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MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF WATER QUALITY AND MOLLUSCAN BIODIVERSITY

FROM CHAMBAL RIVER AT NAGDA, UJJAIN.M.P. INDIA

Reddy P.B. and Deepali Amb*

P.G. Department of Zoology, Government Arts and Science College, Ratlam. M.P., India.
*P.G. Department of Zoology, Swami Vivekananda College, Nimach, M.P., India.

ABSTRACT
The molluscans are the one of the most important groups of invertebrates in an ecosystem with regard to biomass,
diversity, spatial or trophic relationships. The present investigation was undertaken to study diversity of aquatic
animals with reference to molluscans fauna of Chambal River at Nagda, Ujjain. M.P. During period June-2009 to
June- 2010 on seasonal basis. Molluscan diversity, seasonal variations and their correlation with the physico-
chemical characteristics of Chambal River has been done during June, 2009 to June, 2009. Communities of molluscs
on the downstream of Chambal River were sampled in five replicate quadrats. In total 39 molluscan taxa were found
and identified to species level. The total abundance and number of taxa of molluscs were recorded to be reduced in
polluted sites in comparison to control sites. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that the structure of the
molluscan assemblages differed between polluted and control sites. The values of coefficient of correlation (r)
indicate that there is a moderate positive correlation between the gastropods and electrical conductivity, pH, DO, and
BOD. High sampling saturation was achieved at upstream study habitats with minimal sampling effort, suggesting
that the utilization of molluscs as bioindicators can accelerate freshwater conservation initiatives.
KEYWORDS: Biodiversity, Chambal River, Conservation, .Molluscs.

INTRODUCTION
Biological diversity is important because of the way relationships between species and habitats combine to provide yet
more variation in the living world. Any human activity that diminishes this 'biodiversity' could therefore deprive our
own quality of life, reduce the resources available to us and ultimately make vulnerable the survival of our descendants.
Biodiversity provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial to human well-being at present and in the future
.Good biodiversity data are fundamental to biodiversity research, natural resource management and conservation policy
making Assessment of global biodiversity, as well as of biodiversity of particular groups and territories is the high
priority task in these days. Most of the biosphere is poorly known, thus species richness is often the only available
measure of biodiversity in extended areas and for most taxa. The loss of biodiversity worldwide has been well
documented for decades, and while much of the attention of the media and scientific community has been focused on
terrestrial ecosystems, other biomes such as freshwater lakes and streams have received less consideration (Myers et
al., 2000).

Freshwater molluscans are declining in both species richness and abundance, which can reduce their influence on
ecosystem functioning and have multiple negative impacts on the ecosystem as a whole. However, Vaughn (2010)
reported that both common and rare species are in decline. It has been shown that some mussel species and other
molluscans are more effective in carrying out the ecosystem functions. It is likely, therefore, that the ecological
functions performed by freshwater mussels will continue to decline along with mussel populations, which can
significantly impact the overall ecological functioning of freshwater systems (Vaughn, 2010). There are many causes
for the decline in freshwater mussel biodiversity (Strayer et al., 2004; Downing et al., 2010). Dudgeon et al. (2006)
described that over-exploitation, pollution; flow modification, exotic species invasion, and habitat degradation are
major contributors to the loss of freshwater biodiversity. The molluscans are the one of the most important groups of
invertebrates in an ecosystem with regard to biomass, diversity, spatial or trophic relationships. They inhabit virtually
in every habitat and niche. Molluscs are a powerful tool to describe biodiversity in ecosystems on a wide scale and to
indicate community composition and structure’ Moreover the protection of molluscs is in line with the principles of the
World Conservation Strategy (UNEP, 1980). Though, the studies on aquatic macro-organisms and their fluctuations in
relation the chemical and physical characteristics of the freshwater environment in Madhya Pradesh have been taken up
by several authors (Ganapati, 1956; Sharma et al., 1978; Das and Bhist, 1979, Kaushik et al., 1991; Saksena and
Kaushik, 1994; Prasad and Singh, 2003, Anitha et al., 2004; Jindal and Singh, 2005; Gorai et al., 2005) but nothing has
been done on the hydrological and macro benthic faunal aspects though there are many large and small freshwater
bodies and impoundments in western Madhya Pradesh especially from Chambal River at Nagda. Therefore,in the
present paper, some of the basic observations on the molluscan diversity with relation to water quality of Chambal
River, at Nagda, Madhya Pradesh have been presented. The present investigation definitely provides a stimulus to
assemble records and provide a quantitative and temporal data of molluscans of Chambal River.

