Open AccessDistribution of Water Quality in the Sasar River Basin According to the EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) Zoobenthos Bioindicators
Author(s) -
Oana Mare Roşca,
Lucia Mihălescu,
Aurel Maxim,
Zorica Vosgan,
Monica Marian
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
bulletin of university of agricultural sciences and veterinary medicine cluj-napoca. agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1843-5386
pISSN - 1843-5246
DOI - 10.15835/buasvmcn-agr:6529
Subject(s) - bioindicator , tributary , geography , hydrography , drainage basin , ecology , water quality , biomonitoring , population , environmental science , biology , cartography , demography , sociology
The hydrographic basin of the Sasar River is located in the north-western part of Romania, a highly industrialized region until 2000, its main point being the city of Baia Mare. Here the main pollutant economic fields were mining and metallurgy. Thus, pollution affected all life environments of this region, including the health of the population. This paper presents the assessment of the ecologic status of the Sasar River Basin water quality. Thus, the zoobenthic communities of the Sasar River and its main tributaries were monitored for 4 years, twice a year, during 2004-2008. The analysis of the quality zoobenthic indices offers a total view about the ecologic status of a watercourse. From the multitude of bioindicator groups, the taxons belonging to the EPT (EPHEMEROPTERA, PLECOPTERA, TRICHOPTERA) communities were chosen, due to their implied ecologic relevance. The maximum number of the taxons belonging to the EPT communities were recorded for the Valea Măriuţii station (28), followed by the Valea Limpedea station (24), and the minimum EPT taxons were recorded for the stations of Valea Firiza (1), upstream from Baia Mare (1) and downstream from Baia Mare (1).The distribution of the saprobity degree of the analyzed EPT bioindicators is as it follows: 32 oligo-saprobic individuals (26,44%), 18 oligo-beta-mezosaprobic individuals (14,87%), 39 beta-mezosaprobic individuals (32,23%) and 2 beta-alfa-mezosaprobic individuals (1,65%).