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Submerged macrophytes
as bioindicators for pollution
in Lake Mariut
along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt
Tarek M. GALAL1, Emad A.M. FARAHAT1 and Manal FAWZY2
1. Botany and Microbiology Department,
Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Egypt
2. Department of Environmental Sciences,
Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt

Abstract
The fact that Lake Mariut is the only coastal lake
in Egypt with no natural connection with the
Mediterranean Sea has further aggravated the
situation through the accumulation of pollutants in the lake. The effect of different pollutants on the composition and distribution of
submerged aquatic plant communities in Lake
Mariut (Egypt) was studied. Effects of heavy
metals, nitrates, nitrites and phosphorus in the
water and sediments on the dry weight standing crop (DWSC) of submerged macrophytes
and their spatial distributions were investigated.
Seven stations (which include 20 sites) were
selected to represent the different pollution
sources. The species-environmental data were
analyzed using Canonical Correspondence
Analysis (CCA). Only five submerged macrophytes species were recorded in Lake Mariut.
There was an obvious variation in the DWSC of
the species according to the pollution source.
Potamogeton pectinatus and Ceratophyllum
demersum were the best growing species with
maximum DWSC, while C. muricatum, Myriophyllum spicatum and Najas marina subap.
armata were weakly growing in most stations
particularly the heavily polluted ones. The CCA
ordination showed that dissolved nitrite, iron,
phosphate, salinity and sulphate as well as sediment copper and cadmium are the most effective variables on the DWSC of these macrophytes. C. demersum is more developed in
agricultural polluted areas with high levels of
water phosphate and sulphate and low levels of
water and sediment copper, chromium and
lead. On the other hand, P. pectinatus characterizes the industrial polluted areas, with high
level of sediment cadmium and low levels of
water copper and chromium. These results were
discussed and compared with other related
studies.

Keywords: heavy metals, sediments, spatial

distribution, pollution.

ecologia mediterranea Vol. 34 2008

Introduction
Macrophytes are aquatic plants, growing in or
near water that are emergent, submerged or
floating. Macrophytes are beneficial to lake
because they provide food and settler for fish
and aquatic invertebrates. They are important
component of the aquatic ecosystem not only
as food source for aquatic invertebrates, but
they also act as an efficient accumulator of
heavy metals (Chung & Jeng 1974). They are
unchangeable biological filters and play an
important role in the maintenance of some
functions (e.g. nutrient cycles) of the aquatic
ecosystem.
The occurrence of aquatic macrophytes is
unambiguously related to water chemistry and
using plant species or communities as indicators or biomonitors is an objective for surveying water quality (Robach et al. 1996).
Aquatic plants are used in water quality studies to monitor heavy metals and other pollutants of water and submerged soils. Their
selective absorption of certain ions combined
with their sedentary nature is a reason for
using hydrophytes as biological monitors
(Sawidis et al. 1995). Aquatic plants could
also be used as bioindicators for water pollution. For example, Potamogeton pectinatus
and Myriophyllum spicatum are appropriate
indicators for aquatic habitats characterized
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TAREK M. GALAL, EMAD AM. FARAHAT, MANAL FAWZY

by water of very low photosynthetic active

radiation (linked to high turbidity), chemical
oxygen demand, carbohydrate and sulphate.
They also characterize environment with low
dissolved oxygen concentrations, eutrophication and alkalinity (Ali et al. 1999). M. spicatum have removal capacity for some heavy
metals (Wang et al. 1996) and P. pectinatus is
found in abundance at highly polluted sites
with high sediment organic matter content
(Kantrud 1990).
In the recent years, especially after the construction of the Aswan High Dam, considerable changes have been observed in the morphology, water characteristics and biotic
composition of the northern lakes of Egypt
(Mariut, Edku, Burullus, Manzala and Bardawil). Nowadays, these lakes are threatened
by several factors such as continuous land
reclamation projects, construction of roads
along the north coast, touristic development,
pollution and coastal erosion. All these current or planned human activities will not only
cause the loss of important unique wetland
habitats but also will create new artificial
ecosystems.
Lake Mariut was subjected to exponential
anthropogenic impact in the last decades.
These impacts result from agricultural, human
and industrial activities which collectively
pollute the water body of the lake. Heavy metals and much of the industrial wastes can not
be degraded and therefore, accumulate in
water, soil, bottom sediments, and living
organisms. Inappropriate polices for the disposal of sewage, industrial and agricultural
waste of the Alexandria and El-Beheira Governorates seem to have no regard for environmental considerations for decades, and led to
severe deterioration of Lake Mariut, so it has
become the most polluted wetland in Egypt
(Galal 2005). The fact that Lake Mariut is the
only coastal lake in Egypt with no natural
connection with the Mediterranean Sea has
further aggravated the situation through the
accumulation of pollutants in the lake. Seawater would have continually diluted the
detrimental effect of the huge influx of pollutants discharged into the lake. Moreover,
along the Mediterranean west coast of
Alexandria, new seaside resorts have been
established. Although these are not fully occupied except during the summer months, their
impact on the western arm of Lake Mariut is
bound to affect the western extension of the
lake (Galal 2005).
84

