engleski

Water quality and metal exposure assessment in the Krka river, karstic phenomenon and national park in Croatia

Thanks to the constant process of travertine- building, the Krka River is a karst phenomenon which is proclaimed National Park in 1985. Its geographic position and the large number of different habitat types resulted in very rich and diverse flora and fauna, with many endemic, rare and threatened species. This puts the Krka River among the most valuable natural entities in both Croatia and Europe. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anthropogenic influence on the Krka River in the watercourse near town of Knin, situated only 2 km upstream of the beginning of the Krka National Park. There are two potential point sources of contamination, industrial wastewater of the screw factory and untreated wastewater discharge. Contaminant exposure is evaluated in the water samples (total dissolved metal concentrations, physicochemical and microbiological parameters) and in the indicator organism, brown trout (Salmo trutta L.), as typical representative of the Krka River ichthyofauna. Biological responses were measured in fish liver and included concentrations of cytosolic metals and biomarkers (metallothionein (MT), malondyaldehide (MDA) and total cytosolic proteins). MT was chosen as biomarker of metal exposure, MDA of oxidative stress and total cytosolic proteins of general stress.

anthropogenic impact ; screw factory ; domestic runoff ; cytosolic metal levels ; biomarkers

nije evidentirano