Course: ESST 2006 Pollution Biology

Name: Aaliyah Boyd 816024210

Seanalee Alexander 816025829
Jalene Tom 816025398
Lab 1: A review of techniques in pollution biology.
Date: 13/ 02/ 2023

Section A: Classification of Pollutants in local rivers.

a) Provide a brief description of the pollutants and their effects.

● Sediments - Sediment is described as a solid material, either small or big and is made out of minerals, rocks and the
remains of animals and plants (Kim Rutledge 2022). It is movable and can be deposited in new areas but due to soil
erosion, sediments that washed away into rivers, can affect the appearance of water. If the levels are too high, it can
cause serious problems for the ecosystem in the water (NIWA 2023). Since it decreases the clarity of water, sediments
can block sunlight from penetrating through the water and once there is no sunlight then the algae growth will be
affected. Therefore, species and vegetation will not thrive under water since algae is an important food source for
aquatic animals. High levels of sediments fills in water waves, affecting transportation and harming the fishes through
their gills and affecting their vision. It can also be a carrier for other pollutants such as toxic chemicals (PBS 2015).

● Nutrients (nitrates & phosphates)- Every living thing on earth have chemical substances known as nutrients found in
them and are very important for the lives of animals, humans, and every vegetation. They are used in many processes
such as growth, repair and maintaining life. In plants specifically, takes in nutrients from water and soil to live and make
their own food and some of these important nutrients are Oxygen, hydrogen, calcium, carbon, nitrogen, potassium,
magnesium, and phosphorus (McDaniel 2022). However, some of these nutrients can come from the human sewage,
manure or decaying organic matter. They are also present in manufactured fertilizers, since they are used in farm fields to
feed crops and add color to the vegetations for a more green and healthy look. When precipitaion occurs, the nutrients
will be washed away to nearby rivers, polluting the water. Nutrients is responsible for the vegetation growth but if there
are high levels of them such as nitrates or phosphates, water will turn green and there will be a boost in algae blooms.
Once the algae dies and decompose, they will take in all the oxygen present in the water which will affect the plants and
aquatic animals (PBS 2015). This is known as eutrophication.
● Toxic chemicals- These are any chemicals that can cause serious harm towards any living organisms externally and
internally, which in most cases will lead to death. They can either be a single chemical or mixed with others which
producing new chemicals that toxic and are all originated or caused from anthropogenic activities. For example, from
agriculture, urban activities, landfills, mining, illegal dumping or spills and industrial businesses (EPA 2022). These
sources can produce potential chemicals that are very extreme such as: organic & inorganic poisons, pesticides, heavy
metals and PCBs (Helllawell 1998). All of these chemicals can be transported through surface run-off into rivers and
cause many harmful effects. Such as a drastic increase in fish mortality, decrease is species abundance or species
richness, presence of new diseases or parasites and overcrowding of aquatic animals in certain areas to avoid exposure of
chemicals. Also if there are any fluctuating levels of the river’s water quality parameters such as D.O , pH or
conductivity, these can be affected due to exposure of toxic chemicals (EPA 2022).

● Faecal waste- wastewater is also known as ‘used water’ from households, industrial or agricultural activities. Specifically
looking at fecal waste which is flushed into drain pipes and then the sewage. Fecal waste in the wastewater can reach into
rivers due to improper wastewater treatments and poor infrastructure. Once it is there, contamination will occur affecting
the whole aquatic ecosystem, which then increase the risk of diseases (CDC 2022). It is a mixture of both human and
animal fecal waste where common pathogenic viruses, bacteria or protozoans are found in them. It may not affect any of
the aquatic organisms but high levels of fecal contamination can cause great risk to humans, since local rivers are used
for swimmin or recreational activities. Bacteria like E.coli if found in rivers are very dangerous towards humans and
other diseases such as: salmonella, cholera,shigellosis and typhoid (Blaettler 2018).

● Macroscopic pollutants- These are large and noticeable objects found in any waterbodies. An example of these types of
pollutants are garbage, specifically plastic. Many humans illegally litter or dump plastic waste in rivers or lakes which
eventually be found in oceans. Other types of garbage are metal or wood and small plastic pellets are usually found in
rivers. When these pollutants are found there, they can cause serious issues which may disrupt the aquatic ecosystems
and cause contaminations since they can chemically break down in the water (Alo 2018). Many of the aquatic animals
will mistake garbage as food and consumed them which causes them to starve, or experienced stomach ruptures. Other
plastics like strings or bottle holders can entangle many fishes which then drown or strangle them to death. Some
plastics can separate their limbs and slows them down, making them more vulnerable to predators (Yeoman 2019).
b)

Macroscopic pollutants, sediments, faecal waste, toxic chemicals, and nutrients can be linked under four main
categories: agriculture, industrial activities, anthropogenic activities, and mining and extraction. Anthropogenic
activities such as urbanization have led to improper waste disposal which introduces macroscopic pollutants and faecal
waste into the river systems. It introduces microbial diseases into the ecosystem which kills aquatic organisms. The
macroscopic pollutants have the same effects as the heavy metals, when taken up by the fish, it causes
bioaccumulation to occur within the fish population, resulting in a decrease in species richness and abundance. Mining
and extraction are also directly linked with agriculture, when sediments from the quarries enter the river it decreases
turbidity which blocks sunlight from entering the water and raises the water temperature as the particles absorb heat
and sunlight causing a decrease in dissolved oxygen. The increased levels of nitrates and phosphates introduced by
agriculture thrive in this type of environment resulting in algae bloom which goes on to form eutrophication.
Eutrophication of this river system kills the plants and aquatic organisms present as there are very low levels of
oxygen present.
Section B: Calculation Environmental Quality using species population indices.

Shannon diversity index

Shannon diversity index is a way to measure the diversity of species in a community.