Many authors (Haslam 1987; Robach et al.

1996; Ali et al. 1999) reported that aquatic
macrophytes varied considerably in their
response to the changes that result from different human impacts. The effect of pollution
upon the liminological characteristics (Halim
1984; Abdel Moneim et al. 1987) and the
aquatic organisms (Khalil & Awady 1990) of
Lake Mariut was studied. Several ecological
studies demonstrated human impacts on the
aquatic habitats (Woodward 1984; Raven et
al. 1995) with special reference to the distribution and growth of aquatic macrophytes
(Ali & Soltan 1996; Ali et al. 1998).
The main objectives of the present investigation are 1) to determine the effect of different
pollutants on the composition and distribution
of submerged aquatic plant communities in
Lake Mariut and 2) to gather evidence on submerged plants as bioindicators for different
pollutants.
Study site
Lake Mariut is situated along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt (31o 2-31o 12 N; 29o
51-29o 59 E). It is divided by artificial
embankments into four basins (Fig. 1): eastern basin or main basin with an area of about
27.3 km2, fish farm basin of about 4.2 km2
and south-western and north-western basins
with a total area of 31.5 km2. Water depth
varies between 0.50 m and 1.15 m with a
mean depth of 0.80 m. Omoum and Kalaa
drains served previously as the main sources
of water to the lake through a wide opening
situated along its dyke to keep the lake water
at its normal level (Samaan & Abdel-Moneim
1986). Their waters are mixture of agricultural
runoff and sewage effluents contaminated
with industrial wastes discarded from Alexandria drainage system. The south-western basin
receives discharges from oil and petrochemical factories. The north-western basin receives
discharges from oil and gas as well as textile
industries (Galal 2005). The bottom sediments of Mariut Lake, around its periphery,
consist of sandy fill of loose to medium density, while inside the lake they consist of plastic gray clay to silt clay with a large fraction
of shell fragments and small percent of
organic materials such as roots and vegetation
with a smell of hydrogen sulphide in these
regions (El-Wakeel 1964).
The climatic features prevailing in the study
area (1950-1975) indicate that January is the
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Submerged macrophytes as bioindicators for pollution in Lake Mariut along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt

coldest month (13.6 oC), while August is the

hottest (26.4 oC) (Table 1). The mean relative
humidity ranges between 62% and 71%,
while the mean evaporation rate varies
between 5.5 mm day-1 and 8.1 mm day-1. On
the other hand, mean monthly rainfall is
15 mm month-1.

Materials and Methods

Submerged aquatic plants
Submerged plants, water and sediments samples were collected from Lake Mariut, during
summer season, along 7 stations (which
include 20 sites) representing the different
sources of pollution and the distribution of
aquatic macrophytes in the lake (Figure 1).
These stations are: S1 heavily polluted by
sewage wastes, S2 by oil and agricultural
drainage wastes, S3 and S4 by many industrial effluents (e.g. textile industry wastes), S5
and S6 only by agricultural drainage wastes
and S7 heavily polluted by stacks emission
effluents and discharges of the adjacent oil
refineries and vehicles effluents in addition to
agricultural drainage. In each station, 3 sampling sites (except S7 that comprises 2 sites)
were selected to collect the plant samples
using a grapnel haul (five grapnel hauls per
sampling site). This method gives good comparative values of presence and abundance
(Ali et al. 1999). Plants were transferred to
the laboratory, washed and separated into different taxa and identified (Boulos 1999, 2000,
2005). The dry weight standing crop (DWSC)
of each species per grapnel haul was determined after oven drying at 65 C for 24 hours.
The average DWSC was calculated for each
species per sampling site (5 samples/site).
Water and sediments analyses
In the field, 1 liter surface water samples were
collected from each station (three composite
samples) for physicochemical analysis. Water
temperature, pH (using pH meter Model 9107
BN, ORION type), and electrical conductivity values (conductivity meter 60 Sensor
Operating Instruction Corning) were measured in situ during day. In the laboratory, dissolved nutrients were measured using the
standard methods (Allen et al. 1986). Nitrates
were measured using chromotropic acid
method, while the sulphanilamide diazotizaecologia mediterranea Vol. 34 2008

Figure 1 Location map of the selected 7 stations in lake Maruit, Egypt.

