Publication details
The effect of mining water on phytobenthic assemblages in a running water - Contribution to the water temperature regime in rivers
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Botany |
| Keywords | mining waters; phytobenthos; temperature; running water |
| Description | A key factor of the abiotic environment in rivers represents the natural water temperature regime. Nowadays, this factor is often changed by anthropogenic influence. Thermal modifications were shown to have an effect on benthic microorganisms in various laboratory studies. It is remarkable that although the importance of temperature for the ecosystem in running waters is undisputed, there is still a lack of detailed, systematic temperature data especially in Central Europe. The main aims of that study were to analyse a river influenced by mining water in 4 representative sites (the first - mining thermal inflow of Nedvedicka river, the second - under the inflow of river, the third - up to the inflow of river and the fourth - r. km 11.8 of river Nedvedicka) with an artificially changed temperature regime in detail, i.e. with emphasis on thermal variability, and observe the effects on the development of benthic species and to relate variation in the phytobentic assemblages to temperature, to compare the significance of temperature with other environmental factors, and to identify species related to the thermal environment. The temperature of the two river-types (mining thermal running water and Nedvedicka river) was recorded daily for time periods between one and two years, starting in 22. November 2007. The thermal characteristics of the 4 sampling sites were analysed and discussed in detail. Extreme and mean temperature parameters and temperature variability were analysed with the focus on a characteristical pattern for each type. Environmental conditions were assessed and correlated with temperature parameters. Temperature parameters shown to be of ecological significance for phytobenthic microorganisms and were additionally assembled from literature. The anthropogenic modifications of the temperature regime, with the main focus on the differences in thermal variability, were investigated in the Nedvedicka, a river influenced by warm water originating from a decanting plant outgoing from hydrometallurgy of uranium. Financial support for this study was provided by the Funding of Ministry of Education of Czech Republic project No. MSM0021622416. |
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