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Biological indicator – Water quality
Eleni Diapouli MSc in Water Resources Management
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Water Framework Directive
The sustainable management of water resources is a tool
to serve the main objective of Directive 2000/60/EC, which
is the protection and the enhancement of the aquatic
environment.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Sources of Pollution 1/2
 Pollution from agriculture (fertilizers, pesticides,
insecticides). They have non-point character and therefore
their management is difficult).
 Industrial
wastewater
(industrial
wastewater
treatment plants are usually present only in large
industries).
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Sources of Pollution 2/2
 Disposal of liquid and solid waste - household
waste (food scraps, etc).
 Products of mining activity (heavy metals, arsenic
e.t.c, harmful chemical compounds).
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Biotic - Biological Indicators
The concept of a Biological Indicator is based on the
determination of the water quality (and correspondingly
the level of eutrophication or the degree of pollution) based
on the organisms living in it.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
They are used:
 for detecting changes in the natural environment,
 for monitoring the presence of contamination and/or
pollution,
 for monitoring progress of environmental rehabilitation and
control substances (e.g drinking water) for the presence of
contaminants.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Biological indicators should meet the following specifications:
 Be easily identified,
 Be sensitive to the pressures on the aquatic ecosystem,
 React to the pressure in a predictable way,
 Predict
the
disorders
that
can
be
prevented
with
appropriate management actions,
 Have known reactions to natural changes and human
pressures.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Types of aquatic ecosystems
The main types of aquatic ecosystems are:
1. Ecosystems in coastal waters
- Seas, Lagoons
2. Ecosystems inland
- Lakes
- Rivers, Streams, creeks
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Ecosystem inland
To assess the quality of rivers & lakes different groups of
aquatic organisms are used :
 phytoplankton,
 Macrophytes (macroalgae, marine phanerogams)
 Fish fauna (Rutilus rutilus, Cyprinus carpio, etc.)
 Phytobenthos (mainly diatoms),
 Macroinvertebrates etc..
The benthic macroinvertebrates are widely used as biotic
indicators for estimating humans interventions on the quality
of surface waters.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Advantages - Disadvantages
A comparative table is presented below about the advantages
and disadvantages of the use of macroinvertebrates as
biomarkers in flowing waters.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Low mobility
Lack of response to all types of
contaminants
Large number of species
Seasonal changes in their distribution
High degree of sensitivity to various
pollutants
Large numbers of samples
Simple and low cost sampling
Table: Advantages and disadvantages of using macroinvertebrates as bioindicators in ecosystems watercourses
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Comparative Evaluation of biological quality elements
Characteristics of the groups
Macroinvertebrates
Diatoms
Macrophytes
Algae
Fish
Information for life distribution and
environmental requirements
+++
+++
?/++
?/+
+++
Existence of historical data
++
?/+
?/+
?/+
+++
Long life cycle
+++
+
+++
++
+++
Low degree of mobility
+++
+++
+++
+++
+
Ability to recognize and easily
classification (level of species)
+++
+++
?/++
?/++
++
Ability to recognize and easily
classification (family level)
+++
+++
+++
+++
+++
Convenience of sampling method
+++
+++
++
++
+
Degree of impact on habitat sampling
+
+
+
+
+
Sensitivity to various types of pollution
++/?
+++
+/?
+
+/?
Indication of long-term changes
+
?
+/?
+/?
+
Indication of short-term changes
++
++
+/?
+
+/?
+++: strong advantage for this feature as biological quality element.
++: advantage of this feature as a biological quality element.
+: this feature is not a significant advantage as biological quality element.
++/?: this feature as a biological quality element is an important advantage in some cases only.
+/?: this feature as a biological quality element is an advantage only in certain cases.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Ecosystem in coastal waters
To assess the quality of coastal waters the following group of
species are used:
 phytoplankton
 Macrophytes and Angiosperms
 Macroinvertebrates
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Conclusions – Classes of quality
Ecological status classes of water quality in accordance with
the Framework Directive:
 High quality (undisturbed conditions, micro degraded
conditions)
 Good quality (low scale anthropogenic interference, small
deviation from the undisturbed conditions)
 Poor
quality
(large
conditions, degradation)
deviation
from
the
undisturbed
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Eutrophication of marine waters
 It occurs in ponds or in enclosed shallow bays under certain
conditions,
 It is created by increasing the concentration of nutrients
such as nitrates and phosphates,
 The movement of water is minimal, bacteria and algae grow
consistently,
which
leads
to increased
consumption of
dissolved oxygen and reduction of oxygen production.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
The "green carpet" of eutrophication at Thermaikos gulf,
Thessaloniki
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Confront the problem of
eutrophication
 Biological treatment of waste,
 Control in rural and agricultural runoff.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Conclusions
1. Assessing the quality of water bodies using biotic indices is
based on a general principle according to which the most
sensitive to pollution species disappear in the early stages of
environmental degradation and the most resistant species
survive. This process leads to the reduction of biodiversity as
pollution increases.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Conclusions
2. To assess the ecological quality of inland waters benthic
macroinvertebrates are widely used. Other evidence should
also be omitted to assess the state of the rivers, which are the
aquatic flora and fish fauna.
3. Determining the typology of water bodies is a very
important factor for the application of biotic indices and
comparison of results between different indicators.
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Conclusions
4. Basic parameters for the application of a biotic indicator is
the method of sampling and the diversity of habitat.
Thanks for your attention