Abstract
The abundance and taxonomic diversity of phytoplankton has been studied in relation to sewage pollution (proximity to outfalls) south of Beirut, Lebanon. Surface-water samples were collected from a series of beach stations extending from the American University of Beirut to 20 km south from June, 1973 to July, 1974. Samples were preserved, concentrated by settling, and the concentration of each taxon of phytoplankton enumerated in an inverted microscope. Water samples from the vicinity of two major sewer outfalls (Carlton and Khalde sewers) showed very high concentrations of NH4 +, NO2 -, NO3 - and PO4 -3, a greater total concentration of phytoplankton, and a lower taxonomic diversity than samples remote from outfalls. A considerable variation in the occurrence of species and dominance occurred along the pollution gradient. Blue-green algae and dinoflagellates were dominant in polluted waters, while diatoms dominated in cleaner water away from major sewage outflow. From the dominance and relative distribution of the taxa along the pollution gradient, certain taxa (Oscillatoria spp., Spirulina spp., Phormidium spp., Synochococcus custos and S. elongatus, Gymnodinium spp., and Prorocentrum spp.) emerge as indicator species of pollution. These changes correspond to a typical degradation of a complex community to a less mature state by the inflow of nutrient-rich sewage (eutrophication) along a coastal region about 10 km long.
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Communicated by O. Kinne, Hamburg
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Taslakian, M.J., Hardy, J.T. Sewage nutrient enrichment and phytoplankton ecology along the central coast of Lebanon. Mar. Biol. 38, 315–325 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391371
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391371