Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt

Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

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Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt Amany M. Haroon ⇑, Abd-Ellatif M. Hussian National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Cairo, Egypt

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 6 May 2017 Revised 2 August 2017 Accepted 2 August 2017 Available online xxxx Keywords: Ecological assessment Phytoplankton Macrophytes

a b s t r a c t The present study aimed to assess the effect of ecological factors on distribution and species composition of macrophytes and phytoplankton communities at El-Rayah Al-Behery. Changes in the quantitative and qualitative composition of the macrophytes and phytoplankton communities were detected in relation to season and sampling site. A total of eleven macrophytes and 100 phytoplankton species were identified. Among the macrophytes, the emergent species Echinochloa stagnina was the most dominant and widely distributed. Phytoplankton community is fairly diverse, related to 7 classes, which contains 3 main classes: Bacillariophyceae (28 taxa), Chlorophyceae (33 taxa) and Cyanophyceae (23 taxa). According to statistical analysis, occurrence of most macrophytes species were reversely affected by DO, COD, BOD and PO4; and closely correlated with NO2, NO3, Temp. and pH values. However, nitrogen and phosphorus are considered as limiting factors for bacillariohyceae growth (r = 0.7). Both temperature and pH have a positive effect on the growth of chlorophyceae (r = 0.9 and 0.8, respectively); while dissolved oxygen is an important parameter that affects on the growth of cyanphyceae (r = 0.8). In addition, existence of Myriophyllium spicatum was associated with increasing of bacillariohyceae and total phytoplankton density (r = 0.7). However, the presence of Polygonum tomentosum was intensely related with chlorophyceae (r = 0.9) and Potamogeton nodosus and Polygonum tomentosum were positively correlated with cyanphyceae. In conclusion, the investigated area was characterized by different taxonomic composition of macrophytes and phytoplankton communities, which varied as a result of changing in water physiochemical characteristics as well as the interaction between different species. Ó 2017 National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. Hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Introduction Over the coming decades, climate change will has a potential effect on many sectors in which water resource managers play an active role. The major drivers are changing temperature and precipitation regimes and the associated impacts as growth of aquatic plants (Short et al., 2016). These aquatic plants are growing so rapidly and densely representing an acute problem causing tremendous loss of water from water bodies, decrease the flow capacity of irrigation canals, causing oxygen depletion, reducing phytoplankton production and increasing water pollution. On the other hand, aquatic plants are essential in promoting the diversity and function of aquatic systems (Carpenter and Lodge, 1986), and can provide a source of animal feed, paper pulp, fiber, bio-energy and bioactive materials (Fareed et al., 2008; Haroon, 2010; Daboor and Haroon, 2012). Peer review under responsibility of National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.M. Haroon).

The algae are an essential component of all aquatic systems where they serve as the base of the food chain for all other aquatic organisms (Napiórkowska-Krzebietke et al., 2016). Scientists use algae in bioassay tests for vitamins and as tools for investigations into plant physiology. In addition they play a primary role in oxygenation and filtration. In some countries, it plays an important part in their economy by extraction of many useful substances (Vernon and Vandiver, 2002). Microalgae also act as a useful indicator of water quality (Abuzer and Okan, 2007), and can be used in making assessment of ecological variations (Hamed, 2008). Algal biomass (Chl. a) is long-accepted methods for estimating the amount of algae in aquatic environment (Hussian et al., 2015), primary productivity indicator, one of the most effective variables on the trophic status of aquatic ecosystem (Horne and Goldman, 1994) and regards as a very good estimate for monitoring and assessing the eutrophication status of the aquatic environment (Heinonen et al., 2000). The cultivated lands in Egypt are almost irrigated permanently by the river Nile water through a huge network of drains and canals with approximately total length 4700 km (Van der Bliek et al., 1982). The two water systems are subject to be infested by different aquatic plants, which varied in their degree of infestation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002 1687-4285/Ó 2017 National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. Hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

