Environmental monitoring of Lake Baikal

Characteristics of aquatic organisms (hydrobionts)

Below are five graphs with observations of 5 groups of hydrobionts in lake Baikal in 2019, and in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 for comparison. The x-axis shows the months of 2015-2019, and the y-axis shows the average value of the population or the total mass index for the time of observation. Each chart has the dash-lines consisting of horizontal lengths of the survey time (1-3 months)

Heterotrophs (Bacterial plankton)

Phytoplankton

Zooplankton

Bacterial benthos

Zoobenthos

2019 hydrobiological observations in the area of the Baikalsk KOS (wastewater treatment facilities) have shown that the data on the number of bacteria groups detected in surface waters and soils are comparable to the long-term ones. Average heterotroph values, compared with 2018, decrease in 1.8 times in February - March (11 cells/ml) and increased in 6 times in June (701 cells/ml).

In the area of Northern Baikal, the average of heterotrophic organisms increased in 2019 as compared with 2018: by 1.7 times in summer, by 2 times in autumn. During the season, he average of heterotrophic organisms decreased from June to September by 2.8 times (from 352 to 126 c/ml).

In the area of the Selenga Shallow Waters, the abundance of heterotrophic bacteria in the surface water layer (0.5 m) varied from 131 to 1120 c/ml. As in the previous year, the maximum indicator was registered in the southern part of the shallow waters, opposite the Prorva Strait, while the minimum indicator was registered opposite the mouth of the Galutai canal. The average abundance (412 c/ml) is 8 times bigger than last year.