Qualitative and Quantitative study of Epipelic algae in Tigris River within Baghdad City, Iraq

The present study conducted to study epipelic algae in
the Tigris River within Baghdad city for one year from
September 2044 to August 2041 due to the importance
role of benthic algae in lotic ecosystems. Five sites have
been chosen along the river. A total of 154 species of
epipelic algae was recorded belongs to 45 genera, where
Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms) was the dominant groups
followed by Cyanophyceae and Chlorophyceae. The
numbers of common types in three sites were 47 species.
Bacillariophyceae accounted 88.31% of the total number
of epipelic algae, followed by Cyanophyceae 7.14 % and
Chlorophyceae 4.55%. A 85 species (29 genera) recorded
in site 1, 103 species (34 genera) in site2, 112 species (35
genera) in site3, 96 species (32 genera) in site4, and 85
species (29 genera) in site5. Spatial and temporal distributions
of epipelic algae were noticed in this study. The
higher total number of epipelic algae (91504.01cell\ cm-
2) was recorded at site 5 in spring 2012, while the lower
was (37017.98cell\ cm-2) in summer 2012 at site1. Some
genera have recorded higher number species during the
study period; these genera were Nitzschia, Navicula, Cymbella,
Gomphonema, Synedra, Achnanthes, Oscillatoria,
and Lyngbya.
The study revealed that Bacillariophyceae were more
prominent within all study sites and followed by Cyanophyceae,
while a few numbers of Chlorophyceae was appeared.

Author(s): Fikrat M. Hassan, Saja H. Al-Bdulameer

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