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IJESD 2019 Vol.10(3): 91-95 ISSN: 2010-0264
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2019.10.3.1153
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2019.10.3.1153
Assessing the Ecological Quality of Coastal Lagoons of Western Greece: The Response of Benthic Communities to Environmental Variability
G. Fyttis, S. Reizopoulou, and E. Papastergiadou
Abstract—Coastal lagoons are considered naturally stressed systems that experience frequent environmental variations. Benthic macrophyte and macroinvertebrate species were studied seasonally in two coastal lagoons (Kotychi and Prokopos) in Western Greece to investigate spatial and temporal biodiversity patterns. Ruppia cirrhosa, Potamogeton pectinatus and Chironomidae were dominant in both lagoons, while Kotychi was also dominated by Lekanesphaera monodi and Monocorophium insidiosum, and Prokopos by Ostracoda and Lekanesphaera monodi. Species richness, diversity, and abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates were strongly related to aquatic macrophytes and to the degree of communication with the marine environment. Moreover, species richness and abundance of both macrophytes and macroinvertebrates were mainly dependent on depth, temperature, pH and total suspended materials (TSM). Based on the preliminary results of this study, it appears that the ISD index, based on the biomass size structure of the macroinvertebrate communities, is an appropriate tool for ecological quality assessment.
Index Terms—Diversity indices, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes, Mediterranean lagoons.
Georgios Fyttis was with the University of Patras, Department of Biology, GR 26504 Patras, Greece. He is now with the Oceanography Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus (e-mail: fyttis.georgios@ucy.ac.cy).
Sofia Reizopoulou is with the Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, PO Box 712, 190 13 Attiki, Greece (e-mail:sreiz@hcmr.gr).
Eva Papastergiadou is with the University of Patras, Department of Biology, University Campus Rio, Patras, GR 26504, Greece (e-mail: evapap@upatras.gr).
Index Terms—Diversity indices, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes, Mediterranean lagoons.
Georgios Fyttis was with the University of Patras, Department of Biology, GR 26504 Patras, Greece. He is now with the Oceanography Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus (e-mail: fyttis.georgios@ucy.ac.cy).
Sofia Reizopoulou is with the Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, PO Box 712, 190 13 Attiki, Greece (e-mail:sreiz@hcmr.gr).
Eva Papastergiadou is with the University of Patras, Department of Biology, University Campus Rio, Patras, GR 26504, Greece (e-mail: evapap@upatras.gr).
Cite: G. Fyttis, S. Reizopoulou, and E. Papastergiadou, "Assessing the Ecological Quality of Coastal Lagoons of Western Greece: The Response of Benthic Communities to Environmental Variability," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 91-95, 2019.
