Effect of heavy metals on phytobenthos assemblages in mine pit lakes of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mine pit lakes are a specific type of water accumulation, formed after exploitation process, by water filling the remaining crater or damming a watercourse with overburden material. Due to nature of their formation, these lakes may contain various heavy metals that might have an adverse effect on diversity of phytobenthos. The objective of this paper is the analysis of the phytobenthos assemblages in the mine pit lakes and assessment of the effects of certain heavy metals on diversity of this group of organisms. Special emphasis of this work is to determine the presence of tolerant species of algae on heavy metal pollution in mine pit lakes and their application in biomonitoring. The field research was performed during autumn season in 2014, at six mine pit lakes in the territory of B&H. The following heavy metals were analysed Al, Cr, Zn, Ni and Fe. The results were discussed in terms of confirmation or rejection of the hypothesis on the adverse effect of heavy metals on diversity of algae.