benthic animals and sediment were sampled by Van Vin grab(0.125 square meters). One sample for benthos and one sample for grain size analysis and percentage of organic matter were sampled from each stations. In order to estimate the monthly depleted catches, data collected from the census in place and sampling was done at the time. Three fishing area has inspected randomly once every 15 days and active fishermen and caches were recorded in the prepared forms during the day. In this way, the number of observed boats, the average boat per day, the catches of the boats and CPUE were registered and total fishing effort was calculated monthly. In this study, 194 species of phytoplankton were identified. Diatoms with 85 species, Cyanophyta with 59 species, Chlorophyta with 31 species, Euglenophyta and Dinophyta with 18 and one species were observed respectively. The highest abundance frequency of phytoplanktons with 38.96 percent were observed in Tabar station (3), Diatoms with 46% has shown the highest frequency and then Cyanophyta (34.17%), Chlorophyta (16.39%), Euglenophyta (1.6 %) and Dinophta (1.58%) were included of the total abundance respectively. In the summer colonies of Cyanophyta were in high density. A total of 35 species of zooplankton have been identified. from Rizopoda, the species of Arcellidae and Centripyxidae families, from Rotifera, the species of Brachionidae, Lecanidae, Asplanchnidae and Philodinidae families, from Cladocera ,the species of Daphnidae, Sisidae and Chydoridae families and from copepods, Cyclopoda families have been observed that included about 98 percent of identified zooplankton. Respectively, Copepoda (39.9 %), Rotifera (34.71 %), Cladocera (22.38 %) and Rizopoda (0.843 %) were dominant groups. The species Brachionus urceolaris with average density of 7.29 individual per liter, is the most abundant species that included 17 % of total abundance frequency in the wetland. The higher frequency of crustacean zooplankton such as Copepoda and Cladocera could be indicated an environment more favorable conditions and expected to be good status of food in the Horolazim wetland. Among the known benthic groups, families, Tephritidae (85%) and Chironomidae (7 %) of the order Diptera and Ostracoda (2 %) from crustacean, were the dominant macrobentic groups Among the studied stations, Station South Road Imam Reza (2), and the station Shatt Ali (4), were the highest and the lowest abundance respectively. The mean abundance of macrobenthos in different seasons showed the lowest and the highest abundance frequency in summer and winter respectively. According to diversity indices, The stations Tabar (3) was the highest and the Station South Road Imam Reza (2), was the lowest value of diversity index. The results showed the higher than 71.84 % of Silt-Clay percentage in all stations, The highest value of sediments TOM in the Station South of the Road Imam Reza(2) in the winter and the lowest in station Shat Ali(4) in summer were recorded. Based on HFBI index the stations north of the road Imam Reza (1) and the station Shatt Ali (4) in moderate status and the stations south of the road Imam Reza (2) and Tabar (3) in good status were classified. In this study, 15 species of fishes belonging to 8 genera and 3 families were identified. It was noticed that 87.4 percent of all identified species in the wetland belonged to the Cyprinidae family. The results of previous studies in 2006 and 2008 in the Iraqi part of Hawizeh wetland showed that the most common fish species belonged to Biah, Karas, Hemry and Shelej that included 89.3 percent of total fishing in the current study .Finally, It is evaluated that changes in water regime of freshwater wetlands, controlled the environmental characteristics and conditions. That means water plays a decisive role in the vital characteristics of wetlands. Changes of quantity and quality of water may be associated with changing the quantity and quality of biotic fauna in wetland system. In the management and protection of a wetland system, it is necessary to adopt measures based on scientific principles and reasonable methods in order to protect water quality.