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School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Centre for Marine Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM,
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Abstrak: Komuniti alga mempunyai banyak sifat-sifat sebagai penunjuk biologi perubahan
ruang dan masa alam sekitar. Parameter alga, terutamanya struktur komuniti dan variabel
berfungsi yang dapat digunakan dalam program pemantauan biologi dibangkitkan dalam
dokumen ini. Penunjuk biologi seperti alga hanya sejak kebelakangan ini dimasukkan ke dalam
penilaian kualiti air di beberapa kawasan di Malaysia. Penggunaan parameter alga untuk
mengenal pasti pelbagai bentuk pendegradan air adalah perlu dan pelengkap kepada
penunjuk alam sekitar yang lain.
Kata kunci: Pencemaran Air, Alga, Diatom, Pemantauan Biologi, Penunjuk Biologi
Abstract: Algal communities possess many attributes as biological indicators of spatial and
temporal environmental changes. Algal parameters, especially the community structural and
functional variables that have been used in biological monitoring programs, are highlighted in
this document. Biological indicators like algae have only recently been included in water quality
assessments in some areas of Malaysia. The use of algal parameters in identifying various
types of water degradation is essential and complementary to other environmental indicators.
INTRODUCTION
Governmental agencies and the general public have become increasingly concerned
about maintaining the quality of aquatic resources. Physical and chemical
measurements provide quantitative data on the presence and levels of aquatic
pollution and degradation, but these parameters do not reflect the extent of
environmental stress reaching the living organisms or the subsequent effects of this
stress. Karr and Chu (1999) stated that our ability to protect biological resources
depends on our ability to identify and predict the effects of human actions on
biological systems; thus, the data provided by indicator organisms can be used to
estimate the degree of environmental impact and its potential danger for other living
organisms. Kovacs (1992) defined biological indicators as organisms (or populations)
whose occurrence reflects the environmental conditions. Biological monitoring is the
specific application of biological response for the evaluation of environmental change
for the purpose of using this information in quality control program. In an effort to
characterise more precisely the cumulative impact of human activities on
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
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Wan Maznah Wan Omar
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Algae as Biological Indicators
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Wan Maznah Wan Omar
Table 1: Main algal attributes and associated indicators commonly used in monitoring
programs (modification from McCormick & Cairns 1994).
Attribute Indicator Reference
Community structure
Biomass Ash-free-dry-weight (AFDW) Ho* (1976); Vymazal and
Richardson (1995); Putz (1997);
McCormick et al. (1997); Hill et al.
(2000a)
Chlorophyll a Ho* (1976); Joy et al. (1990);
Welch et al. (1992); Putz (1997);
Hill et al. (2000a); Biggs (2000)
Autotrophic index (AFDW: Putz (1997); Bourassa and
chlorophyll a) Cattaneo (1998); Wan Maznah et
al.* (2000); Hazzeman* (2008)
Cell biovolume Stevenson and Lowe (1986)
Diversity Species diversity (diatom) Stevenson (1984); Nather Khan*
(1991); Ho and Peng* (1997);
Stewart et al. (1999); Maznah and
Mansor* (1999); Wan Maznah and
Mansor* (2002); Hazzeman*
(2008)
Species richness Anton* (1981); Nather Khan*
(1990); Maznah and Mansor*
(1999)
Composition Multivariate analysis (diatom) Sabater et al. (1988); Kelly et al.
(1995); Stewart et al. (1999); Hill et
al. (2000a); Winter and Duthie
(2000); Wan Maznah and Mansor*
(2000, 2002); Nor Ashidi et al.*
(2006); Makhlough* (2007)
Similarity indices (diatom) Heckman et al. (1990); Stevenson
(1984); Maznah and Mansor*
(1999)
Community
metabolism Ho* (1976); Keithan and Lowe
Net production Change in biomass (1985); Biggs (2000)
Relative specific growth rate Rosenfeld and Roff (1991); Rier
and King (1996)
Productivity Oxygen evolution Tease et al. (1983); Blanck (1985)
Radioisotopic tracer (14C) Keithan & Lowe (1985);
Shamsudin* (1987); Napolitano et
al. (1994); Vadeboncouer & Lodge
(2000)
Photosynthetic capacity Napolitano et al. (1994); Rier and
King (1996)
Bioaccumulation Nutrients Grimshaw et al. (1993)
Metals Knauer et al. (1997); Paweena*
(2005)
(continued on next page)
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Algae as Biological Indicators
Table 1: (continued)
Attribute Indicator Reference
Metabolic state Adenylate energy charge Hino (1988)
Biomolecules Ribonucleic acid Guckert et al. (1992); Napolitano
et al. (1994)
Enzyme activity Alkaline phosphatase activity Guckert et al. (1992)
Population analyses
Indicator species pH index Cox (1990); Whitmore (1989)
Pollution tolerance index Palmer (1969); Descy (1979);
Lange-Bertalot (1979); Kelly
et al. (1995)
Saprobien index Pantle and Buck (1955); Lange-
Bertalot (1979); Friedrich et al.
