This study aims to examine the ability of free floating aquatic plants to remove phosphorus and to predict the reduction of phosphorus from rice mill wastewater using soft computing techniques. A mesocosm study was conducted at the mill premises under normal conditions, and reliable results were obtained. Four aquatic plants, namely water hyacinth, water lettuce, salvinia, and duckweed were used for this study. The growth of all the plants was inhibited in rice mill wastewater due to low pH, high chemical oxygen demand, high conductivity, and high phosphorus concentration. Subsequently, a 1:1 ratio of mill water to tap water was used. A control was maintained to assess the aquatic plant technology. In this study, the aquatic plants reduced the total phosphorus content up to 80 % within 15 days. A comparison between three modeling techniques e.g. Artificial neural network (ANN), Random forest (RF) and M5P has been done considering the reduction rate of total phosphorus as predicted variable. In this paper, the data set has been divided in two parts, 70 % is used to train the model and residual 30 % is used for testing of the model. Artificial neural network shows promising results as compared to random forest and M5P tree modelling. The root mean square error (RMSE) for all the three models is observed as 0.0162, 0.0204 and 0.0492 for ANN, RF and M5P tree, respectively.

Macrophytes are creatures with low versatility and cannot stay away from any mix of streamflow, nutrient accessibility, and other physical and chemical attributes that impact their survival in the aquatic system. Sampling for macrophytes in Chanchaga River was conducted monthly for a 6-month period (May - October 2019). Sampling stations were selected at approximately equal distance along the streamline, the aquatic vegetation were surveyed, and some environmental variables were analysed using standard methods. Results obtained indicated that temperature ranged from 24.6-28.4°C; pH 6.4 -9.7; Electrical conductivity 28.0-79.0μS cm-1; Total dissolved solids 16-75 mg L-1; Dissolved oxygen(DO) 1.3-5.2 mg L-1; Nitrate 0.217-0.654 mg L-1; Phosphate 0.084-0.211 mg L-1; Biological oxygen demand (BOD) 0.89-5.4 mg L-1 and total alkalinity 8.00-11.00 mgL-1 for the study period. A total of eleven (11) macrophyte species belonging to ten genera and eight families were identified during the entire study. Variations in terms of families showed that Araliaceae was the most abundant followed by Poaceae, while Cyperaceae had more species throughout the study period. The high frequency of Araliaceae, Cyperaceae, and Poaceae families suggests that the environmental characteristics favour these species. We propose the use of Cyperus digitatus, Cyperus papyrus and Mimosa spp. as macrophytes indicators of organic pollution in Chanchaga River.

The Mostonga, once the tributary of the Danube river, now a water-stream with a conducted regime it represents an important water-streams in West Backa (Serbia, Yugoslavia). The most wide-spread hydrophytes (i.e. plant species with the biggest abundance, covering values and occurrence degree) are: Wolffia arrhiza, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, Lemna trisulca, Spirodela polyrrhiza, Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadensis, Vallisneria spiralis, Stratiotes aloides, Nuphar lutea, Bolboschoenus maritimus, Typha angustifolia, Typha latifolia and Phragmites communis. Based on the analysis of bioindicating values of mentioned hydrophytes of the Mostonga it can be concluded that the present plant species are significant indicators of eutrophication (considerable organic pollution) as well as the increased contents of nitrogen and nitrogen compounds (nutrients), presence of salt in the soil and weakly aerated and mud base.

The lake Provala near Vajska (Serbia, Yugoslavia) was created by the embankment performation during high Danube river levels in 1924. It is a very important water ecosystem of natural origin, which is a fact of great importance for exact biological and ecological research. Miljanovic (1996) and Pujin (1997) present the first lake Provala water state data. They emphasise the reinforced eutrophication process in the shore region. This paper presents the review of the macrophytes vegetation of the lake Provala recent state for the first time, with special attention to dominant plant species. Based on the present taxons analysis, as well as water chemical parameters analysed (NH4(+), NO3(-), NO2(-), PO4(3-), HPK, BPK, pH), it can be concluded that the eutrophication process is present in this water micro-reservoir. It is especially true for the shore region and shallow waters, where the process is already well under way and very fast. These research results can be used to efficiently protect this natural water ecosystem.

