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Special Issue "Aquatic Organisms Diversity and Bio-Indication of Water Resources II"

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A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2023) | Viewed by 7612

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sophia Barinova
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Guest Editor

Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Interests: algae; cyanobacteria; ecology; cummunity structure; bioindicators; water quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water quality is currently one of the main indicators of the standard of living; therefore, all developed societies are dedicating maximum efforts to providing the population and the economy with sufficient water of adequate quality. Most of the water comes from natural sources—rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, the quality of water in which it is necessary not only to assess but also to predict. Algae, being mostly autotrophs, form the basis of the trophic pyramid and are therefore the first to participate in the production of organic matter in the aquatic ecosystem but other organisms participate also. The characteristics of diversity, abundance, biomass, and species composition are used in bioindication methods when changing the trophic base. They provide an integrated assessment of the results of all processes occurring in a water body. Thus, this current Special Issue will collect works on the dynamics of algae and other aquatic organisms diversity in connection with changes in environmental and climate indicators using bioindication, statistics, and ecological mapping methods for the purposes of ecological assessment of surface and estuarine water quality and its forecasting.

Prof. Dr. Sophia Barinova
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Algae
Diversity
Bioindication
Water quality
Water quality classification systems
Water quality indices
Ecological modeling
Database of bioindicators
Aquatic ecosystem
Climate change
Rivers
Lakes
Wetlands
Estuary
Aquatic individual taxa
Invertebrates
Fish
Macrophytes

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Diversity of the Summer Phytoplankton of 43 Waterbodies in Bulgaria and Its Potential for Water Quality Assessment

Maya P. Stoyneva-Gärtner

and

Diversity 2023, 15(4), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040472 - 23 Mar 2023

Viewed by 915

Abstract

The general awareness of the threats on biodiversity and water quality raised the number of studies that use phytoplankton in assessment procedures. Since most metrics require obtaining mean values, this paper presents data that may help speed up field work and find indicators for a rapid water quality assessment based on single samplings, allowing simultaneous work on many sites. The phytoplankton from 43 Bulgarian waterbodies collected during three summer campaigns (2018, 2019, 2021) at sites selected after drone observations was studied by conventional light microscopy (LM) and an HPLC analysis of marker pigments. Our results allowed us to recommend drones and the HPLC application as reliable methods in rapid water quality assessments. In total, 787 algae from seven phyla (53 alien, new for Bulgaria) were identified. Chlorophyta was the taxonomically richest group, but Cyanoprokaryota dominated the biomass in most sites. New PCR data obtained on anatoxin and microcystin producers confirmed the genetic diversity of Cuspidothrix and Microcystis and provided three new species for the country’s toxic species, first identified by LM. A statistical analysis revealed significant correlations of certain algal phyla and classes with different environmental variables, and their species are considered promising for future search of bioindicators. This is especially valid for the class Eustigmatophyceae, which, as of yet, has been almost neglected in water assessment procedures and indices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms Diversity and Bio-Indication of Water Resources II)

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Open AccessArticle

Diversity and Ecology of Charophytes from Vojvodina (Serbia) in Relation to Physico-Chemical and Bioclimatic Habitat Properties

Aleksandra Marković

Jelena Blaženčić

Aljoša Tanasković

and

Jasmina Šinžar-Sekulić

Diversity 2023, 15(3), 342; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030342 - 28 Feb 2023

Viewed by 578

Abstract

In Serbia, almost all charophyte species belong to one of the IUCN categories. This study aimed to gather more knowledge about their floristic richness, distribution and ecology. During the survey, 262 localities were investigated in the Vojvodina province, northern Serbia. Seventeen charophyte species were found, out of which 16 were included in the analyses. The environmental matrix included 38 localities, each characterized by habitat type and 35 environmental parameters. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed six parameters as being statistically significant: substrate, altitude, depth, water temperature, temperature annual range and precipitation of the driest month. Together, these explain the 32.34% variability in the species composition and abundance data. Altitude and substrate contributed the most to this. Two main types of habitats were outlined by the analysis. Small and shallow temporary habitats in the river floodplains, at lower altitudes, with muddy and clayish substrate, belong to one type. These areas are inhabited by either very tolerant species, such as Chara vulgaris and C. globularis, or the so-called “spring” species of the genera Tolypella and Nitella. Habitats which are located at higher altitudes, when deeper and more permanent with a sandy substrate, such as sandpits and river habitats, belong to the second one. These areas are inhabited by species like Chara papillosa, C. hispida, and Nitellopsis obtusa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms Diversity and Bio-Indication of Water Resources II)

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Open AccessCommunication

New Records of the Alien Chinese Ricefish (Oryzias sinensis) and Its Dispersal History across Eurasia

Alexander A. Makhrov

Valentina S. Artamonova

Yue-Hua Sun

Yun Fang

Andrey N. Pashkov

and

Andrey N. Reshetnikov

Diversity 2023, 15(3), 317; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030317 - 21 Feb 2023

