Presentation of two rivers:

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Presentation of two rivers
Voidomatis and Aoos
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Voidomatis river
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Aoos river
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Geology
Voidomatis river
Two main kinds of geological formations
Altitude
The rivers spring is at a high of 950m and joins
Aoos river at 600m (0 m is the ocean level)
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Aoos river
Three main kinds of geological formations

• Ultrabasic and basic ophiolitic rocks (diabasic
  composition)

• Flysch (includes sand and limestone)

• Virgla formation (limestone)

Altitude
The rivers spring is at 800m high and at the
Greek border, the altitude is 500m
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Sampling sites
Voidomatis river
The samples have been made just before the river
reach Aoos river, at an altitude of on average
600m
Samples
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Aoos river
Here samples have been made near Konitsa at an
altitude of 500m
Samples
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Vegetation
- The plants samples in the two areas are
characteristic of the Riparian vegetation
- The most important factor for the vegetation is
the river and not the altitude, so that no furs
or pines could be found.

• We generally found the same plant species in the
  two rivers except
• In Voidomatis river Equisetum arvense, Juncus
  effusus and Corylus avellana
• In Aoos river We have found an algae
  Cladophora

-Cladophora prefers sheltered areas (without a
big current), and is an algae growing in
nutrient-rich waters (personal communication).
Therefore the presence of this algae indicates
that Aoos river is slower flowing with greater
nutrient enrichment than Voidomatis where
Cladophora was absent.
- This must not only be related to the river
quality since we have made our samples on 50 m on
average, and we could have missed other species
that were farther.
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Profile of the Viodomatis river
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2
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1 In the water 2 On the edge 3 On the
bankment
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Profile of the Aoos river
1 In the water 2 On the edge 3 On the
bankment
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Distributed throughout
Platanus orientalis
Platanus o. is mostly found in moist and
rich-soil areas
The trees roots may be down in the water but
despite the fluctuations of water, the plant
should not be affected.
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Juncus sp.
Alnus sp.
All Juncus species are almost always found in wet
areas
Alnus has a tolerance to moist soils and grows
rapidly
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Salix fragilis
Salix is generally found near stretches of water,
and is also a riparian plant
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Equisetum arvense
It very often forms dense colonies and grows
mostly on sand or loam. We have found them near
the water but it can also be present inside. It
likes sunny places.
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Berula erecta
Calamagostis arundinacea
This herb performs best in rich, well drained
soils
It is also a wet land plant that prefers sunny,
marshy areas like steam sides
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Methodology
Sampling of benthic invertebrates
The 3-minute kick-sweep method was used in both
rivers
In Voidomatis three samples were taken

• One from the edge to edge
• One from the edge to the middle
• One around the shore

In Aoos river were two samples taken
- Both from the edge to the middle
Samples collected were stored in bottles and
preserved using formalin
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Sorting out the benthic invertebrates
In the laboratory each sample was sorted
separately
A sieve was used to wash the sample
The invertebrates were collected in Petri dishes
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Identifying the benthic invertebrates
A stereoscope was used

• Keys were used to determine them to the level of
  family
• This because the index calculated (BMWP,
  Lincoln and
• the Greek value system) works with families.
  

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Physical parameters
Substrate
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Comparison of the physical parameters in the two
rivers
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3 m
6 m
9 m
12 m
13,5 m
Physical structure
Voidomatis river
Discharge
(Areacurrent)
? 13,95 m3/s
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Physical structure of the
Aoos river
? 10,63 m3/s
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Biological monitoring
The use of changes in community structure to
monitor pollution commonly involve invertebrates
and this group is considered the most appropriate
biotic indicators of water quality in E.U.
countries (Metcalfe 1989), including Greece
(Anagnostopoulou et al,1994). The biotic indices
are based on the tolerance of benthic
macroinvertebrates or other organisms to low
oxygen conditions.
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Results of the Voidomatis river
PERCENTANGE ABUNDANCE OF BENTHIC INVERTEBRATES.
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RESULTS OF VOIDOMATIS RIVER
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Piecharts showing the percentage abundance of
benthic invertebrates for 3 samples in the river
Voidomatis.
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Piechart of total percentage of zoobenthos
presence in the samples
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Results of Aoos river
PERCENTANGE ABUNDANCE OF BENTHIC INVERTEBRATES.
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RESULTS FROM AOOS RIVER
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AOOS RIVER PIECHARTS OF THE ORDERS OF THE
BENTHIC INVERTEBRATES
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Biotic Indices
Conclusion

• According to both the Greek and English Biotic
  Indices used the water quality of the Voidomatis
  river is excellent , whereas the Aoos river water
  quality scores excellent with the English Index
  and good with the Greek.
• The difference in performance of both indices for
  the Aoos river may be explained by the fact that
  the English Biotic Index is a qualitative test
  only and ignores the relative abundance of
  different groups in the sample. The Greek Index
  however is both qualitative and accounts for
  relative abundance and therefore gives a more
  accurate representation of the water quality
  based on the invertebrate community structure.
• In the Voidomatis river sample, the absence of a
  difference between the Indices may be related to
  the very high scores obtained.