In order to determinate the concentration of elements: K, Ca, Na, Mg, Cu, Pb, Cr, and Cd in sea water and seagrasses Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa sampling were done in the area of the Boka Kotorska Bay (Adriatic sea, Montenegro (Yugoslavia)). For majority of these elements variability of contents in the samples was great, but in the range of expectations. The concentrations of Pb and Cr in the seagrasses were higher from values in literature. Because of bioaccumulation and biomagnification of these metals, we have to investigate causes of these higher concentrations and possibility of toxic effects on the seagrasses and other organisms.

Base characteristic melioration territory "Upper Danube" inclusion round about 1.4 million ha area in Backa and Banat (Serbia, Yugoslavia) are presented in this paper. Specification problem maintenance of the drainage of system to originate because of discharge wastewater and sludge in channel and suggest in decides these problems are considered.

In this paper there were given research results obtained during many years of investigation of hydrophytes of the Tisza river, Serbia (Yugoslavia), and their bioindicating values. The plant world of the Tisza river is characterized by floristical diversity, with three characteristics band: band of submerged, band of floating and band of emerged hydrophytes. Among submerged plants these are distinguished by abundance, covering values and occurrence degree: Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadaensis, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton perfoliatus and Potamogeton pectinatus. In the floating band species of the fam. Lemnaceae: Lemna minor, Lemna gibba, Spirodela polyrrhiza and Potamogeton fluitans are most frequent. In the closest coastal band, these species are most frequent: Typha angustifolia, Typha latifolia, Phragmites communis, Sagittaria sagittifolia and Typhoides arundinacea. On the basis of determined floristical composition and bioindicating values there can be noticed the organic pollution increasing trend.

Research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in freshwater ecosystems has focused primarily on legacy compounds and little is still known on the presence of emerging PFAS. Here, we investigated the occurrence of 60 anionic, zwitterionic, and cationic PFAS in a food web of the St. Lawrence River (Quebec, Canada) near a major metropolitan area. Water, sediments, aquatic vegetation, invertebrates, and 14 fish species were targeted for analysis. Levels of perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) in river water exceeded those of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and a zwitterionic betaine was observed for the first time in the St. Lawrence River. The highest mean PFAS concentrations were observed for the benthopelagic top predator Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu, Σ₆₀PFAS ∼ 92 ± 34 ng/g wet weight whole-body) and the lowest for aquatic plants (0.52–2.3 ng/g). Up to 33 PFAS were detected in biotic samples, with frequent occurrences of emerging PFAS such as perfluorobutane sulfonamide (FBSA) and perfluoroethyl cyclohexane sulfonate (PFECHS), while targeted ether-PFAS all remained undetected. PFOS and long-chain perfluorocarboxylates (C10–C13 PFCAs) dominated the contamination profiles in biota except for insects where PFBA was predominant. Gammarids, molluscs, and insects also had frequent detections of PFOA and fluorotelomer sulfonates, an important distinction with fish and presumably due to different metabolism. Based on bioaccumulation factors >5000 and trophic magnification factors >1, long-chain (C10–C13) PFCAs, PFOS, perfluorodecane sulfonate, and perfluorooctane sulfonamide qualified as very bioaccumulative and biomagnifying. Newly monitored PFAS such as FBSA and PFECHS were biomagnified but moderately bioaccumulative, while PFOA was biodiluted.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) promote cyanobacteria dominating eutrophicated waters, with aquatic plant decrease and even disappearance. To uncover the toxic mechanism of cyanobacterial VOCs on aquatic plants, we investigated the growth, photosynthetic pigment levels, photosynthetic abilities and related gene expression in duckweed treated with β-cyclocitral and β-ionone, 2 main components in the VOCs. The levels of chlorophylls and carotenoids gradually declined with raising the concentration of the 2 compounds and prolonging the treatment time. Their decline should result from the down-regulation of 8 genes associated with photosynthetic pigment biosynthesis and up-regulation of 2 genes involved in carotenoid degradation. The reduction was also found in the photosystem II (PSII) efficiency and O₂ evolution rate, which should result from the lowered photosynthetic pigment levels and down-regulation of 38 genes related with photosynthetic process. The frond numbers, total frond area and fresh weight gradually decreased with raising the 2 compound concentration, which may result from the lowered photosynthetic abilities as well as down-regulated expression of 7 genes associated with growth-promoting hormone biosynthesis and signal transduction. It can be speculated that cyanobacterial VOCs may poison aquatic plants by lowering the photosynthesis and growth through altering related gene expression.