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Macrophytes as a tool for assessing the trophic status of a river: a case study of the upper Oum Er Rbia Basin (Morocco)

Ayoub Nouri
Ayoub Nouri
, 
Hammada Soumaya
Hammada Soumaya
, 
Chillasse Lahcen
Chillasse Lahcen
 and 
Haddioui Abdelmajid
Haddioui Abdelmajid
   | Mar 21, 2021
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Article Category: Original research paper
Published Online: Mar 21, 2021
Page range: 77 - 86
Received: Jun 23, 2020
Accepted: Sep 22, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/oandhs-2021-0008
Keywords
© 2021 Ayoub Nouri et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Location of surveyed sites
Location of surveyed sites

Figure 2

Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) diagram showing the correlation between Macrophytes distribution and physicochemical parameters. AgroSto – Agrostis stolonifera, PersAmph – Persicaria amphibia, GroDen – Groenlandia densa, MyrSpic – Myriophyllum spicatum, NastOffc – Nasturtium officinale, RanAqua – Ranunculus aquatilis, SpirSp – Spirogyra sp., DiatSp – Diatoma sp., CladSp – Cladophora sp., UlvaSp – Ulva sp., StuPect – Stuckenia pectinata, TyphAng – Typha angustifolia, TyphLng – Typha latifolia, ZanPal – Zannichelia palustris, NostcSp – Nostoc sp., VauchSp – Vaucheria sp., BrachyRv – Brachythecium rivulare
Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) diagram showing the correlation between Macrophytes distribution and physicochemical parameters. AgroSto – Agrostis stolonifera, PersAmph – Persicaria amphibia, GroDen – Groenlandia densa, MyrSpic – Myriophyllum spicatum, NastOffc – Nasturtium officinale, RanAqua – Ranunculus aquatilis, SpirSp – Spirogyra sp., DiatSp – Diatoma sp., CladSp – Cladophora sp., UlvaSp – Ulva sp., StuPect – Stuckenia pectinata, TyphAng – Typha angustifolia, TyphLng – Typha latifolia, ZanPal – Zannichelia palustris, NostcSp – Nostoc sp., VauchSp – Vaucheria sp., BrachyRv – Brachythecium rivulare

Figure 3

Graph showing the IBMR values for each site and the trophic level thresholds
Graph showing the IBMR values for each site and the trophic level thresholds

The IBMR ranges with the corresponding trophic status (AFNOR 2003)

IBMR > 14 12 < X ≤ 14 10 < X ≤ 12 8 < X ≤ 10 ≤ 8
trophic status very low   low   moderate   high   very high  

Pearson's correlation coefficients between IBMR values and physico-chemical parameters of water (n = 36)

IBMR
r p
NO2-N −0.696* 0.012
PO4-P −0.230 0.472
NO3-N 0.696* 0.012
WT −0.844** 0.001
DO 0.694* 0.012
pH 0.372 0.234
EC −0.806** 0.002
CODMn −0.854** 0.000
NH3-N −0.330 0.295

List of macrophyte contributive species that were recorded in the upper Oum Erbia basin

Scientific Name Family Amg01 Amg02 Amg03 Amg04 Orb01 Orb02 Orb03 Orb04 Orb05 Orb06 Sru01 Sru02
Vascular plants
Myriophyllum spicatum Haloragaceae x x x x x
Ranunculus aquatilis Ranunculaceae x x
Groenlandia densa Potamogetonaceae x x x x
Potamogeton pectinatus x x x x
Nasturtium officinale Brassicaceae x x x x x x x x x
Zannichellia palustris Zannichelliaceae x x x x x x x x
Persicaria amphibia Polygonaceae x
Typha angustifolia Typhaceae x
Typha longifolia x
Agrostis stolonifera Poaceae x
Algae
Cladophora sp. Cladophoraceae x x x x x x x x x x
Spirogyra sp. Zygnemataceae x x x x x x x
Vaucheria sp. Vaucheriaceae x x x x x x x x x x x
Nostoc sp. Nostocaceae x x
Diatoma sp. Tabellariaceae x x x x x x x x
Ulva sp. Ulvaceae x x x x x x x
Bryophytes
Brachythecium rivulare Brachytheciaceae x x x x x x x x
Total number of species in each site 6 9 8 6 6 8 11 5 8 6 6 5

