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Water
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Biological Monitoring of Pollution in Water Environment
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Biological Monitoring of Pollution in Water Environment

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Quality and Contamination".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2022) | Viewed by 13537

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Małgorzata Rajfur

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Biology, University of Opole, 45-032 Opole, Poland
Interests: biomonitoring with the use of algae; mosses and lichens; environmental monitoring; environmental chemistry; heavy metals; absorption atomic spectrometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In modern methods of environmental quality research, biological indicators are becoming a permanent element of evaluation. The biological indicators of water quality include, among others, algae and angiosperm plants. These organisms show measurable morphological changes due to physicochemical changes in the ecosystems in which they live. In their organisms, they accumulate large amounts of pollutants, especially heavy metals. This enables the designation of zones with relatively different levels of pollution and the determination of the sources of pollution and the directions of its spread.

The challenges include the validation of biomonitoring methods and demonstration that biomonitoring can effectively compete with classical methods of monitoring surface water quality.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the latest trends in monitoring biological surface water. The subject of the issue will concern new discoveries and achievements in the biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems, including the validation of research procedures, the quality assurance and quality control of biomonitoring research results, the use of chemometric techniques in the analytical evaluation of biological samples, and the use of biological monitoring to assess pollution by heavy metals, PAHs and microplastics.

