The Golden Horn Estuary (İstanbul) nutrient-rich,
eutrophic and turbid at the inner part based on discharges from Alibeyköy and
Kağıthane creeks. The pollution had been drastically increased by the accretion
in the industry and urban development around the estuary since 1950s. The Golden Horn rehabilitation project was
carried out during the 1998-2002 period.
The present study was conducted following the rehabilitation process
between November 2002-October 2003 at selected four stations, three at the inner
part and one at the middle part of estuary. This is the first study on
zooplankton community in the Golden Horn Estuary. The seasonal variation of
zooplankton composition and density and 14 environmental variables
(temperature, salinity, Secchi disc depth, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen,
carbonate, bicarbonate, calcium,
magnesium, total hardness, NO2-N, NO3-N, o-PO4)
and Chlorophyll-a concentration,
which indicates the intensity of life in the Golden Horn Estuary have been
studied, monthly. A total of 29 taxa was identified. Zooplankton composition
was characterized by freshwater, estuarine and marine species. Zooplankton of
Golden Horn Estuary was composed mainly by holoplanktonic organisms (53% of
the total), with Copepoda as the most abundant group and a high number of taxa.
Diversity were higher at all stations. A distinct
relationship between zooplankton taxa composition and their environment, determined
by a redundancy analysis, indicated that the measured environmental variables
contributed to the variations in the zooplankton community structure to some
extent. Four environmental variables and Chlorophyll-a explained 73.7% of the variation in the taxonomic structure. The
results showed, that distribution of zooplankton was significantly associated total hardness, NO2-N, NO3-N,
temperature and Chlorophyll-a
(p<0.05).
Subjects | Hydrobiology |
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Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | February 2, 2015 |
Published in Issue | Year 2015 |