Water Quality Assessment of Boso-Boso River through Zooplankton Bio-

indicator
Raf Matthew T. Hangad, Kurt A. Tubania, Jean Gabrielle E. Arellano, Alea Bianca B. Julaton, Leanne Margaret C. Ramos
Antipolo City National Science and Technology High School, Antipolo City, Philippines
ABSTRACT
With the fast industrialization and urbanization surrounding the Boso-Boso River, the water quality of this
waterbody is getting affected. Zooplankton community structure is one of many ways to assess the state of
the ecosystem condition and sustainability of the river. With this, a research study was conducted assessing
the community structure of zooplankton of Boso-Boso River. Water physico-chemical parameters were also
performed and correlated. Water samples were collected from six different points to identify the abundant
species present in the said river. A total of three orders were identified in all water samples gathered. An
evaluation of their abundance and distribution in the river depicts that the waterbody is a eutrophic river.
Moreover, the anthropogenic factors surrounding Boso-Boso River affects its ecosystem condition revealed
by the response of the zooplankton community.
Keywords: Zooplankton, Physico-Chemical Parameters, Eutrophic, Boso-Boso River

INTRODUCTION 2. What is the value of Biodiversity Index of

plankton in every sampling site?
Zooplankton are heterotrophic plankton 3. What does the presence and abundance of the
that are commonly found in a large body of water plankton indicate about the water quality on a
like oceans. Zooplankton can also be an indicator particular part of the river?
of the biological condition of the waterbody
(Weisse, T., 2017). As such, the researchers
HYPOTHESIS
conducted a study to assess the state of Boso-
1. There is a common species of
Boso River with the use of zooplanktons as bio-
zooplankton present in the Boso-Boso
indicators and through conducting water
river.
assessment by collecting water samples from the
2. There will be a varied value of the
said river (United States Environmental Protection
biodiversity index of zooplankton in every
Agency, 2017). With this, the research aims to
sampling site
evaluate the current status of the water quality of
3. The presence and abundance of the
the said river considering the said factors.
zooplankton present in the Boso-Boso
Moreover, the community had a clearer picture on
river indicates that the resulting water
the functions of zooplankton community to a
quality is polluted
complex ecosystem such as Boso-Boso River.
METHODS
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
 COMMUNITY RESEARCH DESIGN
 ENVIRONMENT The method starts from the design of the
 FUTURE RESEARCHERS sampling program, includes enumeration by
microscope and ends with interpreting the results
and estimating the accuracy and precision of the
OBJECTIVE
data. Every stage of analysis includes the
The main focus of this study is to assess
possibility of random or systematic error. In order
the water quality status of Boso-Boso River
to validate the results of this thesis, the sampling
through the use of plankton bio-indicators and
and analysis methods have been verified and
describe the community structure of zooplankton
calibrated. Good Laboratory Practice was
only. Physico-chemical parameters provided only
observed.
reflects a descriptive condition of the river.
MATERIALS
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The materials to be used in the
1. What are the common type of zooplankton experimentation includes first, the plankton net.
present in the river? Collections for zooplankton will be made using a
50-µm mesh Nylon Cloth plankton net with a 16
inch opening and 1m length. When collecting studies and factors affecting the precision and
samples, an additional clean 100 mL sample accuracy of density, diversity and biomass
bottle labeled for zooplankton should be included. estimates of zooplankton species.
For concentrating samples, 10 mL bottle will be
used to hold concentrated samples. Next is the RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Secchi Disk used to measure the depth of the Zooplankton Community
river. Plastic bottle containers are also being
needed to store the water samples. Then,
formalin that will be used to preserve the
planktons. For the Water Quality Parameters, pH
meter is also used to test the pH level of the river.
Last is the TDS (Total Dissolve Solid) meter that
is used to measure the total dissolved solid in the Table 1. Zooplankton presence and abundance
water. Three orders including 12 rotifers and 18
Sampling site copepods were recorded in Boso-Boso River
(Table 1). Copepoda were the most abundant of
the two zooplankton groups identified, consisting
of 60%. The least abundant species belong to the
Rotifera at 40%
Presence of Rotifer Bdelloidea indicates
that the river is polluted (Schietzelt, R. & Harper
College). The Cyclopoida was the most abundant
order in terms of occurence, a more in-depth
Figure 1. Sampling Sites analysis of the copepod population would also
show how it is dominated by cyclopoida
Zooplankton samples were gathered form 6 copepods, which is an indicator of eutrophic
sampling points (Figure 1), 3 kilometers apart environments (Dussart B.H. & Defaye D.,) The
from each other in Boso-Boso River(Latitude: 14° abundance of cyclopoid copepods, in general,
40’ 0.84 N Longitude: 121° 13’ 15 E) with a length when compared to calanoid copepods, is also a
of approximately 18km is responsible for useful indicator of the trophic status of the lake,
supplying water for domestic use and irrigation for which for this case, also validates the high
agricultural crops. 250mL of water samples were nutrient levels found in Boso-Boso River (Adrian
gathered from each sampling site. R., 1997).