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A.M. Haroon, A.-E.M. Hussian / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

depending on the environmental factors (El-Gharably et al., 1982). The study of aquatic vegetation of irrigation and drain canal in the Nile Delta region have received the attention of many authors, like study of Shaltout et al., 1994; Serag and Khedr, 1996; Abu Ziada et al., 2008; Mashaly et al., 2009. Al-Behery canal is a fresh waterway, which is vital for irrigation, navigation, fishing and other domestic uses in Egypt. We failed to find any publication concerning macrophytes distribution at this waterway. So, the present study aims to assessment the effects of ecological factors on the distribution and species composition of macrophytes and phytoplankton communities in El-Rayah Al-Behery. The relationships between different macrophytes species and phytoplankton classes was described. In addition, algal biomass (Chl. a) was also estimated to assess the eutrophic status of water. Materials and methods Study area El-Rayah Al-Behery is a fresh waterway, starts from the Rosetta branch at El-Kanater El- Khayria city and extends into the West of Delta, heading the north-west parallel to Rosetta branch and west of Giza Governorate of approximately 220 km with average width 40–50 m and its average depth 2-3 m. It was connected with Mahmudiyah canal after Damanhor city. The canal is characterized by existence of many water and power giant plants especially on Mahmudiyah canal. Eight sampling sites distributed along ElRayah Al-Behery were chosen for sampling (B1: B8, Fig. 1) along four seasons from spring to winter. Details of the sampling locations with their longitude and latitude are presented in Table 1.

Macrophytes collection and identification At each station, macrophytes were handly collected. After collection, emergent macrophytes were placed in polyethylene bags without water. However, submerged and free floating species were stored in river water before taking to the laboratory. The macrophytes did not weight but just kept for later ID in the laboratory, where they were separated into different taxa and identified based on Täckholm (1974) and Boulos (1999). The species presence was expressed as percent of sites with taxa

Phytoplankton composition For phytoplankton examination, subsurface water sampling was collected from the different stations. In each station, one litter water sample was preserved with formalin 4% and Lugols iodine immediately. In the laboratory, these samples are transported into a glass cylinder and stay 5 days for settle down. Approximately, 90% of the supernatant siphoned off by plastic tubes protected with plankton mesh (5m), and adjusted to a stable volume. Sub-samples were prepared for species identification and account using inverted microscope. Each sample was examined and enumerated via a drop method (APHA, 1995). The main references used in phytoplankton identification were Starmach (1974), Httl and Gartner (1988), Tikkanen (1986) and Deskachary (1959). Seasonal average of physico- chemical characteristics at the different stations of El-Rayah Al-Behery were obtained from Goher (2015)

Fig. 1. Map of the study area showing different sampling locations (Goher, 2015). Table 1 Details, longitude and latitude of the sampling locations. St. No.

Name

Latitude

Longitude

St. No.

Name

Latitude

Longitude

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5

El Qanater Abo Ghaleb Kafr Dawood Al Tawfekeih Damanhor

30 °100 47.3600 30 °140 46.9000 30 °270 3.7500 30 °480 36.9100 31 °000 46.500

31 ° 60 18.6900 30 °560 33.6800 30 °490 41.3500 30 °450 21.6500 30 °280 52.800

B6 B7 B8

El Mahmodeia Connection of El Behairy with El Mahmodeia Kafr El dawar

31°100 25.900 31° 50 16.8500

30 °310 42.100 30 °250 16.7900

*After Goher (2015).

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

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A.M. Haroon, A.-E.M. Hussian / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

