A Study of Phytoplankton Communities and Related Environmental Factors in Euphrates River (between Two Cities: Al-Musayyab and Hindiya), Iraq

The phytoplankton communities and related physical-chemical features of the Euphrates River at its middle region inside Iraqi territory were studied during the study period from October 2011 to September 2012. Samples were taken from Al-Musayab district extending to Al-Hindia district. The phytoplankton community (quantitative, qualitative and Chlorophyll-a) have been studied, in addition to many environmental parameters such as temperature, pH, electric conductivity (EC), Salinity (‰), TDS, TSS, dissolved oxygen, BOD5. A total of 105 phytoplankton taxa belonging to Bacillariophyta (69), Chlorophyta (19), Cynophyta (12), Euglenophyta (3), and Dinophyta (2) were recorded within the present study period. Some algal genera dominated mostly in the study period and sites such as Scendesmus, Melosira, Cymbella, Diatoma, Navicula, Nitiazschia and Syndera. A statistical analysis was done using the canonical correspondence analysis (CCA).