Ecological Assessment of the River Nile Status around Gizert El-Warrak using Phytoplankton and Macroinvertebrates Assemblages

Biological assessment is considered a useful tool for assessing the ecological status of the aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to use phytoplankton and macroinvertebrates as biological tools for ecological assessment of the River Nile around Gizert El-Warrak. A total of 33 phytoplankton species identified in the studied stations; these include 16 species of Chlorophyta, 5 species of Cyanophyta and 12 species of Bacillariophyta. All investigated stations characterized by high organic pollution according to Palmer's index. Trophic state index showed a hyper-eutrophic status in stations S1, S2, S4, S6 and S8 and an eutrophic status in stations S3, S5 and S7. Gastropoda and Oligochaeta were the most dominant of macroinvertebrates taxa recorded 50.8 and 24.6%, respectively.