Seasons

Temp 0 C

EC mgS/cm

pH

DO mg/l

BOD mg/l

COD mg/l

NH3 mg/l

NO2 mg/l

NO3 mg/l

PO4 mg/l

Spring Summer Autumn Winter

27.0 31.1 23.0 17.8

392.4 402.8 494.5 576.1

8.3 8.6 8.3 8.0

7.9 6.4 5.8 7.2

3.6 7.3 5.2 5.9

6.8 18.6 10.8 10.3

301.5 477.3 1137.5 2604.1

8.4 55.0 162.0 46.6

206.9 114.2 665.8 179.9

16.2 70.7 64.3 143.6

Phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a) A Known volume of water samples was filtered in situ on glass microfiber filter GF/F, using filtration unit (Sartorius). The filter paper containing the filtrate was foiled in aluminum foil and preserved in dark ice box. In laboratory, chlorophyll a was extracted by socking the filter in 5 ml acetone (90%) and preserved in dark at 20 °C overnight. The samples were shacked well and centrifuged; the clear acetone extract was siphoned carefully then measured spectrophotometry using 90% acetone as blank. Chlorophyll a was estimated using Kontron 930 UV visible spectrophotometer. The concentrations of chlorophyll a were calculated according to trichromatic equation APHA (1992). Statistical analysis Pearson’s correlation analysis was achieved to estimate the relations between occurrence of macrophytes, phytoplankton and other ecological variables (e.g. DO, EC, Temp. etc). In this study, the obtained data were examined with principal component analysis (PCA) in order to indicate the affecting of macrophytes and phytoplankton with the other abiotic variables, using XL Stat version 2017.

phytes and classified under 8 families and 9 genera (Table 2). These species were varied with season and sampling stations with the highest diversity in summer and autumn and minimum in spring (Table 3). Results show that emergent macrophytes species represent 55% of the total collected species and acquired a dominant position in the study area followed by floating 27% and submerged species 18%. Among all the macrophytes recorded E. stagnina was the most dominant and widely distributed as it occurs in seven different stations followed by S. spontanium 5 stations and E. crassipes 3 stations (Table 3). Seasonal variation in presence percentage of the macrophytes species in the study area was observed (Table 4). The first group (submerged macrophytes) included M. spicatum has been recorded in all seasons (P = 100%) and C. demersum (P = 25%) observed in summer only. The second group (floating macrophytes) was represented by E. crassipes (P = 100%), in addition to P. nodosus and L. stolonifera represented 50%. The third group (emergent macrophytes) was represented by six species varied in their presence percentage through the year with the highest for S. spontaneum and E. stagnina (P = 100%).

Table 3 Temporal and spatial variations of the macrophytes distribution throughout the study period.

Results and discussion Floristic composition of the collected macrophytes Change of the hydrology of River Nile after regulation of its water has created water bodies with different water level regimes, an effect which causes a difference in the species that occupied and dominate each site and also resulted in structural differences in the whole aquatic vegetation communities. As recorded by Täckholm (1974) and Zahran and Willis (1992), about 35 species of aquatic plants belonging to 19 genera and 15 families were recorded in the River Nile and its two branches. However, El-Amier et al. (2015) recorded a total number of 70 species, belonging to 54 genera and related to 30 families in Damietta Branch, River Nile. During the study period a total of eleven macrophytes species were only recorded. The collected macrophytes were categorized under emergent, floating and submerged macro-

Species

M. spicatum C. demersum P. nodosus E. crassipes L. stolonifera S. spontaneum E. stagnina P. tomentosum P. lapathifolium C. alopecuroides C. papyrus Total No. of species

Season

NS

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

B4, – B5 B7, – B2, B4, B7 – – – 6

B4, B5 – B5 B8 B2, B1, B7 – B1 B6, 9

B4, – B3 B5, B5 B1, B1, – B2, B1, – 8

B5 – – – – B2, 3 B2, 3 – – – – 3

5

8 3 5, 6, 8

5

3, 4 5, 8

7

5

7,8 2, 4, 7 2, 3,4,8 6 6

2 1 2 3 2 5 7 1 2 2 2

Where B: Al- Rayah El Behera stations, NS = Number of stations in which the plants was recorded.

Table 2 Scientific names and classification of macrophytes recorded in the studied area. Species code

Species

Life form

Class

Family

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11

Myriophyllum spicatum L. Ceratophyllum demersum L. Potamogeton nodosus Poir. Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms Ludwigia stolonifera (Guill. &Perr.) .H.Raven. Saccharum spontaneum (L.) (Per) Echinochloa stagnina (Retz.) P. Beauv. (Per) Polygonum tomentosum Polygonum lapathifolium Cyperus alopecuroides Rottb.(Per). Cyperus papyrus L.

