Developing the Regional Indicator Indexes of Zooplankton for Water Quality Class Determination of Water Bodies in Siberia

Abstract

It is shown that the characteristics of individual species of zooplankton used to determine the water quality class in Western Siberia differ from those in Europe. To define a class of water quality in the saprobic indexes, the lists of indicator organisms were used based on the presence or absence of relevant taxa and their quantitative ratio. This allowed a water body or its area to be rated in an appropriate class of water quality. Usually the indicator significance and saprobic valence of indicator species were found in the tables developed through long-term research and literature data. These data were evaluated for European water bodies. However, the values of the indicator significance of individual species depend substantially on the number of regional factors, which can produce an essential error in the calculation of the index and saprobity and in the definition of the water quality class, respectively. In this paper the values of the indicator significance (s) and indicator weight (J) for 111 species of zooplankton were calculated taking into account the regional peculiarities of the South of Western Siberia. The examples of calculation according to Pantle and Buck’s saprobity index using indexes from the literature on one hand and calculated for the specific region on the other hand were discussed. It is shown that, using indexes obtained from regional features of the hydrochemical background of reservoirs and rivers, one can define the water quality class more exactly. Thus, the use of regional indexes is appropriate because it provides a more objective assessment of the state of the ecosystem.

Appendix: Photographs of Some Water Bodies Sampled

(see that Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

Fig. 2

Lake Teletskoye is located in the north-east of the Altai Mountains. It is a unique natural complex of our planet. It is one of the deepest lakes in Russia, ranking second in Russia’s natural freshwater supply. In 1998 Lake Teletskoye was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. It is an oligosaprobic lake (Photo courtesy of Evgenia Zarubina)

Fig. 3

Katun’ is the largest river of the Altai Mountains. The Katun’ originates in the glacier on the Southern slopes of Belukha Mountain. Flowing together with Biya, the Katun’ forms the Ob River, one of the largest in Siberia. In terms of water quality, the Katun’ river is mainly o-β-mesosaprobic (Photo courtesy of Evgenia Zarubina)

Fig. 4

Abushkan (a) and Bolshoy Kurgan (b) are lakes of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve (Barabinskaya steppe). They are small saucer-shaped lakes with depths up to 3–4 m. In terms of water quality these lakes are from o-β-mesosaprobic to α-mesosaprobic

Fig. 5

Small lowland rivers: the Kargat river (a) and Chulym river (b). They are rivers of the closed flow region of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve. These rivers serve as the main source of Lake Chany’s water supply. In terms of water quality these rivers are mainly β-mesosaprobic

Fig. 6

Fadikha is a running-water lake in the lower stream of the Chulym river. In terms of water quality it is β-mesosaprobic

Fig. 7

The Novosibirsk reservoir is located on the Ob River in the South of Western Siberia. Length of the reservoir: 220 km. Water area: 1082 km². Maximum depth: 25 m. Quality of the water: β-mesosaprobic