Effects of nutrients on the primary production and determination of the restricting factors in primary production in the international wetland of Choghakhor (Iran)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Waste and Wastewater Research Center, Department of Environmental Science, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

2 Department of Environmental Science, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Limitations in nutrients and physicochemical parameters play a key role in aquatic ecosystems. The present study aimed to determine the influential physicochemical factors in the chlorophyll-a content for wetland management by identifying the restricting factors in primary production. Sampling was conducted during March 2017-February 2018. Factors such as water salinity, temperature, pH, nitrate and phosphate concentrations, biochemical oxygen demand, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, total suspended solids, and dissolved oxygen were measured in triplicate at each station. In addition, the trophic state index (TSI) was used to determine the trophic state of the wetland. No significant difference was observed in chlorophyll-a contents in different seasons (P>0.05), with the highest values reported in spring and autumn, and the lowest values reported in summer. The maximum and minimum chlorophyll-a content were observed in stations A and C, respectively. Station A had a significantly higher value compared to the other stations (P<0.05). In addition, no significant differences were observed in the water physicochemical parameters in different seasons (P>0.05). The highest (5.9 mg/l) and lowest water nitrate levels (4.1 mg/l) were observed in spring and autumn, respectively (mean nitrate level: 4.84 mg/l). The highest (2.1 mg/l) and lowest water phosphate levels (0.47 mg/l) were observed in spring and autumn, respectively (mean nitrate level: 1.04 mg/l). Moreover, TSI indicated that the wetland is oligotrophic in spring and winter, while it is mesotrophic in summer and autumn. Overall, the nitrate level in water was the main restricting factor in the management of Choghakhor wetland.

Keywords


1. Reynolds CS. The ecology of phytoplankton: Cambridge University Press. 2006.
2. Downard R, Frank M, Perkins J, Kettenring K, Larese-Casanova M. Wetland Plants of Great Salt Lake, A Guide to Identification, Communities & Bird Habitat. Utah State University Extension, Logan, Utah. 2017.
3. Ebrahimi S, Moshari M. Evaluation of the Choghakhor wetland status with the emphasis on environmental management problems. Publs Inst Geophys Pol Acad Sc 2006; 6: 390-398.
4. Lichti DA, Rinchard J, Kimmel DG. Changes in zooplankton community, and seston and zooplankton fatty acid profiles at the freshwater/saltwater interface of the Chowan River, North Carolina. Peer J 2017; 5:e3667.
5. Cloern JE, Foster S, Kleckner A. Phytoplankton primary production in the world's estuarine-coastal ecosystems. Biogeosciences 2014; 11(9): 2477- 2501.
6. Carder K, Steward R. A remote sensing reflectance model of a red-tide dinoflagellate off west Florida. Limnol Oceanogr 1985; 30(2): 286-298.
7. Behrenfeld MJ, Falkowski PG. Photosynthetic rates derived from satellite-based chlorophyll concentration. Limnol Oceanogr 1997; 42(1): 1-20.
8. Warren DR, Collins SM, Purvis EM, Kaylor MJ, Bechtold HA. Spatial variability in light yields colimitation of primary production by both light and nutrients in a forested stream ecosystem. Ecosystems 2017; 20(1): 198-210.
9. Rathore S, Chandravanshi P, Chandravanshi A, Jaiswal K. Eutrophication: Impacts of Excess nutrient inputs on aquatic ecosystem. IOSR J Agric Vet Sci 2016;9(10): 2319-2372.
10. Naz M, Türkmen M. Phytoplankton biomass and species composition of Lake Gölbaşı (Hatay-Turkey). Turk J Biol 2005; 29(1): 49-56.
11. Zamani-Ahmadmahmoodi R, Jafari A, Alibeygi-Beni H. Potential ecological risk assessment, enrichment, geoaccumulation, and source identification of metals in the surface            sediments of Choghakhor Wetland, Iran. Environ Earth Sci 2017; 76(11): 398-407.
12. Malekmohammadi B, Jahanishakib F. Vulnerability assessment of wetland landscape ecosystem services using driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model. Ecol Indic 2017; 82: 293-303.
13. Clesceri LS, Greenberg AE, Eaton AD. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. APHA, AWWA and WPCF, Washington DC. 1996.
14. W Rice. Eugene & Public Health Association, American. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewate, 2012.
15. Kulshreshtha A, Shanmugam PD. Development of optical models for assessing the trophic status of coastal waters, OCEANS 2017 - Aberdeen, Aberdeen, 2017, pp. 1-7.
16. Aleem AA, Samaan AA. Productivity of Lake Mariut, Egypt. Part II. Primary production. Int Revue ges Hydrobiol Hydrogr 1969; 54(4): 491-527.
17. Abolhasani MH, Pirestani N, Ghasemi S. Assessment of the primary production statues of the international Gavkhooni Wetland, Iran. Int J Aquat Biol 2018; 6(5): 248-253.
18. Ardila L, Mora S, Flórez R. Ecological assessment by physical chemical and biological interactions analysis in trophic state of Libelulas wetland–Bogotá-Colombia. Int J Environl Sci Dev 2018; 9(9): 236-243.
19. Fathi P, Ebrahimi E, Mirghafari N, Esmaeili A. The study spatial and temporal changes of water quality in Choghakhor wetland using water quality index (WQI). J Aquat Ecol 2016; 5(3): 41-50.
20. González-García C, Forja J, González-Cabrera M, Jiménez M, Lubián L. Annual variations of total and fractionated chlorophyll and phytoplankton groups in the Gulf of Cadiz. Sci Total Environ 2018; 613: 1551-1565.
21. Camacho A, Wurtsbaugh WA, Miracle MR, Armengol X, Vicente E. Nitrogen limitation of phytoplankton in a Spanish karst lake with a deep chlorophyll maximum: a nutrient enrichment bioassay approach. J Plankton Res 2003; 25(4): 397-404.
22. El-Serehy HA, Abdallah HS, Al-Misned FA, Irshad R, Al-Farraj SA, Almalki ES. Aquatic ecosystem health and trophic status classification of the Bitter Lakes along the main connecting link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Saudi J Biol Sci 2018; 25(2): 204-2012.
23. Ghorbani R, Hosseini SA, Hedayati SAA, Hashemi SAR, Abolhasani MH. Evaluation of effects of physico-chemical factors on chlorophyll-a in Shadegan international Wetland-Khouzestan province-Iran. Iran J Fish Sci 2016; 15(1): 360-368.
24. Winder M, Hunter DA. Temporal organization of phytoplankton communities linked to physical forcing. Oecologia 2008; 156(1): 179-192.
25. Elser JJ, Bracken ME, Cleland EE, Gruner DS, Harpole WS, Hillebrand H, et al. Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Ecol lett 2007; 10(12): 1135-1142.