Macrophytes as a tool for assessing the trophic status of a river: a case study of the upper Oum Er Rbia Basin (Morocco)

Nouri, Ayoub; Hammada, Soumaya; Chillasse, Lahcen; Haddioui, Abdelmajid

doi:10.2478/oandhs-2021-0008

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Due to Morocco's geographical location within the Mediterranean Basin, IBMR was chosen as a method for evaluating Moroccan running waters (Bentaibi et al, 2017;Nouri et al, 2021). Through these studies, researchers have aimed to bridge the knowledge gap regarding the biology and ecology of aquatic plants in Moroccan rivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Utility of Macrophyte Metrics for Evaluating the Quality of Rivers in Morocco: Insights from the Macrophyte Biological Index for Rivers

Nouri,

Hammada,

Mhamed

et al. 2024

Ecol. Eng. Environ. Technol.

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Macrophytes not only integrate environmental conditions but also reflect the trophic state of the aquatic environment through several metrics. The lack of knowledge on the biology and ecology of aquatic plants in Moroccan rivers makes it very difficult to establish a comprehensive and effective national metric for assessing the trophic state of rivers. Indeed, the use of one of the European methods, which have been the subject of geographical intercalibration projects across different countries, particularly those in the Mediterranean region, proves necessary. Given Morocco's geographic location within the Mediterranean Basin, Macrophyte Biological Index for Rivers (IBMR) was chosen as a method to assess Moroccan running waters. Furthermore, it allowed answering a number of questions about the usage of biological metrics based on macrophytic communities throughout Morocco. The obtained results showed that the IBMR can provide an indication of the overall trophic state of the watercourse, but with well-defined conditions, namely stable hydrological conditions with a significant richness in contributing pollution-sensitive species. Although this macrophyte index showed correlations with the parameters responsible for eutrophication phenomena, it remained less effective in the face of the downgrading parameter. Thus, the particular context of Moroccan watercourses, namely the watercourses of the Upper Oum Er-rbia basin, and the major pitfall that still lies in the knowledge of the ecology of plant groups in Moroccan running waters, can pose a problem in the application of the IBMR index, especially with regard to ubiquitous species that dominate the downstream sites of the studied rivers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Utility of Macrophyte Metrics for Evaluating the Quality of Rivers in Morocco: Insights from the Macrophyte Biological Index for Rivers

Nouri,

Hammada,

Mhamed

et al. 2024

Ecol. Eng. Environ. Technol.

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“…The Boufekrane river was the subject of similar research conducted in 1996 (Hammada et al, 1996). Recently, two studies have been conducted on the ecology of certain species of macrophytes and their ability to detect pollution in the Lârbaa river and the Oum Er‐rbia river (Mherzi et al, 2020; Nouri et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring factors driving macrophytes in rivers—A case study in Middle Atlas Morocco

2022

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Macrophytes represent a functional compartment that plays multiple and fundamental ecological roles in aquatic environments. They are linked with the other compartments of hydrosystems, both abiotic and biotic, which gives them the ability to integrate environmental conditions and reflect the trophic state of watercourses.Nevertheless, macrophytes in Moroccan rivers have been rarely studied. Thus, the main objective of the present work is to study these plants by determining the environmental factors that control their presence and distribution in the watercourses of the upper Oum Er-rbia basin (Middle Atlas Morocco). From June 2018 to June 2019, 14 sites spread over five rivers were monitored monthly to describe macrophytic communities and investigate their ecological determinism. We used a principal component analysis to establish each river's typology and a detrended correspondence analysis to explore macrophyte assemblages. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to determine the hydrochemical parameters of water that govern the development and distribution of macrophyte species in the upper Oum Er-rbia basin. The Amengous river stands out from the other surveyed rivers for its exceptional richness of macrophytic species. This richness is often associated with the enrichment of the aquatic environment by nitrogen and phosphate inputs. Furthermore, in some rivers, such as Oum Er-rbia, nutrient enrichment plays a secondary function in comparison to the hydromorphological descriptors that tend to be more important for macrophyte composition and distribution.

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Macrophytes as a tool for assessing the trophic status of a river: a case study of the upper Oum Er Rbia Basin (Morocco)

Cited by 2 publications

References 41 publications

Exploring the Utility of Macrophyte Metrics for Evaluating the Quality of Rivers in Morocco: Insights from the Macrophyte Biological Index for Rivers

Exploring the Utility of Macrophyte Metrics for Evaluating the Quality of Rivers in Morocco: Insights from the Macrophyte Biological Index for Rivers

Exploring factors driving macrophytes in rivers—A case study in Middle Atlas Morocco

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