Hy Hy Hy G Hy G, He G, He G, He G, He He He

Dicotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons Monocotyledons

Haloragaceae Ceratophyllaceae Potamogetonaceae Pontederiaceae Onagraceae Poaceae (Gramineae) Poaceae (Gramineae) Polygonaceae Polygonaceae Cyperaceae Cyperaceae

Where, He: helophytes, Hy: hydrophytes, G: geophytes, L: Lianas.

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

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Table 4 Seasonal occurrence percentage of the different macrophytes species (expressed as percent of stations with taxa). Species

Season% of occurrence Spring

p%

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Submerged macrophytes M. spicatum 25 C. demersum –

25 12.5

25 –

12.5 –

100 25

Floating macrophytes P. nodosus 12.5 E. crassipes 25 L. stolonifera –

– 12.5 12.5

12.5 37.5 12.5

– 12.5 –

50 100 50

Emergent macrophytes S. spontaneum 25 E. stagnina 50 P. tomentosum 12.5 P. lapathifolium – C. alopecuroides – C. papyrus –

37.5 37.5 12.5 – 12.5 25

50 62.5 – 25 25 –

25 25 – – – –

100 100 50 25 50 25

Where, P% = Presence percentage of each plant species through the year.

Phytoplankton Actually, phytoplankton plays a key role in the aquatic ecosystem (Elayaraj et al., 2016). The quantitative status was conducted in total count of phytoplankton cells in specific volume as standing crop, while its qualitative status is focused on microscopic investigation for commensally structure and species composition in the water column. Microscopic examination for phytoplankton during study period revealed that, a total of 100 species were identified

(Table 5). The phytoplankton community is fairly diverse, related to 7 classes, of which 3 are mainly represented, Bacillariophyceae (28 taxa), Chlorophyceae (33 taxa) and Cyanophyceae (23 taxa), Few species belonged to Dinophyceae (4 taxa), Euglinophyceae (6 taxa), Chrysophyceae (5 taxa) and Creptophyceae (1 taxa). Abou El-Kheir et al. (2000), showed that, presence of pollutants have an excessive impact on the diversity of the algal community in the aquatic environment. Seasonal distribution of phytoplankton crop in El Behairy Canal were varied greatly from station to station and from season to other (Fig. 2). The seasonal variations of phytoplankton crop showed that the maximum phytoplankton density was observed in the autumn (Table 6). Regional distribution of phytoplankton classes during the study period are shown in Fig. 3. The annual phytoplankton density referred to the highest density of 645  104 cell1 was recorded at station B2, while the lowest was 210  104 cell1 recorded at station B8. The first dominant phytoplankton class was bacillariohyceae represented 77.8% from the total abundances followed by Chlorophyceae 12.0% then Cyanophyceae 8.9% this result coincided with (Hussian et al., 2015; Nassar and Gharib, 2014), while the other classes were Dinophyceae (0.4%), Chrysophyceae (0.2%), Creptophyceae (0.3%) and Euglinophyceae (0.4%). Hamed (2008) reported that qualitative distribution of bacillariohyceae was estimated in relevant with water conductivity. The highest Bacillariophyceae density was 553 X 104 cell-1 recorded at station B 2, while its lowest density was 141 X 104 cell/l recorded at station B8 (Fig. 3). Taxonomic structure of phytoplankton revealed that, diatoms were dominated by 4 species Cyclotella meneghiniana (10.9%), Cyclotella glomerata (13%), Aulacoseira

Table 5 List of phytoplankton species recorded at the different stations in El Behairy Canal during the study period. Phytoplankton species Bacillariophyceae Amphora ovalis Kutz. Achnanthes minutissima Kutz. Amphora ovalis Kutz. Cocconeis placentula (Ehrenberg) Cyclotella operculata Kutz.