Prof. Małgorzata Rajfur
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biological monitoring
  • Passive and active biomonitoring
  • Water bioanalytics
  • Correlations between water monitoring and biomonitoring
  • Pollution: heavy metals, PAHs and microplastics
  • Aquatic plants as a pollution biosorbent
  • The chemometric analysis of biomonitoring research results.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4589 KiB  
Article
Influence of Environmental Variables on Biochemical Biomarkers in the Amphipod Monoporeia affinis from the Gulf of Riga (Baltic Sea)
by Evita Strode, Ieva Barda, Natalija Suhareva, Natalja Kolesova, Raisa Turja and Kari K. Lehtonen
Water 2023, 15(2), 248; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020248 - 6 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1476
Abstract
The complexity of the marine environment and the increasing anthropogenic pressure create a necessity to expand existing monitoring approaches. The main goal of this study was to depict the effects of selected, seasonally varying environmental factors on a battery of biomarkers in the [...] Read more.
The complexity of the marine environment and the increasing anthropogenic pressure create a necessity to expand existing monitoring approaches. The main goal of this study was to depict the effects of selected, seasonally varying environmental factors on a battery of biomarkers in the benthic amphipod Monoporeia affinis from the Gulf of Riga (GoR). Seasonal variability in acetylcholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities was investigated at six coastal stations (20–30 m) in August and November in 2020 and 2021. In addition, the biomarkers were measured at seven deep-water stations (>30 m) in November 2021. In general, the results indicated no significant influence of the measured environmental variables on the biomarker activities, except for deep-water stations, where chlorophyll a significantly affected enzymatic activity. The current study indicated that M. affinis has a higher GST, CAT and GR activity in summer compared to autumn in coastal stations, showing seasonal variability of these biomarkers. However, summarizing the biomarker levels recorded at each station and season, the integrated biomarker response (IBR) index showed the most stressed health status of the M. affinis populations in the deep-water stations 135 and 107 and coastal regions in the north-eastern part of the GoR (station 160B). This suggests that the impact on enzymatic responses of benthic organisms could be due to port activities leading to the accumulation of pollutants in muddy sediments regionally. Moreover, for the monitoring of biological effects of contaminants there is a need to establish the background levels of biomarkers, i.e., responses to the different natural environmental factors in the GoR region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Monitoring of Pollution in Water Environment)
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14 pages, 2449 KiB  
Article
Active Biomonitoring of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Aquatic Environment Using Mosses and Algae
by Zuzanna Respondek, Dominik Jerz, Paweł Świsłowski and Małgorzata Rajfur
Water 2022, 14(20), 3335; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14203335 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2289
Abstract
In this paper, we present an analysis of the pollution of surface water and air by the heavy metals: Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in the area of the smelter in Ozimek (Opolskie Voivodeship, Poland). The marine algae Palmaria palmata [...] Read more.
In this paper, we present an analysis of the pollution of surface water and air by the heavy metals: Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in the area of the smelter in Ozimek (Opolskie Voivodeship, Poland). The marine algae Palmaria palmata was exposed in the Mała Panew River, and three species of forest mosses: Pleurozium schreberi, Sphagnum fallax and Dicranum polysetum were also applied. Active biomonitoring was also carried out using P. schreberi mosses to assess air pollution, since the area and the river are influenced by the smelter’s activities. Analytes were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. Student’s T-test and Mann–Whitney U test were used to assess the significance of differences in elemental concentrations between algae and mosses. Forest mosses were found to have comparable sorption properties to algae under laboratory conditions. During exposure in the river, statistical significance was found between these matrices. The results of water biomonitoring studies using forest mosses offer the possibility of their inclusion in aquatic ecosystem monitoring as an alternative to existing classical surface water biomonitors. Perspectively, attention should be paid to comparing the sorption properties of aquatic species with forest mosses in order to optimize the water biomonitoring system using mosses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Monitoring of Pollution in Water Environment)
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12 pages, 2241 KiB  
Article
Response of Physicochemical and Microbiological Properties to the Application of Effective Microorganisms in the Water of the Turawa Reservoir
by Jakub Dobrzyński, Iryna Kulkova, Paweł Stanisław Wierzchowski and Barbara Wróbel
Water 2022, 14(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010012 - 22 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3723
Abstract
Effective microorganisms (EM) technology was used to find the optimal method of water restoration in the designated experimental area. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of EM biopreparation on selected physicochemical and microbiological properties using ISO methods. A week after the application [...] Read more.
Effective microorganisms (EM) technology was used to find the optimal method of water restoration in the designated experimental area. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of EM biopreparation on selected physicochemical and microbiological properties using ISO methods. A week after the application of biopreparations, a slight decrease in the nitrates content (0.375–0.531 mg L−1) and a significant decrease in the content of phosphorus compounds (0.130–0.304 mg L−1) compared to the control date were observed. Moreover, on the second date, the decrease in most values of microbiological properties was noted. Two weeks after the application, in most cases, the values of water quality properties were shaped close to values obtained in the control date (before EM application). The EM effect was rather short-term, but optimization of application properties may prolong the effect and thus, include the EM technology among the best eco-friendly technologies used for freshwater ecosystem restoration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Monitoring of Pollution in Water Environment)
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14 pages, 2161 KiB  
Article
Ecological Parameters of Water Bodies in the Northern Part of the Upper Volga Region with River Flow Regulations
by Bernard Gałka, Alexandra Novak, Mikhail Novak, Dmitry Vinogradov and Ryszard Polechoński
Water 2021, 13(24), 3586; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243586 - 14 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2173
Abstract
The regulation of river flow in the Volga basin has caused irreversible changes to aquatic ecosystems. The transformation of the Volga into a cascade of hydraulic structures with a non-flow regime has resulted in a decrease in depth and flow, and an increase [...] Read more.
The regulation of river flow in the Volga basin has caused irreversible changes to aquatic ecosystems. The transformation of the Volga into a cascade of hydraulic structures with a non-flow regime has resulted in a decrease in depth and flow, and an increase in the temperature and concentration of chemical elements, which has induced the process of eutrophication. The change in the species diversity of aquatic organisms under conditions of intense eutrophication was studied on models of water bodies from the Volga basin; the Kostroma section of the Gorky reservoir (Kostroma spill and the middle river section), and lakes Galichskoe and Chukhlomskoe were studied. Rheophilic biocenosis was replaced by a limnophilic one, the migration paths of fish were disrupted, and population characteristics were changed. In accordance with environmental conditions, the level of primary production and the calculated Carlson trophic index (TSI) and Broth-proposed index (ITS) (1987), the water bodies of the northern part of the upper Volga region are classified as follows: the middle river section of the Gorky reservoir is mesotrophic-eutrophic (TSI = 55.2, ITS = 16.2); the Kostroma spill is eutrophic with a tendency to hypertrophy (TSI = 67.4, ITS = 6.8); Lake Galichskoe is eutrophic with a tendency to dystrophy (TSI = 63.2, ITS = 8.4), and Lake Chukhlomskoe is hypertrophic with a tendency to dystrophy (TSI = 77.4, ITS = 8.0). In addition, frequent fluctuations in water level, reaching 1 m, have had an adverse effect on inhabitants of the littoral zone including the spawning fish, which may lead to disappearance of some of the region’s most sensitive species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Monitoring of Pollution in Water Environment)
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19 pages, 2358 KiB  
Article
Levels of Elements in Typical Mussels from the Southern Coast of Africa (Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique): Safety Aspect
by Pavel Nekhoroshkov, Jacques Bezuidenhout, Inga Zinicovscaia, Nikita Yushin, Konstantin Vergel and Marina Frontasyeva
Water 2021, 13(22), 3238; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223238 - 15 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2262
Abstract
The soft tissues of mussels are often used as the main food source, especially in coastal areas. Neutron Activation Analysis was used to measure the content of 24 macro- and microelements in the soft tissues and 18 elements in the shells of selected [...] Read more.
The soft tissues of mussels are often used as the main food source, especially in coastal areas. Neutron Activation Analysis was used to measure the content of 24 macro- and microelements in the soft tissues and 18 elements in the shells of selected sets of mussels of the species Mytilus galloprovincialis. The mussels were collected in 8 polluted and 4 pristine zones, which included Namibia, the west and east coasts of South Africa, and Mozambique. According to factor analysis Co, Ni, Zn, As, Se, Br, I, Sb could have anthropogenic origin. The concentrations of elements such as Cr, As, Se and partly Zn at polluted stations were above the maximum permissible levels for seafood. The concentrations of Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Sb, Cs, Th, U in shells and soft tissues of the same mussels were at the close levels. Elements such as Al, Cr, Co, As (partly Zn, Se, and I) are considered to be harmful to human health at the levels of mussels consumption of 200 g/week per person and lower in such zones as Swakopmund, East London, Port Shepstone, Richards Bay, Xai-Xai according to calculated risk quotients and target hazard indices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Monitoring of Pollution in Water Environment)
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