(1992); Ho and Peng* (1997);
Wan Maznah and Mansor*
(2002); Makhlough* (2007);
Hazzeman* (2008)
Diatom index Prygiel and Coste (1993); Kelly
et al. (1995)
Microalgae spectral analysis Vanlandingham (1976)
Trophic index Whitmore (1989); Makhlough*
(2007)
Growth Algal growth potential Ho* (1980); Pringle (1987);
Lukavsky (1992); Fujimoto and
Sudo (1997); Wan Maznah et
al.* (2007)
Note: * indicates research conducted in Malaysia
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Wan Maznah Wan Omar
One of the earliest algal studies conducted in relation to water pollution was
carried out by Ho (1976), who studied periphyton production in the disturbed
Renggam Stream, Selangor. Nather Khan (1985, 1990, 1991) conducted studies on
the pollution status of the Linggi River Basin, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan using
diatoms and reported that there was a marked variation in species between the
unpolluted and polluted stations. Anton (1981) recorded a decrease in periphytic algal
species in the downstream stations due to heavy siltation in the Langat River,
Selangor. Phytoplankton composition changed in response to the addition of both
NO3-N and PO4-P in the Ulu Langat Reservoir, Selangor (Anton & Abdullah 1982),
and Cyanophyta was dominant when nitrogen was the limiting factor. Mansor and
Lidun (1992) reported the presence of several species of filamentous algae and a
high nutrient concentration in the Pulau Pinang rivers, which strongly indicated that
some of them are polluted. Maznah and Mansor (1999) studied diatom diversity and
its relation to river pollution and concluded that diversity values could be related to
changes in water quality. In a related study, Wan Maznah and Mansor (2000)
reported the occurrence of clean, polluted and brackish diatom species collected from
artificial substrates (glass slides) along the Pinang River Basin, Pulau Pinang and its
tributaries (Table 2). The differences in the specific sensitivity of certain diatom
species to pollution were a reliable and useful means of assessing the degree of
pollution in the Pinang River system, but the diversity of diatoms could not be directly
related to water quality (Wan Maznah & Mansor 2002).
Table 2: Clean, polluted and brackish water species of diatoms attached to artificial substrates
(glass slides) at the Pinang River Basin (Wan Maznah & Mansor 2000).
Clean water species Polluted water species Brackish water species
Achnanthes minutissima Achnanthes exigua Cocconeis sp.
Achnanthes oblongela Achnanthes exigua var. Coscinodiscus argus
heterovalva
Achnanthes woltereckii Hantzschia amphioxys Coscinodiscus antiquus
Cocconeis placentula Nitzschia amphibia Coscinodiscus excentricus
Cocconeis pediculus Nitzschia fonticola Coscinodiscus decipiens
Cocconeis thumensis Nitzschia palea Coscinodiscus symmetricus
Eunotia pectinalis var. minor Pinnularia biceps Cyclotella comta
Fragilaria capucina Pinnularia biceps f. petersenii Cyclotella striata
Gomphonema acuminatum Pinnularia microstauron Diploneis ovalis
Psammothidium bioretii Diploneis interrupta
Surirella linearis Diploneis bombus
Surirella tenuissima Nitzschia littoralis
Nitzschia obtuse
Nitzschia obtuse var.
