BIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF SURFACE WATERS IN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

BIOLOGICAL ELEMENTS THAT ARE USED FOR CLASSIFICATION OF SURFACE WATERS IN REPUBLIC OF

MACEDONIA

1. In Republic of Macedonia, for classification of surface waters, phytobenthos and macro invertebrates are used as biological indicators that determine the water quality. For that purpose, probes are taken 5 times during the year;

а.) Phytobenthos – according to the presence and quantity of diatoms;

b.) Macro invertebrates – in accordance with the presence and quantity of water larvae from the class Insecta, as well as other invertebrates: Crustacea, Molusca, Nematoda, Anelides ect.

PHYTOBENTHOS AND MACRO INVERTEBRATES COLLECTING PROCEDURE

Plankton - net

1. Necessary field equipment:

- Numbered flasks marked with the date and the number of the place where the sample will be collected;

- formaldehyde for preservation of the collected material;

- pliers, plankton – net, assortment of plastic vessels, surber net where necessary;

- Rubber boots, gloves and waterproof clothing;

2. Collecting samples in the field

* An appropriate well litten place on the river is chosen for collecting samples;

а) Collecting samples from the phytobenthos:

- Suitable rocks and cobbles are placed and washed in a plastic vessel;

- The surface of the rocks or cobbles is scraped with a metal spatula or a tooth brush;

- The scraped material is placed in a flask with water from the place where it was collected;

- Preservation is achieved using formaldehyde, a 4% solution is necessary to preserve the diatoms;

b) Sampling of macro invertebrates:

- Macro invertebrates and their larvae are collected using pliers from rocks and cobbles;

If the river bottom is covered with silt, the macro invertebrates are collected from the silt or submerged plants;

- The material is placed in glass flasks with water from the place where it was collected

- The sample is preserved with 35% formaldehyde;

3. Identification and quantification of benthic diatoms and macro invertebrates

a) Identification and quantification of benthic diatoms

- Identified and counted using a inverted microscope;

- 2 ml chambers are used (Utermӧhl-technic), where are an appropriate quantity of the sample with diatoms is placed;

b) Identification and quantification of macro invertebrates

- The collected samples are identified on a Ceti microscope;

4. Saprobic Index evaluation

- In the Republic of Macedonia, the Saprobic Index is calculated according to Pantle & Buck formula:

S = Ʃ sxh / Ʃ h S – Saprobic Index s – saprobes values of the indicator species h – relative abundances obtained by scoreboard

- Bodies of water are classified in accordance with Liebmann;

The results are entered in tables and at the end of the year, in the annual report the compiled results are displayed in graphs.

Водотек: р. Вардар Мерно место: Радуша

Дата на земање: 23.04.2012

Реден број

Најдени видови s h s∙hDiatomea

1. Navicula viridula a 7 212. Navicula radiosa o-b 3 33. Asterionella o-b 7 74. Gomphonema olivaceum b 3 65. Nitzschia denticula a 2 66. Nitzschia recta b-a 2 47. Diatoma vulgare b 3 68. Nitzschia dissipata o-b 2 29. Nitzschia palea a 2 6

10. Rhoicosphaenia curvata b 2 411. Diatoma ehrenbergii x-o 3 0

Crustacea12. Rivulogammarus

balcanicusb 3 6

Hirudinaceae13. Erpobdella octoculata a 1 314. Trichoptera15. Hydropsychae b 1 2

Ephemeroptera16. Baetis rhodani x-o 2 0

Сапробен индекс S=2.2 =± 0.14 U=±0.28Сапробност по Liebmann Β - меѕосапробна Класа II

Thank you for your attention.