Cyanophyceae Aphanocapsa elachista ver.conferta (Wittrock) Anabaena constricta (Szafer) Geitler Aphanocapsa elachista ver.conferta (Wittrock) Chroococcus cohaerens (Breb.) Nag. Chroococcus dispersus (Keissier) Lemmermann

Cyclotella Cyclotella Cyclotella Cyclotella Cyclotella

Chroococcus turgidus Lemmermann Eucapsis minuta (F.E.Fritsch) Eudrina unicocca (G.M.Smith) Gloeocapsa crepidinum Thuret Gomphospharium lacustris (Lemmer.)

glomerata (Bachmann) kuetzingiana (Pant.) meneghiniana Kutz. ocellata Pant. operculata Kutz.

Cymbella microcephala Grun. Fragilaria construens ver.venete (Ehr.) Grun Gomphonema constrictum (W . Smith) Melosira distans (Her.) Ralfs Melosira granulata (Her.) Ralfs Melosira granulata var. angustissima (Her.) Navicula dicephala (Gregory) Navicula major (Gregory) Navicula pusilla (Klebs.) Nitizschia acicularis (Chodat) Nitzschia fonticola Grun. Nitzschia amphibia(Grun) Nitzschia frustulum (Kutz.)Grun. Nitzschia hungarica (Kutz.)Grun. Nitzschia palea (Kutz.)W. Smith Pleurosigma deliculatum W. Smith Syndra actinostroide (Nitzsch) Her. Syndra ulna (Nitzsch) Her.

Gomphospharium lacustris var. compacta (Lemmer.) Gomphospheria aponiana Gomphospheria compacta Lyngbya limnetica Lemmer. Merismopedia gluca (Beck) Merismopedia minima (Beck) Merismopedia punctata (Meyen) Microcystis aeruginosa (Kutz.) Microcystis flos-aquae (Wittr.) Kirchner Oscillatoria limosa Bory Phormidium interruptum Kutz. Phormidium laminosa (Agardh.) Gomont Synechococcus aeruginosus Nag. Chlorophyceae Actinastrum hantzchii (lagerheim) Actinastrum hantzchii var. fluviatile (lagerheim) Ankistrodesmus convulatus (Corda.) Ankistrodesmus falcutus (Precott)

Ankistrodesmus fusiformis (Corda.) Coccomonas arbicularis Coelastrum microborum Naegeli Coelastrum sphaericum (Naegeli) Cosmarium curtum (Brebisson) Ralfs. Crucigenia tetrapedia (Kirchner) West & West Dictyosphaerium pulchellum (Wood) Elakatothrix gelatinosa (Hansgirg) Golenkinia radiata W. & G. S. West Kirchneriella lunaris (Kirchner) Lagerheimia citriformis (Snow) G. M. Smith Micractium quadrisetum (Fresenius) Monoraphidium contortum (Thuret) KomarkovaNephroselmis olivacea (Stein) Oocystis gigas (Wittrock) Oocystis solitaria (Wittrock) Pediastrum duplex (Naegeli) Collins Pediastrum simplex (Naegeli) Collins Scenedesmus acuminatus (Hansgirg) Chodat Scenedesmus dimorphus (Hansgirg) Chodat Scenedesmus ecornis (Ehrenberg) Chodat. Scenedesmus portuberance (turpin) kutz. Scenedesmus quadricuda G.M Smith (Chodat.) Schroederia setigera Selenastrum gracile Reinsch Staurastrum paradoxium (Ehrenberg) Staurastrum sp. (Ehrenberg)

Cryptophyceae Creptomonas ovata (Ehrenberg) Euglenophyceae Euglena gracilis (Reverd.) Euglena oblonga (Schmitz.) Euglena oxyuris (Dujardin) Phacus curvicauda (Swir.) Trechlomonas volvocina Dinophyceae Gymnodinum aeruginosum (Stein) Peridinium pusillum (Woloszynska) Peridinium umbonatum (Woloszynska) Prorocentrum micans (Woloszynska) Chrysophyceae Chrysochromulina parva Mallomonas acaroides (Perty) Mallomonas apochromatica (Perty) Ochromonas mutabilis (Klebs.) Ochromonas mutabilis (Klebs.)