Descriptive statistics of the physicochemical parameters of the surveyed sites in the upper Oum Erbia basin

pH WT (°C) EC (μS cm−1) DO (mgO2 l−1) COD (Mn) (mgO2 l−1) NH3-N (μg l−1) NO2-N (μg l−1) NO3-N (mg l−1) PO4-P (μg l−1)
Amg01 Mean 8.12 12.50 283.50 10.53 3.68 105 74.02 5.98 330
Range 6.3–9.98 7.1–17.9 259–308 8.53–12.53 0.32–7.04 60–150 72.38–75.67 3.63–8.32 130–530
SD 0.75 7.64 34.65 2.82 4.75 63.64 2.33 3.31 282.84
Amg02 Mean 7.92 12.98 380.50 9.65 5.04 12.5 69.19 7.51 430
Range 7.41–8.72 8.0–16.8 321–421 7.16–13.56 0.00–11.52 0.00–30 55.93–82.64 3.73–12.47 0.00–1460
SD 0.60 3.65 44.25 2.74 4.86 15 13.56 3.80 696.32
Amg03 Mean 7.91 15.15 404.75 8.23 5.52 62.50 126.76 9.97 485
Range 7.51–8.59 10.3–19.6 323–459 6.30–10.54 0.00–10.88 0.00–230 85.93–171 6.24–14.64 140–870
SD 0.48 3.80 58.64 1.75 4.49 112.06 35.23 3.47 301.16
Amg04 Mean 7.86 17.30 772.75 7.95 6.00 20 117.12 7.23 415
Range 7.47–8.24 10.3–23.0 516–1348 6.09–10.14 0.32–10.56 0.00–80 72.38–154.6 3.16–15.60 160–850
SD 0.33 5.24 390.63 1.67 4.28 40 41.11 5.74 319.84
Orb01 Mean 7.70 14.98 1781.50 8.87 3.60 0.00 25.50 6.64 50
Range 7.45–8.10 13.2–15.7 1587–1974 7.72–10.67 1.92–5.12 0.00 0.00–62.51 3.33–10.50 0.00–140
SD 0.28 1.19 162.49 1.31 1.60 0.00 26.91 3.06 66.33
Orb02 Mean 7.78 15.23 1961.50 8.77 5.92 0.00 110.86 5.88 280
Range 7.46–8.22 12.8–16.4 1646–2308 8.0–10.32 0.96–9.60 0.00 52.64–175.7 3.31–10.02 170–510
SD 0.32 1.65 292.73 1,07 4,23 0.00 53.50 2.99 157.06
Orb03 Mean 7.89 16.45 2188.25 8.52 6.40 32.50 124.09 6.33 162.50
Range 7.40–8.58 13.4–19.2 1695–2597 6.71–10.83 0.96–11.52 0.00–70 39.48–239.5 4.95–8.96 60–290
SD 0.51 2.44 371.51 1.71 4.47 37.75 84.65 1.85 96.40
Orb04 Mean 7.88 17.58 2225.25 7.46 7.60 10 156.72 4.49 395
Range 7.68–8.26 13.5–22.2 1687–2651 6.75–8.81 1.92–10.88 0.00–40 123.03–198.6 3.85–4.97 40–630
SD 0.26 3.70 400.76 0.92 4.16 20 31.65 0.51 264.90
Orb05 Mean 7.80 18.13 2286.67 7.56 6.82 3.33 161.63 4.56 280
Range 7.58–8.15 13.2–21.1 1989–2763 6.50–9.02 3.20–10.24 0.00–10 129.6–178.9 4.24–4.73 20–640
SD 0.30 4.30 416.79 1.31 3.52 5.77 27.76 0.27 321.87
Orb06 Mean 7.9 19.97 2339.33 7.21 6.29 45 113 7.55 487.50
Range 7.77 – 8.12 12.4 – 24.4 1829–2959 6.50–7.98 1.92–10.88 10–90 19.74–175.7 2.36–11.23 150 –1100
SD 0.19 6.59 572.88 0.74 4.48 34.16 72.37 4.62 419.07
Sru01 Mean 7.89 19.03 1695.67 7.39 6.93 22.50 54.28 2.39 190
Range 7.61–8.44 10.6–23.8 695–2708 6.68–8.33 4.16–11.52 0.00–50 0.00–82.25 1.89–2.92 20–490
SD 0.48 7.32 1006.55 0.85 4.00 20.62 37.07 0.51 223.16
Sru02 Mean 8.11 22.97 4100.00 7.77 10.35 200 213.85 4.90 520
Range 7.71–8.63 12.3–29.2 2340–6504 6.30–9.98 5.12–13.76 160–270 62.51–417.8 0.18–9.17 350–860
SD 0.47 9.28 2090.28 1.95 4.59 60.83 183.41 4.50 294.45
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