Spatial and Temporal Variation in Productivity, Species Diversity, and Pigment Diversity of Periphyton in a Stream Receiving Domestic and Oil Refinery Effluents

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Abstract
Plexiglas plates attached to floating rafts were used to measure productivity, species diversity, and pigment diversity of periphyton in Skeleton Creek, Oklahoma, a stream receiving domestic and oil refinery wastes. Samples were collected at three to seven day intervals during five exposure periods, each approximately two months in duration. A discontinuous, linear regression model was developed to analyze growth curves of periphyton. The slope of the regression line fitted to the acceleration phase of growth was used to estimate productivity. Twenty-two taxa of algae were identified. Diatoms dominated the flora except at upstream stations during the winter when Euglena viridis was the most abundant. Productivity generally decreased downstream below the pollution outfalls. Zero slope was maintained during the asymptotic phase of growth as increases in biomass were balanced by sloughing and grazing. The ratio of productivity to biomass did not indicated spatial or temporal successional stages in the periphyton community. No significant difference in values of d̄ was found in independent samples of size 100, 200, 300, or 400 for the fall or spring and a sample size of 100 was used to calculate d̄. Species diversity increased downstream from the pollution outfalls indicating a more varied periphyton community and an improvement in water quality. Pigment diversity and the ratio between biomass and chlorophyll exhibited little spatial or temporal variations.

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