Use of siliceous algae as biological monitors of heavy metal pollution in three lakes in a mining city, southeast China

Abstract

Abstract In order to assess the ecological status of three lakes in a historical mining city (SE China), water metal concentrations and surface sedimentary diatoms and chrysophyte cysts were analyzed in 20 sampling sites. The significant correlations between the algal indices and the cumulative criterion unit (CCU) scores confirmed the importance of heavy metals in shaping algae communities. In the metal-polluted sites, diatom assemblages were dominated by metal-tolerant species, such as Nitzschia palea and Nitzschia perminuta. In the unpolluted samples, diatom assemblages were characterized by Cyclostephanos dubius, Discostella pseudostelligera and Aulacoseira species (mainly A. alpigena, A. granulata and A. ambigua). These dominant taxa in the unpolluted samples might be sensitive to metal contamination but tolerant of eutrophication. In addition, nonspherical cysts were much more abundant in the polluted sites, indicating that their presence should be indicative of metal contamination in this region. This study provides some clues for future metal pollution assessment through the use of siliceous algae in metal polluted lakes.