Table 1 Long term averages (1950-1975) of the metereological data

of Dekheila station in the study area (Anonymous 1980).
Metereological variable
Maximum air temperature (C)
Minimum air temperature (C)
Mean air temperature (C)
Relative humidity (%)
Evaporation (mm day-1)
Rainfall (mm month-1)

Range

Mean

17.7-29.5
9.6-23.5
13.6-26.4
62.0-71.0
5.5-8.1
-

24.1
16.5
20.2
66.0
6.9
15.0

tion was used for determination of nitrites.

Phosphates were determined by the direct colorimetric Molybdenum blue method, while
sulphates were determined turbidimetrically
as barium sulphate at 500 nm. Cadmium, copper, iron, manganese, lead and chromium
were determined with Pye Unicam Sp 1900
Recording Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (Allen et al. 1986).
Sediments samples were collected from each
station (three composite samples) using stainless steel crab. They were dried and sieved
through 2 mm sieve. Soil water extracts of 1:5
were prepared for the determination cadmium, copper, iron, manganese, lead and
chromium with Pye Unicam Sp 1900 Recording Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometery (Allen et al. 1986).
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TAREK M. GALAL, EMAD AM. FARAHAT, MANAL FAWZY

Data analysis

Submerged aquatic macrophytes

ed along the 7 selected stations in Lake Mariut (Table 2). Station 6 (S6), representing the
agricultural drainage pollution, is the most
diverse with five submerged aquatic species
but the dominance of C. demersum. On the
other hand, S4 representing the industrial pollution, is the least diverse occupied by P. pectinatus and C. demersum. C. demersum and
P. pectinatus were recorded in all the stations
with variable DWSC. The highest DWSC for
C. demersum was obtained in S5 and S2. On
the other hand, the highest DWSC for P. pectinatus was obtained in S4 and S7 polluted with
industrial wastes. The DWSC of both species
was inversely proportional to each other in all
stations, especially S4, S5 and S7. M. spicatum had low DWSC in stations 2 and 7
(highly polluted with oil) and slightly higher
in water polluted by agricultural drainage (stations 5 and 6). C. muricatum was collected in
S6 polluted with agricultural drainage.

Five submerged aquatic macrophytes (Ceratophyllum demersum L., Ceratophyllum muricatum Cham, Myriophyllum spicatum L.,
Najas marina subap. armata (H. Lindb.) Horn
and Potamogeton pectinatus L.) were record-

The DCA ordinations of the 7 polluted stations based on their floristic composition (Figure 2a) as well as water and sediment chemistry (Figure 2b) indicated that, four clusters
were separated: A: includes stations S1, S2

DECORANA (DCA) ordination (Hill 1979)

was applied to ordinate the zonal vegetation
of the water bodies. The vegetation data and
environmental variables were analyzed together by Canonical Correspondence Analysis
(CCA) using Canoco for Windows version 4.0
(Ter Braak & Smilauer 1998). After testing
the data for normality, the differences in the
sediment and water variables among the seven
stations were tested using one-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) according to SPSS
software (SPSS, 1999). A post-hoc test was
applied when differences were significant.

Results

Table 2 Dry weight sanding crop (g sample-1) of the recorded species in the different polluted stations.
Station
Species
Ceratophyllum demersum L.
Ceratophyllum muricatum Cham.
Myriophyllum spicatum L.
Najas marina subap. armata (H. Lindb.) Horn
Potamogeton pectinatus L.

S1

S2

S3

S4

9.59

17.48

0.02

6.16

1.02
0.31

0.06
0.85
0.34

0.35
17.78

S5

S6

S7

53.05

7.11
3.97
2.38
0.01
1.03

2.70

2.32
59.59

0.09

S6
S2
-1.5

-1

-0.5

S3

0.4

10

0.5

1.5

-0.2
-0.4
-0.6

S5 C

S7
-10

S 60

-5

S3
5

10

15

-5

-0.8
-10

-1

S1
-15

-1.2

S5

0
-15

S2

S4

S4

S7

0.2
0

DCA-axis2

DCA-axis2

S1

27.09

15

0.6

0.04

DCA-axis1

DCA-axis1

Figure 2 DCA ordination of the 7 pollution stations of Lake Mariut based on their floristic composition (a)
and water and sediments chemistry (b).