Sterococcus superbus (Prescott) Tetraedron minimum (Braun)

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

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Fig. 2. Regional distribution of phytoplankton crop during the different seasons.

Table 6 Standing crop of phytoplankton classes (NO.  104 cell1) in the different seasons. Phytoplankton Classes

Bacillariophyceae Cyanophyceae Chlorophyceae Chrysophyceae Euglinophyceae Dinophyceae Creptophyceae Total

Seasons

Annual

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

1515 625 575 0 15 10 0 2740

2361 210 645 5 0 15 0 3236

3815 210 300 5 5 15 10 4360

3670 260 235 10 20 20 0 4215

2840 326 439 5 10 15 3 3638

Fig. 3. Regional distribution of phytoplankton classes during the study period.

granulata (9.5%) and Syndra ulna (46.7%). Similar results were reported by Hussian et al. (2015). In addition, Abd El-Karim et al. (2009) reported that microalgae in the most common fish guts are (e.g. Nile tilapia) consisted of 47% diatoms, 31% chlorophytes, 19% cyanoprokaryotes, 2% dinophytes in which Aulacoseira granulata represent the most common species of diatom. Green algae were dominated by 5 species from the total of 33 taxa. Crucigenia tetrapedia (7.8%), Scenedesmus ecornis (12.2%), Sce-

nedesmus quadricuda (15.7%), Staurastrum paradoxium (8.8%) and Scenedesmus acuminatus (10.5%). In additions, Cyanphyceae were dominated by 3 species from the total of 23 taxa. Those species were named, Eucapsis minuta (22.2%), Merismopedia minima (22.4%) and Merismopedia punctate (14.8%). On the other hand, members of Chrysophyceae, Creptophyceae, Dinophyceae and Euglinophyceae were very rare. So, they were recorded in a limited numbers of samples and were irregular in

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

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Fig. 4. Seasonal and annual distribution of chlorophyll a concentrations at the different sites of El-Behery Canal.

its abundance. El Behairy canal is characterized by dominance of a typical fresh water phytoplankton species that are dominant in Nile River water (Abd El-Hady and Hussian, 2012). Chl a concentrations at El Behairy canal, varied between a minimum value of12.2 mg/l at station B1 during spring and a maximum value of 173.9 mg/l at station B6 during winter (Fig. 4). However, the annual average Chl a concentration showed the highest value of 115 mg/l at station B7 and the lowest 59 mg/l at B1. This fluctuation in Chl a contents can be reflect its interaction with the consequent time changing in physical and chemical conditions of the aquatic ecosystem, which coming as a result of the continuous

input of untreated sewage and different wastes as well as the effect of the macrophytes density (Lammens et al., 1990 and Hussian, 2006). Fresh water bodies are subjected to variations in the different environmental factors, which are responsible for the distribution of organisms in different habitats according to their degree of adaptation. As recorded by Grinberga (2011) there is not a main single factor explaining the spatial patterns of distribution and composition of macrophyte communities. The relationship between macrophytes and different ecological factors (Table 7) displayed a significant close relationship between Ceratophyllum

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

Variables

P1

P1

1

P2

P3

P4

P5

P6

P7

P8

P9

P10

P11

Temp

EC

pH

DO

BOD

COD

NH3

NO2

NO3

PO4

Bac.

Cya.

Chl.