The pi represents the proportion of individuals found within the species. i represents the well-sampled community and
it can be used to estimate the proportions as p i = ni/N, where ni is the number of individuals in species i and N
represents the total number of individuals in the community. By definition of p i, s will be between zero and one, this
natural log makes all of the terms of the summation negative, which is why the inverse of the sum is used. After
conducting the test the values are usually between 1.5 and 3.5 in a lot of ecological studies, and the index is usually
no greater than 4. The Shannon index will increase when both the evenness and richness of the community increases.

Simpson’s Diversity

Simpson’s Diversity index is used to measure the diversity and it takes into account the number of species present, as
well as the relative abundance of each species. It shows that when species richness and evenness increases, it results
in an increase in diversity.

D represents the measure of dominance; this means as D increases the diversity decreases. pi represents the proportion
of individuals found in species i.

Hilsenhoff index

Hilsenhoff index is an estimation of the overall tolerance of the community in a sampled area and it is weighed by the
relative abundance of each taxonomic group. Organisms are assigned a tolerance number from 0 to 10 and it pertains to
that groups known sensitivity to organic pollutants, this means that 0 was the most sensitive and 10 was most tolerant.
Ni is the number of specimens in each taxonomic group, ai is the pollution tolerance score for that taxonomic group and
N is the total number of organisms in samples.

Jaccardʼs similarity index

Jaccardʼs similarity index compares members for two sets to determine which members are shared and which ones are
distinct. It’s a measure between two sets of data and has a range between 0% and 100%. The higher the percentage, the
more the two populations are similar. It is easy to interpret but can be very sensitive to very small samples or data sets
with observations that are missing.

Taxonomic distinctness
Taxonomic distinctness, is the average path length between any randomly chosen individuals, conditional on them being
from different species. (Roque et al. 2014)

Where xi denote the abundance of ith of species s; n (=Σixi) is the total number of individuals in a sample, and ωij is the
weight given to the length of the path which joins the species i and j in the taxonomy.

Abundance/biomass curves
The 'abundance biomass comparison' (ABC) method detects the effects of anthropogenic perturbations on organism
assemblages and is based on the r- and K-selection theory. It entails drawing distinct k-dominance curves for species
abundances and biomasses on the same graph and comparing the shapes of the two curves in relation to each other.
During the duration of an undisturbed assemblage, the biomass curve is increased relative to the abundance curve.
2. Advantages of each indices
a. Shannon diversity index
● It considers the number of species and species evenness of the species.

b. Simpson’s Diversity index

● leaned significantly toward the most prevalent species

c. Hilsenhoff index
● Gives a dimension of stream health and can be statistically linked to a myriad of physical, chemical, and
biological measures.

d. Jaccardʼs index
● It is good for situations where duplication does not count
e. Taxonomic distinctness
● Has theoretical and logistical advantages over estimates of species richness and this is for environmental
assessment.

f. Abundance/biomass curves
● Give critical information to sustain species richness and community complexity.
3.
Table 1 .showing the number of species collected at each site in the Godineau swamp.

Table 2 .showing the Shannon diversity index calculation for each site in the Godineau swamp.
Dissolve
d Oxygen
Salinity Channel Number of
Species of N n/N pi pi 2 In pi pi In pi
(ppm) depth at Fish
(mg /l) High Caught(n)
Tide (m)

Site 1 8 19.7 1 6 49 6/49 0.122 0.015 -2.103 -0.258

Site 2 5.5 11.3 3.75 3 49 3/49 0.061 0.004 -2.797 -0.171

Site 3 0.72 8 3 7 49 7/49 0.143 0.020 -1.945 -0.278

Site 4 0.36 2.3 4.25 5 49 5/49 0.102 0.010 -2.283 -0.233

Site 5 0.11 3.55 2.5 3 49 3/49 0.061 0.004 -2.797 -0.171

Site 6 0.2 0.4 1.75 2 49 2/49 0.041 0.002 -6.215 -0.254

Site 7 0.13 0.9 0.5 6 49 6/49 0.122 0.015 -2.103 -0.258

Site 8 2.33 0.2 3.5 7 49 7/49 0.143 0.020 -3.912 -0.559

 Site 9 5.17 0.1 2.2 7 49 7/49 0.143 0.020 -3.912 -0.559

Site 10 0.5 0.2 0.5 3 49 3/49 0.061 0.004 -2.797 -0.171

Sample Calculation for Shannon Diversity index:

Site 2
N=6+3+7+5+3+2+6+7+7+3
=49
n/N
=3/49
pi
=3/49
=0.061
pi 2

=0.0612
=0.004

In pi
=In(0.061)
=-2.103

piIn pi
=0.061 x -2.103
=-0.258
H=-(-0.258+ -0.171 + -0.278 + -0.233 + -0.171 +-0.254 + -0.258 + -0.559 + -0.559 + -0.171+
=2.991
Table 3 .showing the species richness in the Godineau swamp.

Site 1 21

Site 2 45

Site 3 78

Site 4 61

Site 5 19

Site 6 0

Site 7 0

Site 8 18

Site 9 37

Site 10 0
Species richness =279

Shannon diversity index will be the better indicator of ecosystem health, as it measures the number of species in a
community and the abundance of them. Thus, if the swamp is polluted, the water quality is poor, and there is chemical or
waste contamination occurring the biodiversity of a species in that swamp will be affected and a decrease in the
population will occur. The Shannon index value calculated was 2.991. The value obtained was high which means that
there is more diversity in the swamp thus the health of the ecosystem is good. This is due to levels of parameters such as
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) or chemical oxygen demand (COD), trace metals, and dissolved oxygen if tested for
and are at levels at which the organisms will thrive which indicates that the swamp is healthy and not disturbed by
humans.
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