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Submerged macrophytes as bioindicators for pollution in Lake Mariut along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt

Table 3a Meanstandard deviation of the sediments heavy metals ( g g-1) along the 7 polluted stations in Lake Mariut.
Maximum and minimum values are underlined.
Station
Variable
Cd
Cu
Cr
Fe
Mn
Pb

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

2.12.1
5050.1
167167.1
2162595.3
52513.1
1607.8

3.10.5
25012.8
1136.6
4542546.8
150018.2
1458.2

3.70.3
254.1
21021.7
14950156.2
85066.6
11816.9

3.90.3
758.6
17018.6
1702573.7
57531.0
1003.9

4.00.4
7513.3
1956.6
21925107.6
102521.9
884.0

3.60.3
657.0
15027.2
13550402.3
25013.9
15837.7

4.00.3
536.3
2259.9
31250372.0
80078.1
21029.7

Table 3b Meanstandard deviation of the water chemistry along the 7 polluted stations in Lake Mariut.
Maximum and minimum values are underlined.
Station
S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

Temp. C
Salinity%
pH
PO4
NO3
NO2
SO4
Cd
Cu
Cr
Fe
Mn
Pb

27.00.4
4.60.3
8.40.3
54947.2
16113.2
113.44.9
753258.9
0.90.2
16.01.1
10.01.1
107.04.6
16.03.1
4.00.7

26.50.2
6.60.3
8.20.3
43415.1
1476.2
107.26.9
6328125.7
1.20.3
75.08.7
16.32.0
56.09.6
94.05.2
4.30.5

27.00.6
6.00.3
8.00.3
18314.9
138.68.0
60.25.7
3584101.2
1.20.1
6.01.3
8.51.5
48.011.4
30.09.5
25.04.5

27.00.2
5.90.1
8.10.4
1008.5
156.86.2
18.21.6
114823.6
0.90.1
3.00.4
9.51.7
112.025.2
18.02.2
12.52.5

27.30.3
4.00.3
7.90.5
130.212.8
1507.9
89.62.6
2856140.3
1.10.2
25.04.6
15.02.4
77.016.8
36.04.4
5.00.9

27.40.4
4.50.1
7.80.3
257.36.3
1434.8
124.65.4
4340273.4
1.10.1
19.02.7
10.01.9
80.08.6
6.00.8
21.03.6

27.00.5
4.20.3
7.80.2
4567.0
141.47.5
207.25.9
4984292.9
1.00.1
20.02.8
11.02.7
120.017.7
60.09.7
48.08.5

gl-1

Variable

and S6 which are mixed pollution sources,

B: includes S3 and S7 polluted with oil
wastes, C: includes S5 polluted with agricultural wastes and D: includes S4 polluted with
industrial wastes.
Sediments and water chemistry
Sediment chemical analyses indicated that S2
was highly polluted with heavy metals
(Table 3a), which had the highest values of
copper, iron and manganese. On the other
hand, S6 was the least polluted station with
the lowest chromium, iron and manganese. S5
had the highest value of cadmium, but the
lowest of lead, while S7 had the highest of
chromium and lead.
Water chemistry indicated that S1 had the
highest values of phosphate, nitrate and sulphate, but the lowest of lead. On the other
hand, S2 had the highest of salinity, copper,
chromium and manganese. Furthermore, the
highest values of nitrite, iron and lead were
recorded in S7 (Table 3b).
ecologia mediterranea Vol. 34 2008

Species-environment relationship
(CCA ordination)
The application of CCA ordination (Figure 3)
indicated that inferred ranking of the species
along the more influential environmental variables can be made by dropping perpendicular
lines from the species co-ordinates to the
environmental arrows. The length and direction of a line represents a given soil variable
that provides an indication of the importance
and direction of the gradient of environmental variable change. The angle between two
lines reflects the correlation between the two
variables represented by these lines. Some
sediment variables have significant positive
correlation with each other such as soil manganese with copper and iron (r = 0.74 and
0.81, respectively; P = 0.05; 0.02), water copper with sediment copper, iron and manganese (r = 0.94, 0.89 and 0.77, respectively;
P = 0.001, 0.007, 0.04). From the inter-set
correlations, cadmium, chromium, iron and
lead concentration in water and sediments
were correlated with CCA-axis 1. On the
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TAREK M. GALAL, EMAD AM. FARAHAT, MANAL FAWZY

