Seasonal changes in phytoplankton community structure in relation to physico-chemical factors in Bukan dam reservoir (northwest Iran)

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between phytoplankton population and some important physicochemical variables in the Bukan Dam Reservoir. The sampling was performed monthly from 8 sampling sites from April 2008 to February 2009. Phytoplankton counts were made by inverted microscope. Totally, 55 phytoplankton taxa were identified and included Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Dinophyta, Cyanobacteria, Euglenophyta, Chrysophyta and Cryptophyta. Correlations between some important physicochemical factors and total phytoplankton number were calculated. Results indicated that phytoplankton total number positively correlated with NH_3 (R^2 = 0.845) and negatively correlated with Secchi disc depth (R^2 = -0.613).