scalpelliformis
Nitzschia sigma
Surirella ovalis
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Algae as Biological Indicators
Algal studies were also included in the river monitoring program by the
Department of Environment (DOE 1998, 1999) to indicate the trend and status of the
water quality of Malaysian river systems. Ho and Peng (1997) classified the water
quality of the Perlis River (Perlis), Perai River (Pulau Pinang) and Juru River (Kedah)
based on the abundance and species composition of phytoplankton. Yeng (2006)
reported that water pollution in the Ahning Reservoir, Kedah was associated with the
appearance of certain species of phytoplankton, especially dinoflagellates. Yap
(1997) used the Shannon index and the saprobic index of phytoplankton for water
quality assessment of a river ecosystem and concluded that ecological knowledge
can be used in the management of a water body. In Malaysia, the determination of
trophic state has been conducted primarily by measurements of physico-chemical
parameters, primary productivity and chlorophyll-a concentration. In a study
conducted in the Muda and Pedu Reservoirs, Kedah (Zulkifli 1980), it was found that
both reservoirs were slightly eutrophic based on the phytoplankton assemblages, with
moderate levels of nitrogen, alkalinity and pH. In another study conducted in the
Mengkuang Reservoir, Pulau Pinang (Makhlough 2007), Carlson modified the trophic
state index (Carlson 1977) and showed that the reservoir was near to a mesotrophic
state based on the chlorophyll-a and Secchi disk transparency data, but the Shannon
and saprobic indices of phytoplankton indicated that the reservoir was slightly
polluted (class III) and moderately polluted (class II), respectively. The study also
recorded the presence of Anabaena, Microcystis, Oscillatoria, Nostoc, Dinobryon,
Chroococcus, Staurastrum paradoxum and Mallomonas, which are indicators of
toxicity and pollution in aquatic ecosystems, thereby showing that algological studies
are important for water quality assessment and can provide an early warning sign of
water degradation.
The oldest approach for using algae to assess stream water quality is based on the
indicator species concept (Saprobien system). The Saprobien system is widely used
in municipal and wastewater monitoring (Hill et al. 2000a) and discriminates between
polluted and clean streams (Ho & Peng 1997). In our monitoring study conducted at
the Pinang River Basin, Pulau Pinang (one of the polluted river basins in Malaysia),
the saprobic index (Pantle & Buck 1955), which was based on diatom species
assemblages on glass slides, successfully divided the sampling stations into four
zones of saprobic contamination: the Polysaprobic Zone, the Alpha-mesosaprobic
Zone, the Beta-mesosaprobic Zone and the Oligosaprobic Zone. The zones of
saprobic contamination were characterised by the occurrence of certain groups of
diatom species, namely Saprobiontic species, Saprophilic species, Saproxenous
species and Saprophobous species (Wan Maznah & Mansor 2002). The saprobic
index was calculated based on periphytic algal species composition in the Petani
River Basin, Kedah (Hazzeman 2008) and revealed that water quality evaluation
using diatom indices was consistent with the physical and chemical determination
(Lehmann & Lachavanne 1999; Almeida 2001). Chemical stresses in aquatic
ecosystems modify the taxonomic composition of the algal population, causing a
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Wan Maznah Wan Omar
(Napolitano et al. 1994). Estimates of community biomass based on the AFDW and
chlorophyll a have been an integral part of ecological studies of aufwuchs concerning
production (as biomass accumulation overtime) (Ho 1976), both as a productivity
indicator or index of the photosynthetic potential and as an indicator of nutrient stress
or community conditions (Clark et al. 1979). Autotrophic index (AI), determined as the
ratio of AFDW:chlorophyll a in the periphyton collected on an artificial substrate,
indicates the degree of organically polluted waters. AI increases in proportion to the
concentration of organic matter (or BOD) because heterotrophs occupy a greater
portion of the biomass as organic pollutants increase (Welch & Lindell 1992). In the
study conducted at the Pinang River Basin (Wan Maznah et al. 2000) and Petani
River Basin (Hazzeman 2008), AI reflects the conditions of the sampling stations,
which have different levels of pollution; the results were consistent with those
reported by Weber (1973), Clark et al. (1979), Matthews et al. (1982), Bourassa and
Cattaneo (1998) and Hill et al. (2000b).
The problems associated with blue-green and toxic algae have prompted
long-term monitoring of the physical, chemical and biological parameters of
freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Data from these monitoring activities contain a
wealth of information about the behaviour of these ecosystems that is rarely fully
explored.
Concluding Remarks
There is a great variety of methods by which algae may be used as indicators of river
water quality. Although the biotic indices and non-taxonomic measurements of algae
clearly reflect the conditions of water quality, it is important to note that such
measurements should not be taken as an absolute measure of the river perturbations
but may be considered as a helpful description of the algal community response to
such disturbances that complements other environmental indicators. Because no one
group of organisms is always best suited for detecting and assessing the
environmental disturbance associated with human activities, indicators derived from
several groups of organisms should be included in water quality monitoring programs
to provide a comprehensive signal of ecosystem change.
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