Diatom assemblages comparison of lakes located in three discrete nearby cirques, the Rila Mts., Bulgaria, in the condition of climate change and human activity

Nadja Ognjanova-Rumenova; Ivan Botev

Nadja Ognjanova-Rumenova, Ivan Botev

Abstract: A comprehensive research into three groups of mountain lakes located in three discrete nearby cirques in the north-western Rila Mts., was carried out in order to compare the community composition of diatoms and to add the anthropogenic change and climate change into context. In total, 170 diatom taxa belonging to 51 genera were found. The number of the diatom species in the investigated lakes ranged from 40 to 71. The minimum species number (40) was recorded in the Dolno Chanakgyolsko Lake. The Shannon-Weaver Index for the 14 lakes varied between 3.67 – 4.95. The most diverse diatom epilithic flora was observed in the lakes: Urdino 1 and Urdino 4. In order to a generalization of base tendency in variation of species composition and establishment their distribution among the sites was used ordination method – Principal Component Analysis (PCA).The climate change serves as the main driving force for all studied lakes, while human activities are the primary driving forces for the lakes within cirque “Seven Rila Lakes”. The main results will be employed as a case model to quantify the impact of climate change and human activities in this realm.

Keywords: climate changes; diatoms; environmental factors; human activity; mountain lakes; multivariate analyses

Citation: Ognjanova-Rumenova, N. & Botev, I. (2024). Diatom assemblages comparison of lakes located in three discrete nearby cirques, the Rila Mts., Bulgaria, in the condition of Climate Change and Human Activity. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 30 (Supplement 1), 112–117

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Date published: 2024-12-13

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