Publication: Application of phytoplankton community structure for ranking the major riverine catchments influencing the pollution status of a lake basin
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2020-01-24
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2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
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Abstract
The present study demonstrates the application of a multi-metric Phytoplankton
Index of Biotic Integrity (PIBI) approach for ranking of major river catchments in the
Kenyan part of Lake Victoria on the basis of their pollution status. The index utilizes water quality and zooplankton data, phytoplankton diversity, abundance and
attributes, as well as literature information. The rivers were sampled from 2016 to
2018 during the wet season (March) and dry season (July). The separation power of
the Mann–Whitney U test (p < .05) qualified eight discriminant metrics for phytoplankton samples into a scoring system of 1, 3 and 5, based on high, fair and slight
deviation from the best site, respectively, in development of the final PIBI. The Kuja
and Sondu-Miriu rivers had the highest PIBI, signifying least pollution influence on
the lake. In contrast, the Yala and Nzoia rivers exhibited the lowest PIBI, representing the catchments with a higher pollution influence on the lake. The fair to poor
integrity classes for the major river catchments in the region signified a deteriorating
lakescape. The present study presents the preliminary results of using phytoplankton
metrics for development of the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) approach in the region
as a decision-making support tool for the effective management and sustainable use
of water resources in the lake basin
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Keywords
bioindicator, catchment, Lake Victoria, management, Zooplankton