Determination of ecological quality of some rivers and lakes in the Western Mediterranean basin by macrophyte indexes

Macrophytes are accepted as an ecological group consisting of macroalgae, bryophtes, pteridophytes, vascular plants and even some macrofungi. They can easily react to physical or chemical changes in water bodies such as water level, nutrient content, and heavy metal content. According to the E.U. Water Framework Directive, macrophytes are one of the most reliable biological indicators for determining the ecological quality of rivers and lakes due to their long-term responses to ecological changes. In this thesis, it was aimed to determine the macrophyte diversity and ecological status based on macrophyte diversity of 17 rivers (25 station) and 9 lakes in the Western Mediterranean Basin. Ecological assessment was carried out with IBMR in rivers and Lake LEAFPACS2 index in lakes. In addition, physicochemical parameters of water bodies which were obtained from DOKAY Laboratory and Engineering Services (DOKAY-LAB) were discussed with the results of macrophyte indexes. As a result of the intensive sampling covering at least two vegetation periods in the basin, a total of 84 different macrophyte taxa have been determined. These 84 taxa belong to 29 different plant families. It has been observed that macrophyte taxa, which have wide ecological tolerance range, were mostly found in mesotrophic and eutrophic water bodies throughout the basin. As a result of ecological calculations of IBMR and Lake LEAFPACS2 general ecological status of the 24 water bodies in the basin were evaluated as "Medium", "Poor" and "Bad". In conclusion, it was once again demonstrated that macrophytes are very important in evaluating the ecological status of water bodies. In future, the obtained results of the study can be used by decision maker while forming water management plans in the basin.