FLOWCHART Biodiversity Indices

Figure 3. Shannon-Weiner Index Figure 4. Menhinick Index

of every sampling point of every sampling point

Species diversity and richness varied in all

sites from Site 1 to Site 6 (Figure 3 & Figure 4,
respectively). Species Diversity (H) was lowest
Site 6 (0). Highest diversity was noted in Site 2 &
Figure 2. Experimental Framework
Site 5 (1.055). Species richness was noted to be
lowest at Site 3 (0.8165) and highest at Site 5
(1.342).
Adapted from Minna Rahkola-Sorsa, a
process diagram of zooplankton community High values of H would be representative
of more diverse communities. Site 2 had
interpreted to be more diverse out of all sampling Depth, TDS and pH in the upper half of the
site. If the species are evenly distributed, then the ordination plot. From these, the average counts
H value would be high. The diversity of were found in the middle of the plot, representing
zooplankton in Boso-Boso river might had been no strong association with water quality
affected by several factors such as disturbance in parameters, except for certain orders. Copepod
habitat, the sampling was done weeks after an Cyclopoida was more associated with
occasional thunderstorm that might affect the Temperature and Rotifera Ploimida was more
zooplankton. associated with the pH.
Physico-chemical Parameters of Boso-Boso
River
CONCLUSIONS
The researchers concluded that the
abundance of zooplankton in Boso-Boso river
would reflect the environmental condition in the
area. The zooplankton community was found to
be affected spatially and temporarily by the
variation of abiotic factors. Also, the result shows
that the abundance of Phylum Copepod indicates
that the water quality of the said river inhibits a
high nutrient level content and eutrophic.
Figure 5. Results of Physico-Chemical Parameters Moreover, Order Bdelloidea (Rotifer) had been
also identified which indicates that the river is
Figure 5 shows the results of the polluted. And due to the presence of a piggery
environmental variables, river depth was deepest and a community inhabited by both animals and
at Site 5 at 1.5 meters, while Site 1 was the people near the river has been another factor
shallowest at 0.2 meters. Total Dissolved Solid causing in the increase of the nutrient levels of the
(TDS) was highest in Site 5 at 160ppm while the river.
lowest was 79ppm recorded at Site 1. Highest
water temperature (32 ͦc) was noted in Site 3. The With this, there had been a seasonal algal
lowest water temperature was obtained in Site 2 bloom in the area that causes the sudden
(27 ͦc).The pH value of all sampling sites obtained increase of the rate of water lilies in the area
ranged from 5.70 to 7.59. Highest values were during the summer and being washed out during
obtained in Site 2 (7.59). the wet season. Therefore, this proves that the
river being studied and observed is indeed
Correlation between zooplankton abundance polluted and contaminated.
and Physico-chemical parameters
RECOMMENDATIONS
In relation to the findings and conclusions
revealed in this study, the following
recommendations are hereby given:
1.To be more accurate to the results, it is
suggested to collect more water samples from
different points of the river to discover more
species of zooplankton present for this study only
used six points as representation of each part of
the water body.
Figure 6. Canonical Correspondence Analysis 2.Since the researchers only correlated 4
environmental variables (temperature, TDS, pH
Canonical correspondence analysis and Depth), it is suggested to correlate more
(Figure 6) reveals the variable responses of Physico-chemical parameters to reveal the
zooplankton orders to water quality parameters response of the presence and abundance of
during the study period. Water quality parameter zooplankton to its environment.
such as Temperature was in the lower half and
 3. Also, with the given results, the author River. In addition, the researcher recommends to
suggests to make a study which will resolve the make further study regarding nearby river since it
problem regarding the water quality of Boso-Boso is found that the tributary is already polluted.