2025 Ecosystem Transformation 8 (4), 138-155

Ecological state of watercourses in the Kizelovsky coal basin (Perm Krai, Russia) assessed by phytoplankton pharacteristics

Belyaeva P.G. 

The first data on the composition and quantitative development of phytoplankton is presented for the rivers of the Kizelovsky Coal Basin (Perm Krai, Russia) contaminated with acidic mine drainage. The studies were conducted in the summer of 2022 in the rivers Vil’va, Poludenniy Kizel, Vostochniy Kizel, and Bolshaya Gremyachaya. As a result of the unregulated mine discharge, the rivers have experienced significant acidification, high mineralization, and increased heavy metal content, caused by a relatively new type of anthropogenic impact in these areas. The study revealed that the phytoplankton structure and dominant species in these rivers differ significantly from those typical of river ecosystems in the Perm Cis-Urals. A significant decrease in phytoplankton species richness was observed at stations in the contaminated zone. The diatom species made the most of the phytoplankton diversity (33%), followed by green algae (17%), euglenoids (14%), and cyanoprokaryotes (13%). The phytoplankton similarity was low at different stations of the studied rivers. Cyanoprokaryotes dominated in phytoplankton by abundance (66–99% of the total abundance), microalgae of various divisions, by biomass. The dominant phytoplankton complex was represented by a small set of species specific to each river. High variability in total abundance and biomass was a characteristic feature of phytoplankton, indicating an unstable state of the communities.

P. G. Belyaeva
Institute of Ecology and Genetics of Microorganisms, Perm Federal Research Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Goleva St. 13, Perm, 614081 Russia

Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Perm Branch
Ekaterininskaya St. 32, Perm, 614002 Russia

belyaeva@psu.ru

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