Ecosystem Investigation of Zayanderood Dam Lake

Benthos play an important role in the transmission of primary production and organic material (detritus) accumulation of the substrate in the water ecosystems to the higher levels of food chain. Also, they are used as biological indicators to evaluate the effect of pollutants caused by human activities on water ecosystems. To evaluate the benthic communities of Zayanderood Dam Lake, 4 sampling stations were selected on the lake; then, during the year 2014, seasonal sampling at each station was performed. The sampling was carried out by using the sediment sampler instrument with the dimensions of (20 cm × 20 cm). The average temperature of surface and deep water in the Zayanderood Dam Lake during the study was estimated to be 15.6 ± 2.4 and 8.9 ± 1.8°C, respectively. The average concentration of dissolved oxygen in the surface and deep water was varied from 10.3 ± 0.6 to 8.1 ± 0.7 mg/L, respectively. Totally, 2165 samples of benthos were collected and identified in the Zayanderood Dam Lake, belonging to 3 classes, 6 orders and 5 families. The maximum number of samples belonged to Tubifex, Naididae and Chironomidae genera. The dominant genus was Tubifex in all stages. According to this study, therefore, it seems that the structure of substrate, the amount of nutrients, grazing pressure and hydrostatic pressure are the most important environmental factors that can affect benthic community in the Zayanderood Dam Lake.