Discussion

Cer mur

Myr spi
W Pb

S Pb
W NO2

S Cd
W Fe

Pot pec
W PO4

W Salini

Cer dem

W Cd
W SO4

S Cr

Naj mar

S Cu

W Cu

W NO3
S Fe

W Cr

W Mn

1.0

S Mn

0.8

1.0

Figure 3 CCA ordination showing the correlation between the submerged

aquatic macrophytes and 18 environmental factors in Lake Mariut.
Cer dem = Ceratophyllum demersum, Cer mur = Ceratophyllum
muricatum, Myr spi = Myriophyllum spicatum, Naj mar = Najas
marina subsp. armata and Pot pec = Potamogeton pectinatus.
W NO2 = water nitrate, W NO3 = water nitrite, W PO4 = water
phosphate, W Cu = water copper, W Cr = water chromium,
W Cd = water cadmium, W Fe = water iron, W Mn = water
magnesium, W Pb = water lead, W SO4 = water sulphate,
S Cu = sediment copper, S Cr = sediment chromium,
S Cd = sediment cadmium, S Fe = sediment iron, S Mn = sediment
manganese, S Pb = sediment lead.

other hand, manganese concentrations in

water were correlated with axis 2. It is clear
that water chromium, copper, lead, iron and
salinity as well as sediment manganese are the
most effective variables.
C. demersum that dominated the agricultural
polluted areas occupied high levels along
water phosphate and sulphate gradient and
low levels along water and sediment copper,
chromium and lead. On the other hand, P.
pectinatus characterized the industrial polluted areas and occupied a high level along
sediment cadmium, intermediate level along
water iron, lead and salinity as well as sediment lead and chromium, and low levels
along water copper and chromium gradients.
Najas marina subsp. armata was found on a
high level along sediment copper gradient and
a low level along sediment cadmium and
water lead gradients.
88

Aquatic vegetation has technical advantages,

the most important of which is that they can
be used as indicators for heavy metal pollution. The successful living of aquatic macrophytes in polluted areas is usually due to their
abilities to accumulate metal concentrations
larger than in the surrounding water (Miretzky et al. 2004; Nimis et al. 2002). Five submerged aquatic macrophytes were recorded
among the 7 stations in Lake Mariut. These
submerged macrophytes have disappeared
from the places of extreme pollution, near the
mouths of drain discharges. Pollution stress
(i.e. the chemical pollution discharged in the
lake through the factories of sewage effluents)
and disturbance (i.e. the habitat disturbance
resulted by inputs of kinetic energy from high
discharge rate (Ali et al. 1999) may be
responsible for the disappearance of submerged vegetation from the sites that directly
receive the factories effluents (Ali & Soltan
1996). Five submerged macrophytes were
recorded by Galal (2005), among them Potamogeton crispus, which was not recorded in
the present study. On the other hand, C. muricatum was recorded in the present study but
not in the northern lakes of Egypt (Galal
2005). The number of submerged macrophytes represents 50% of that recorded in the
northern lakes of Egypt and this may be due
to the fact that Lake Mariut is the most polluted wetland in Egypt (Galal 2005).
The presence of submerged plants is determined mostly by the quality of the water
(Litav & Agami 1976). Agricultural and urban
runoff may carry large amounts of toxic metals, pesticides and other organic chemicals,
which may lead to water-quality problems
and decreasing the diversity of aquatic
ecosystem (Mostaghimi et al. 1997). Station
6 (S6) is the most diverse, in which the five
submerged aquatic species were recorded.
Agami (1984) indicated that the largest number of species was observed in the clean water
section of Amal River (Israel) and the number of species decreased considerably with
increasing water pollution. On the other hand,
S4 is the least diverse station occupied only
by P. pectinatus and C. demersum. Ali and
Soltan (1996) attributed the extinction of
aquatic macrophytes to the toxic effects of
pollutants from industrial sources.
C. demersum is among the mostly recorded
aquatic weeds in the northern lakes. It is
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Submerged macrophytes as bioindicators for pollution in Lake Mariut along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt

widely distributed in Lake Mariut. C. demersum is a very dangerous subaquaeous weed of