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• Both rivers are located in the National Park of
  Vikos Aoos. Voidomatis is in the core of the
  N.P. where all the human activities are
  forbidden, whereas Aoos is in the peripheral zone
  where some activities such as agriculture are
  allowed.
• Because of this one can observe a slightly better
  water quality in Voidomatis river.

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Benthic Invertebrates

• The high water quality is reflected in the
  benthic invertebrates present. In both rivers the
  greatest percentage of invertebrate families are
  high scoring in the biotic indices. The lower
  scoring families contribute only a small
  percentage of the total families sampled.
• The differences in the orders found, e.g. the
  inverse abundance of Ephemeroptera and
  Trichoptera between both rivers, is probably
  related more to sampling error i.e. small
  sampling sizes, only one station etc. and so
  chance sampling of concentrated populations of
  these orders, than to water quality.
• However the higher percentage of Trichoptera
  found in Voidomatis river may be due to the fact
  that the case bearing families are generally
  intolerant to moderate enrichment. Also
  Trichoptera prefer stronger current environment..
  

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• In Voidomatis Diptera represent 11.5 of the
  total sample and in Aoos 1 however no
  Chironomidae larvae were present. These larvae
  are usually the most abundant Diptera in aquatic
  ecosystems, occuring in a wide range of
  ecological conditions.
• The association between filamentous algae and the
  Chironomidae larvae is often stated in the
  literature therefore the very low level of these
  algae in both rivers may explain the absence of
  Chironomidae.

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Physical Parameters
The physical parameters measured during this
study are generally of the same range of those
recorded in other studies e.g. Bobori et al 1999.
This study of the Aliakmon river showed generally
the same physical parameter levels and the water
quality of this river was scored as
excellent/good using biotic indices (M. Lazaridou
Dimitriadou et al 2000). Between the two rivers
in this study a negligible difference is observed
for pH, DO2 content and percentage, and substrate
(small percentage of boulders and silt were
present only in Aoos river). The
temperature,conductivity and TDS differences
observed in both rivers are very difficult to
explain but may be attributed to the higher
discharge recorded in Voidomatis river. Larger
discharge may be due to the inclination of this
river from source (900m altitude ) to sample site
which was greater than in Aoos river and also
there was a greater depth (at the sample site) in
Voidomatis river.
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Sampling problems

• Sampling was carried out at only one station with
  no spatial or temporal repetition.One random
  sample may by chance target a large population of
  one species and so distort the results.
• Sampling should be carried out by just one
  individual otherwise, with the three minute kick
  method, different kicking technique and strength
  may (the effort) effect the size and quality of
  the sample taken.
• The number and position of the samples taken was
  not consistent for both rivers and so is not
  comparable. For example the time may not have
  been 3 minutes in Aoos river because it was very
  difficult to walk in the river and a lot of time
  were lost. Also sampling time for Voidomatis
  river was 9 minutes, whereas Aoos river was
  sampled only for 6 minutes.
• No attempt was made to measure chemical
  parameters ( nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus
  etc). The application of biotic indices provides
  a more integrated result concerning water
  pollution when combined with measurements of
  physical and chemical parameters.

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• Lack of specialist knowledge about the ecology
  and biology of macroinvertebrates with in the
  study group

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References

• http//www.ellada.com
• Photos of rivers Kapfer Geraldine
• http//www.wisc.edu/botit/img/bot/401/
• Drawing Schneider Christine
• http//www.terra.ecol.ktle.hu/haznod/htm/Calamagro
  stis arundinacea.htm
• http//www.euronet.nl/users/mbleeker/folis/bsmain-
  e.html

• D.C. Bobori S.D. Mourelatos Physical
  parameters and nutrient content of the surface
  waters of the river Aliakmon (Greece) Editors
  Freising-Weihenstephan/FRG, 1999
• M. Anagnostopoulou The relationship between the
  macroinvertebrate community and water quality,
  and the applicability of biotic indices in the
  river Almopeos system (Greece), University of
  Manchester, 1992
• R. Wellinghorst Wirbellose Tiere des
  Susswasser, Friedrich Verlag, Seetze, 1993

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• http//www.apr.ethz.ch/CD-ROM/Familien/Equicetacea
  e/Equisetum
• http//www.terra.hu/haznod/jpg/Calamagrostis.arund
  inacea.1.html

• http//www.puc.edu/Faculty/Gilbert_Muth/Berulaere
  cta

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This presentation on Voidomatis and Aoos rivers
has been made with the cooperation of all the
following European students
Stevenson Joan Bousiaki
Elena Patoux Clothilde Sarris
Marcos Schneider Christine
Nordstrom Kerstin Nehrwein Birgit
Svensson Jessica Kapfer Geraldine
Ringsbo Jens von Schantz Mattias
Francis Nikki