Using benthic diatoms as bio-indicators of water quality of the Saigon River, Vietnam

Pham Thanh Luu * and Nguyen Tan Duc

* Corresponding author (thanhluupham@gmail.com)

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Received: 14 Oct 2016
Revised: 04 May 2017
Accepted: 09 Mar 2018
Published: 30 Mar 2018
DOI: 10.22144/ctu.jen.2018.014
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Pham, T. L., & Nguyen, T. D. (2018). Using benthic diatoms as bio-indicators of water quality of the Saigon River, Vietnam. CTU Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development , (08), 106-111. https://doi.org/10.22144/ctu.jen.2018.014
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No. 08 (2018)

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Abstract

This study evaluated the water quality in the Saigon River by using biological indices based on benthic diatom communities as indicators together with physic-chemical parameters. The samples were taken in dry and wet season at seven stations along the Saigon River. Physicochemical variables and benthic diatom metrics of abundance, taxa richness (S), Shannon Wiener diversity index (H), average tolerance score per taxon (ATSPT) scores, Simpson's diversity index (D), and similarity index (J) were used in the determination of water quality of the river. The results indicated that benthic diatom metrics and the concentrations of total nitrogen, total phosphate, COD and BOD­5 characterized that the lower section of the Saigon River had lower water quality than the upper section. Shannon–Wiener diversity index indicated that water quality differed significantly between the upper course sites and the lower course sites but no significant difference was found in dry and wet season. Results demonstrated that the benthic diatom composition was more sensitive and accurate than the routine investigation of water physico-chemical parameters. Therefore, it is important to use diatoms together with water physico-chemical variables for surface water quality assessment.
Keywords: Benthic diatoms, bio-indicator, Saigon River, eutrophication, water quality

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