Total

P2

0.775

1

P3

0.000

0.577

1

P4

0.135

0.522

0.905

1

P5

0.447

0.577

0.000

0.302

1

P6

0.135

0.174

0.302

0.636

0.904

1

P7

0.200

0.258

0.894

0.944

0.447

0.674

1

P8

0.894

0.577

0.000

0.302

0.000

0.302

0.000

1

P9

0.258

0.333

0.577

0.870

0.577

0.870

0.775

0.577

1

P10

0.135

0.174

0.302

0.636

0.905

0.998

0.674

0.302

0.870

1

P11

0.775

0.999

0.577

0.522

0.577

0.174

0.258

0.577

0.333

0.174

1

Temp 0 C

0.998

0.748

0.056

0.073

0.470

0.177

0.260

0.881

0.205

0.177

0.748

EC mgS/cm

0.930

0.492

0.308

0.072

0.238

0.030

0.382

0.921

0.217

0.030

0.492

0.941

1

pH

0.963

0.822

0.012

0.032

0.671

0.379

0.289

0.741

0.048

0.380

0.822

0.968

0.839

DO mg/l

0.030

0.306

0.043

0.361

0.907

0.934

0.367

0.419

0.741

0.934

0.306

0.055

0.184

0.298

1

BOD mg/l

0.214

0.777

0.824

0.562

0.565

0.275

0.484

0.044

0.125

0.276

0.777

0.181

0.159

0.357

0.566

1

COD mg/l

0.542

0.935

0.658

0.457

0.710

0.368

0.271

0.251

0.115

0.368

0.935

0.518

0.198

0.671

0.566

0.932

NH3 mg/l

0.890

0.416

0.453

0.271

0.356

0.212

0.564

0.817

0.005

0.212

0.416

0.913

0.977

0.839

0.039

0.208

0.160

1

NO2 mg/l

0.252

0.132

0.302

0.679

0.710

0.925

0.587

0.636

0.951

0.925

0.132

0.209

0.324

0.001

0.898

0.180

0.145

0.130

1

NO3 mg/l

0.335

0.469

0.662

0.915

0.450

0.787

0.793

0.600

0.988

0.787

0.469

0.280

0.242

0.151

0.631

0.265

0.267

0.030

0.901

PO4 mg/l

0.655

0.038

0.735

0.506

0.137

0.145

0.718

0.664

0.120

0.145

0.038

0.691

0.871

0.575

0.186

0.557

0.220

0.925

0.104

0.149

1

Bac.

0.731

0.291

0.184

0.198

0.260

0.466

0.048

0.948

0.591

0.466

0.291

0.723

0.868

0.526

0.641

0.340

0.068

0.765

0.732

0.564

0.729

1

Cya.

0.171

0.386

0.525

0.115

0.669

0.605

0.171

0.525

0.386

0.605

0.386

0.177

0.486

0.066

0.850

0.834

0.689

0.429

0.651

0.268

0.644

0.769

1

Chl.

0.964

0.682

0.007

0.244

0.193

0.123

0.080

0.981

0.459

0.123

0.682

0.955

0.948

0.857

0.236

0.072

0.389

0.867

0.489

0.506

0.673

0.878

0.382

1

Total

0.755

0.344

0.130

0.244

0.237

0.466

0.010

0.963

0.618

0.466

0.344

0.743

0.870

0.553

0.625

0.283

0.012

0.761

0.742

0.598

0.703

0.998

0.733

0.898

1

Chl. A

0.562

0.062

0.612

0.253

0.247

0.265

0.437

0.751

0.223

0.265

0.062

0.580

0.822

0.384

0.565

0.676

0.389

0.803

0.469

0.157

0.915

0.889

0.882

0.685

0.861

Chl. A

1

Values in bold are different from 0 with a significance level alpha = 0.05. P1-P11 is plants species code numbers referred to Table 2. The algal classes are: Bac. = Bacillariophyceae, Cya. = Cyanophyceae, Chl. = Chlorophyceae and Chl. A = Chlorophyll A.

1

1

1

1

A.M. Haroon, A.-E.M. Hussian / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (2017) xxx–xxx 7

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

Table 7 Correlation matrix (Pearson (n)) between occurrence of the different macrophytes species, phytoplankton classes and other environmental parameters.

