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Algal community and pollution indicators for the assessment of water quality of Ismailia canal, Egypt

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Abstract

The phytoplankton community structure is affected by both ecological and spatial factors. Influences of these two factors on phytoplankton are still poorly understood. Here, the relative effects of spatio-temporal variations on the structuring and community of phytoplankton were examined in eight sites along Ismailia canal during wet winter and dry summer seasons, 2018. A total of 58 taxa were identified, belonging to five taxonomical groups, phytoplankton had an abundance ranging from 56,906 ind. L−1 in winter to 122,418 ind. L−1 in summer. Bacillariophyta was the leading and most dominant phyla representing about 45% of the total number of individuals owing to the great flourishing of Synedra ulna, Cyclotella kutzingiana, Cyclotella meneghiniana throughout the year. Spatially, sites 1, 2 and 7 showed the highest phytoplankton abundance, whereas site 6 showed the lowest community. Pearson correlation and Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that nitrate had a positive correlation with the phytoplankton community, however TDS showed a negative correlation with the algal community and silicate showed a positive correlation with Bacillariophyta. High relative Palmer’s Index scores were recorded in most of the sampling sites ranged from 13 to 21 particularly during summer, that coincides with Shannon–Weiner index results which indicating Ismailia canal suffers from organic pollution in most of the sampling sites.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks for the grant and financial support received from The National Key R & D Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1600806), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31950410550, 31972042 and 31571806) and the High-Level Talents Project of Six Talent Peaks in Jiangsu Province of China (Grant No. SWYY-018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China

    Mostafa E. Elshobary & Xianghui Qi

  2. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    Mostafa E. Elshobary & Dorya I. Essa

  3. Central Laboratory for Elemental and Isotopic Analysis (CLEIA), Nuclear Research Center (NRC), Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt

    Abdullah M. Attiah

  4. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    Zenhom E. Salem

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  1. Mostafa E. Elshobary
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Correspondence to Mostafa E. Elshobary or Xianghui Qi.

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Elshobary, M.E., Essa, D.I., Attiah, A.M. et al. Algal community and pollution indicators for the assessment of water quality of Ismailia canal, Egypt. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 34, 1089–1103 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-020-01809-w

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