Assessment of the ecological status of taiga lakes in the oil-producing region of Western Siberia based on the zoobenthos analysis
V.V. Perminova, Y.A. Frank, D.S. Vorobiev
Section: Monitoring of natural and anthropogenically disturbed areas
Hydroecological studies of the state of benthos communities in the oil-polluted lakes situated in the Samotlor oil field were carried out. One hundred and one lakes were examined, among which water bodies with organogenic bottom sediments and low pH values prevail. Oil products’ content in the bottom sediments of the examined lakes exceed background values. The minimum value of the total oil product content in the bottom sediments was 1.5 g/kg, the maximum values were above 300 g/kg. Twelve ecological groups of macrozoobenthos were found in bottom sediment samples. Chironomidae larvae (38.0%) and Oligochaeta (9.6%) were the most abundant. Chironomidae larvae were the dominant group in terms of abundance (86%) and biomass (56%). The average macrozoobenthos values were 328 ind./m2 and 1.62 g/m2. According to the state of macrozoobenthos communities, most of the examined lakes have low sediment productivity (oligotrophic) and high pollution level (polysaprobic, class VI). According to the examination results, most of the lakes (85%) need cleaning of their bottom sediments from oil and petroleum products. We made a conclusion about the long-term, chronic nature of oil pollution of the studied lakes. Poorly soluble oil agglomerates on the bottom of water bodies lose their toxicity and are covered with bottom sediments where bottom invertebrates live, avoiding direct contact with oil pollution. The obtained data on the state of the benthic invertebrate communities are important for future research and monitoring of the ecological status of taiga lakes.
ISSN 1995-4301
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