Comparative analysis of biotic indices for evaluation of water quality of Esen river in South-West Anatolia, Turkey

Five biotic indices were used for the assessment of water quality of Eşen River in South-west of Turkey. The classification of water quality based on benthic macroinvertebrate and physical and chemical parameters were also done. Taxonomic composition of benthic macroinverte-brate fauna was used for calculation of the following biological indices; Saproby Index (SI), Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP), Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT), Family Biotic Index (FBI) and Belgian Biotic Index (BBI). Electrical conductivity, temperature, dissolved O<inf>2</inf> content, pH, BOD<inf>5</inf>, Cl-, NH<inf>4</inf>-N, NO<inf>2</inf>-N, NO<inf>3</inf>-N, PO<inf>4</inf>-P were analyzed. According to the data obtained, the water quality of Eşen River varied from poor to high ecological status. The indices SI, BMWP, BBI and ASPT were the more adequate estimate of water quality in accordance with physicochemical characteristics of the examined watercourse.