canals, drains and lakes (Simpson 1932). C.
demersum was recorded in all the studied stations with its highest DWSC recorded in S5
polluted with agricultural drainages followed
by S2 and S1. These stations were associated
with relatively high values of nitrites, nitrates
and phosphates. This may indicate the ability
of C. demersum to survive in water of high
nutrients. Moreover, this plant could be
regarded as nutrient tolerant hydrophyte (Ali
et al. 2003). Eglin et al. (1996) described C.
demersum as hyper-trophic and polluo-tolerant species. However, Ali et al. (1999) stated
that C. demersum is a possible indicator for
aquatic habitats characterized by water with
high carbohydrates and low eutrophication
and alkalinity. In their study on small Norwegian lakes, Mjelde & Faafeng (1997)
observed that most macrophytes-dominated
lakes with Phosphorus concentration above
30 mg m-3 were dominated by C. demersum.
P. pectinatus is a very phenoplastic species
with wide ecological amplitude, found even
in eutrophicated waters (Van Wijk 1986). It
was recorded in all the studied stations with
its highest DWSC recorded in S4 polluted
with industrial wastes. This station was characterized by relatively high values of sediment
cadmium, chromium and iron as well as water
temperature, salinity and pH. In Spain, P.
pectinatus forms well developed mats in
channels characterized by high temperature,
pH, conductivity as well as sulphates and
chlorides (Aboal et al. 1996). P. pectinatus
was also found in abundance at highly polluted sites with high sediment organic matter
content (Kantrud 1990). P. pectinatus has
been found to accumulate Cd and Zn and
showed tolerance/toxic response to these phytotoxic metals (Rai et al. 2003). Moreover it
was found that P. pectinatus accumulate metals in the order Fe > Mn > Cu > Zn (Singh et
al. 2003). P. pectinatus that grow in surface
water polluted by copper mining industry was
able to survive tissue concentration (in mg/kg)
of up to 920 Cu, 6240 Mn, 98 Co and 59 Ni,
while M. spicatum survived tissue concentration up to 1040 Cu, 6660 Mn and 57 Cu
(Samecka-Cymerman & Kempers 2004). The
lowest DWSC for P. pectinatus was recorded
in S5 characterized by the highest DWSC of
C. demersum. This station was characterized
by higher values of sediment lead and cadmium. Yaowakhan et al. (2005) observed that,
at high Pb concentration, C. demersum showecologia mediterranea Vol. 34 2008

ed substantial accumulation, i.e. 1,621 mg/kg

at 1 mg/l Pb after 6 days and 6,982 mg/kg at
10 mg/l Pb after 9 days. The relative growth
of plants generally decreased with increase in
Pb concentration. In addition, the variation in
DWSC of both species enhanced us for more
investigation for the mutual interactions and
probable allelochemical effects between them
in water. On the other hand, allelopathy is
suggested to give increased competitive
power to some species of macrophytes and
charophytes even at high level of enrichment
(Wium-Andreson et al. 1983). P. pectinatus
reduces the biomass of C. aspera in the established phase, probably due to shading. Competition for light can explain the dominance
of P. pectinatus to C. aspera (Van den Berg et
al. 1998).
M. spicatum had slightly higher DWSC in stations that receive agricultural pollution, while
DWSC were low in those polluted with oil.
M. spicatum is known to have removal capacity for some heavy metals (Wang et al. 1996).
Keskinkan et al. (2007) reported that M. spicatum has a better adsorption capacity than C.
demersum for all the tested metals (Zn, Cu
and Pb). In Lake Nasser, Egypt, Ali & Soltan
(2006) found that M. spicatum had replaced
the originally dominated submerged macrophytes N. marina subsp. armata. This might
be obvious in the present study, whereas N.
marina was either absent or had a low DWSC
in presence of M. spicatum. Shading by the
taller M. spicatum may be the cause of
reduced growth in N. marina subsp. armata,
although several authors also suggest that M.
spicatum may release allelopathic substances
(Nakai et al. 2000; Gross et al., 1996). The
allelopathic activity of M. spicatum against N.
marina was already suggested by Agami &
Wise (1985) and confirmed by Erhard (2006).
It might be concluded from the present study
that high DWSC values of C. demersum, C.
muricatum and M. spicatum may indicate the
presence of agricultural drainage sources of
pollution, while high value of P. pectinatus
may indicate the presence of industrial
sources. These findings are in accord with Ali
& Soltan (1996).

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TAREK M. GALAL, EMAD AM. FARAHAT, MANAL FAWZY

Acknowledgements
We are thankful for the Police of Environment
and Water Bodies in Alexandria for their helpful guidance and facilities to access the different basins of the lake. Many thanks are also
to Dr Y. Al-Sodany for reviewing the manuscript.

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