8

A.M. Haroon, A.-E.M. Hussian / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

Fig. 5. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) diagram including water variables, macrophytes species and phytoplankton classes.

demersum and Cyperus papyrus, S. spontaneum and Cyperus alopercuroides (r = 1.00 at P < 0.05). A strong negative relation was observed between the two submerged species M. spicatum and C. demersum (r = 0.775 at P < 0.05). In addition M. spicatum had no relation with the floating macrophytes species (P. nodosus and E. crassipes), however C. demersum was negatively correlated with the two species. This, reflect the adaptation of M. spicatum to thrive under different environmental factors. The three floating species P. nodosus and E. crassipes were positively correlated (r = 0.905) with each other’s and negatively correlated with L. stolonifera (r = 0.905). The third group included six species (emergent macrophytes), four of them (S. spontaneum, E. stagnina, P. lapathifolium and C. alopecuroides) were positively correlated with most recorded species. Table 7 shows that the relation between macrophytes distribution and water physicochemical characteristics was affect by plant species where, some species were positively correlated and others were negatively correlated. In general, most macrophytes were negatively correlated with DO, COD, and BOD and positively correlated with NO2, NO3, Temp, and pH values. In addition, the results show that all species (except one - M. spicatum) decrease with increasing of P04, it can mean that with increase of eutrophication all macrophytes decrease, which could be the effect of phytoplankton growth. This not agrees with the results of other investigators, like Frankouich et al. (2006) who mentioned that the macrophyte growth and distribution is correlated with nutrient rich environments especially nitrate and phosphate which have been noted to favor the growth of macrophytes. In addition Uedeme-Naa et al. (2011) reported the presence of positive correlation between macrophytes and water temperature, as the photosynthetic activity is increased by increasing of temperature. The data of the present investigation shows that the highest species numbers were recorded during summer and autumn, this strongly agrees with temperature and nutrient concentration; where the highest temperature and nitrates values during the four seasons were detected in summer and autumn (Goher, 2015).

Correlation matrix (Table 7 and Fig. 5) indicated that, the existence of Myriophyllum spicatum are associated with increasing of bacillariohyceae and total phytoplankton density (r = 0.7), in contrast with chlorophyceae (r = 0.9). However, the presence of Polygonum tomentosum was intensely related with chlorophyceae (r = 0.9) and Potamogeton nodosus, Polygonum tomentosum were positively correlated with cyanphyceae. In addition bacillariohyceae have a high significant positive correlation with the total phytoplankton abundance (r = 0.9) and Chl a (r = 0.8). Numerous studies have shown that macrophytes can successfully suppress or enhanced the algal growth in nature and under experimental systems through releasing allelochemicals substances (Gross et al., 2007; Haroon and Abdel-Aal, 2016). So, the different interaction between macrophytic species and different phytoplankton classes could be related to the effect of allelochemical substances secreted by theses plants under different environmental conditions, in addition to the diverse effect of macrophytes in water physicochemical characteristics (Haroon and Daboor, 2009). Regarding the effect of water physicochemical characteristics, nitrogen and phosphorus are considered as a limiting nutrient factors for bacillariohyceae growth (r = 0.7) and their growth also dependents on increasing of electrical conductivity (r = 0.8). Both temperature and pH were positively correlated with chlorophyceae (r = 0.9 and 0.8, respectively) as pH can increase due to intense phytosynthetic activity of phytoplankton, while EC has a high negative effect (r = 0.9). In addition, dissolved oxygen is considered an important parameter that affect and effected by the cyanphyceae growth (r = 0.8). Conclusion The results indicated that the macrophytes and phytoplankton distribution and species composition of Al-Behery River Nile are variable during the four seasons, according to the environmental conditions of the study area including, water physicochemical

Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002

A.M. Haroon, A.-E.M. Hussian / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

characteristics and allelopathic interaction among different taxa. During the whole studied period summer is floristically the richest seasons followed by autumn and Chl a concentration in Al-Behery canal during study period was in the international allowable limits (5.0–140 micrograms/ Litter). Generally, the recorded species of macrophytes and phytoplankton showed different relations with each others as well as with water physicochemical characteristics so it’s being difficult to detect the main factors explaining the spatial patterns of its distribution.

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Please cite this article in press as: Haroon, A.M., Hussian, A.-E.M. Ecological assessment of the macrophytes and phytoplankton in El-Rayah Al-Behery, River Nile, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.08.002