Viewed by 707

Abstract

The diversity of biota in different parts of the planet has demonstrated dramatic changes within the last several decades due to the extinction of native taxa and the appearance of invasive taxa. The correct taxonomic identification of non-native species is important for understanding their dispersal abilities, especially when potential invaders may be of closely related species. Information on the species identity of ricefish (Oryzias spp.), which have formed self-sustainable populations in some parts of Eurasia, is contradictory. In this paper, we studied samples from non-native populations of Oryzias from several Eurasian regions. The results of our mtDNA COI partial sequence study confirm that the individuals we studied belong to the species Chinese ricefish, O. sinensis. Analyses of the literature and our own data suggest that all known alien populations of Oryzias in continental Eurasia belong to the same species, O. sinensis. A recent finding of O. sinensis in the Don delta suggests that one of the species’ secondary dispersal pathways could run from the Kuban region through the lower part of the Don basin to the Cis-Azov area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms Diversity and Bio-Indication of Water Resources II)

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Open AccessArticle

‘Unfinished’ Morphogenesis Hides Different Speciation Pathways in Charophytes: Evidence from the 190-Year-Old Original Material of Chara denudata (Charales, Charophyceae)

Roman E. Romanov

Sophia S. Barinova

Vyacheslav Yu. Nikulin

and

Andrey A. Gontcharov

Diversity 2023, 15(2), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15020249 - 09 Feb 2023

Viewed by 1086

Abstract

Several Chara L. species have ‘unfinished’ morphogenesis that is recognizable because of their imperfect stem and branchlet cortication compared to the perfectly corticated species. Chara denudata A. Braun, described from South Africa, is one of these species, assumed for a long time to be conspecific with C. dissoluta A. Braun ex Leonhardi, as described from Central Europe. An attempt to resolve this long-lasting uncertainty in the framework of integrative taxonomy is implemented here. The restudy of the original material of both species showed similarities but did not identify a hiatus in their morphological traits, which represents evidence for their placement in the subsection Chara R.D. Wood according to morphology. Bifid adaxial bract cells, a trait rarely encountered among charophytes, were found for the first time in C. dissoluta. According to the rbcL and matK sequences, C. denudata was unexpectedly placed within the section Grovesia R.D. Wood, far from the clusters of the section Chara with C. dissoluta. This is in obvious disagreement with the position of C. denudata according to morphology. Both species were distinct according to their biology, habitat preference, and distribution and were accepted as distinct species. Therefore, the ‘unfinished’ morphogenesis resulting in morphological similarity hides different speciation pathways in charophytes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms Diversity and Bio-Indication of Water Resources II)

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Open AccessArticle

Flora of Algae and Cyanobacteria of Continental Waters of Israel in the XXI Century: Taxonomy, Autecology and Water Quality Indicators

Sophia Barinova

and

Thomas Smith

Diversity 2022, 14(5), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14050328 - 22 Apr 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1558

Abstract

The article presents a list of algal species and cyanobacteria found in the continental waters of Israel in 1898–2022. Research progressed in 2000–2022 by increasing the list from 1261 to 1628 species belonging to fourteen phyla. Taxonomic analysis shows that diatoms, cyanobacteria, and green algae predominated. The first-time data has been synthesized to identify the indicator properties of Israel’s aquatic flora carried out on algae and cyanobacteria, which can be used to monitor water quality. The species’ ecological preferences are given for ten environmental variables: substrate preference, temperature, oxygen saturation with water mobility, water pH preferences, water salinity, organic pollution according to Watanabe and Sládeček with species-specific index of saprobity S, trophic state, and type of nutrition (autotrophic or heterotrophic). This list of species with indicator values for each species is used to characterize the water properties in Israel. In addition, it can be applied to assess the state of aquatic ecosystems and monitor water quality based on bioindication methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms Diversity and Bio-Indication of Water Resources II)

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Algae and Cyanobacteria Diversity and Bioindication of Long-Term Changes in the Hula Nature Reserve, Israel

Sophia Barinova

and

Alla Alster

Diversity 2021, 13(11), 583; https://doi.org/10.3390/d13110583 - 14 Nov 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1653

Abstract

Lake Hula, the core of one of the most extensive wetland complexes in the Eastern Mediterranean, was drained in 1951–1958. However, about 350 hectares of papyrus marshes were allocated in the southwestern part of the previous lake and became the Hula Nature Reserve status, the first of two wetlands in Israel included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. The list of algae and cyanobacteria species of Lake Hula was compiled by us for the first time based on data from publications of 1938–1958, as well as our research in the Hula Nature Reserve, obtained within the framework of the monitoring program for 2007–2013. The list includes 225 species and intraspecies of algae and cyanobacteria belonging to eight phyla. The dynamics of the species richness of algae and cyanobacteria flora for 1938–2013 are shown. Species-bioindicators of water quality have been identified, and the change in their composition by ecological groups for a period of about a hundred years has been shown. Based on the species richness of algae communities, water quality indices were calculated with particular attention to changes in trophic status during the study period. The algae flora of Lake Hula and Hula Nature Reserve was found to be similar, but bioindication has revealed an increase in salinity and organic pollution in recent years. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aquatic Organisms Diversity and Bio-Indication of Water Resources II)

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