Protozoa ciliates community structure in urban streams and their environmental use as indicators

The objective of this work was to investigate the patterns of diversity and abundance of ciliates protozoa community in three tropical urban streams and verify which species can be considered bioindicators of water quality. In each stream, three regions (headwater, middle and mouth) were sampled in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brazilian journal of biology 2016-10, Vol.76 (4), p.1043-1053
Main Authors: Debastiani, C, Meira, B R, Lansac-Tôha, F M, Velho, L F M, Lansac-Tôha, F A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
abundance
BIOLOGY
Brazil
Ciliophora - growth & development
Ciliophora - isolation & purification
diversity
protists
Rivers - microbiology
Seasons
trophic
urban stream
Water Microbiology
Water Quality
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Summary:The objective of this work was to investigate the patterns of diversity and abundance of ciliates protozoa community in three tropical urban streams and verify which species can be considered bioindicators of water quality. In each stream, three regions (headwater, middle and mouth) were sampled in two years, in the rainy and dry seasons. The abiotic factors (dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, turbidity, width, depth, flow and conductivity) and biotic factors (total coliforms, bacterioplankton, chlorophyll and flagellates) were analyzed using appropriate methods and ciliates were identified and counted through specialized literature. We identified 84 species distributed into 24 orders. Peniculida was the most representative order followed by Prorodontida. The RDA scores showed a spatial difference between streams. On the other hand, regarding the temporal variation, there was no separation of the sampled data. The Indval analysis showed ten species indicators, such as Coleps hirtus, Euplotes moebiusi and Tintinidium pusillum. The Cluster analysis per stream versus period showed a greater distinction of the streams in the dry season. On the other hand, a low similarity was observed between sections within the same stream. In summary, the results indicated that the ciliates can be used as important tools as bioindicators in lotic environments affected by different degrees of pollution, due to the fact that they have short life cycle, allowing the detection of impacts on a small time scale, as well as by having direct answers to environmental changes and high sensitivity to contaminants.
ISSN:1519-6984
1678-4375
1678-4375
DOI:10.1590/1519-6984.08615