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MATERIALS AND METHODS

Nagda is very close to tropic of cancer at 23’27N and 75’25 and 517 meters above MSL.Nagda is a city and
municipality in Ujjain district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. (Figure 1) It is an Industrial town in the Malwa
region of western M.P and is situated in the bank of Chambal River. According to a study conducted by Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB, 1999), the Chambal zone at Nagda is placed in ‘E’category (Severely polluted). The
study was conducted on quarterly basis beginning from the month of June to September,2008 (Manson) ,November-
January,2009 ( winter) and March-May, 2009 (summer) to reflect seasonal factors. Water samples from different areas
were collected and designated as S1 to S3.

Description of Study stations

Station 1: This station is located at upstream at Methwasa village. Human activities are reduced here to bathing and
fishing. This station was taken as the reference station (control) owing to the absence of discharge coming into the
River from industries
Station 2: This station is located near Mukteswar temple near Juna nagda. The discharges of industrial complex and
domestic waste are drained into this station. It is poorly vegetated. It is about 2 km away from station 1.
Station 3: This station is located about 1 km far away from station 2. It is located between the village Juna nagda and
Gidhgarh. It is also poorly vegetated.

Water quality analysis:

Sampling for water quality parameters was carried out in the five study stations on quarterly basis beginning from the
month of June 2008-May 2009, covering Monsoon, winter and summer seasons. Water from the selected sites were
collected and taken and were analyzed for major physical and chemical water quality parameters like pH, electrical
conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids(TDS), total suspended solids( TSS), total hardness( TH) dissolved oxygen(
DO), Biochemical oxygen demand(BOD), chemical oxygen demand(COD).The procedure for analysis followed ‘
Standard methods of analysis of water and waste water (APHA).

Study of Biodiversity of Molluscs

Sampling was done during winter, summer and rainy seasons during 2009-2010, with help of local fishermen from
above three stations. Seasonal collection of molluscan fauna has been made from the profundal zone by using Ekman
dredge. The samples from littoral zone have been collected by scoop net. The samples have been washed and shifted
through a grade 40 mesh size sieve. 3 samples were taken from each station to minimize the sampling error. The
collected organisms were fixed in 5% formalin solution and enumerated group wise and preserved organisms were
identified standard keys provided by Ward and Whipple (1959), Tonapi (1980) Bhatt (1959). Subba Rao, (2003) Gupta,
(1976), Krasnamoorthy (1966) and Adoni et al. (1985). Numbers of each species were expressed as organisms/m2.

Statistical analysis
Multiple regressions is one of the most flexible statistical tools available to the researcher. It allows the modeling of
multiple influences on an outcome. However, if multiple regression is used to more than explaining a set of
relationship , but to develop the most precise equation to predict an outcome, then those influence that are not
statistically significant is to be removed in stepwise deletion. The least significant variable is removed one at each step
and the analyses were repeated. This was carried out until all the independent variables remaining in the equation are
statistically significant. In this study we used p (α) <0.05 as an indicator of statistical significance. The obtained data
was analyzed by multiple regression and correlation analysis by using software from www.stattools.net. Quantitative
contributions from each station for individual parameter were compared with measured values.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results shown in table 1-4 and Figure1.
Water analysis: A summary of physico-chemical parameters obtained in Chambal River for all the different stations
are shown in Table 1. Results clearly indicate that the physico-chemical parameters monitored in station 2 and 3
showed high levels of BOD, COD, TDS, TSS, EC and low DO in all seasons and exceeds the limits WHO standards.
This must have been as a result of the nature of effluents discharged from the industries. However, pH and temperature
did not show much variation in all sampling stations in all seasons. (Reddy and Baghel, 2010, 2012).

Results clearly indicate that (Table 1.) indicate that the species distribution and richness vary from different research
stations. The species richness is much higher in Station A (Methwasa) than station B and C. (0>.001). It is also
observed that the pH value differs in different stations. It is alkaline and ranges from 7.2 -9.9 from all research stations
sampled and higher in Station C. Gastropoda and Bivalia represent the vast majority of total diversity (95.9%).

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Table 1. Annual Changes in physico-chemical parameters of Chambal River in different segments and in
different seasons of the year
S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3
pH 7.2± 8.7± 8.9±** 7.1± 9.4±** 8.8± 6.8± 9.8± 9.9±
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.09 0.02 0.9 0.43 0.7** 0.64**
Temperature ‘C 24.1± 24.0± 24.2± 22.4± 23.1± 22.8± 30.1± 31.0± 30.5±
0.1 0.1 0.09 0.33 0.44 0.67 0.23 0.21 0.54
TDS mg/L 32.13± 162.0± 122.1± 110.10± 448.1± 392.1± 112.1± 410.1± 415.5±
0.87 3.3** 9.9 5.3 6.3** 3.2 4.5 12.1** 13.4
TSS mg/L 44.1± 42.1± 44.0± 26.1± 148.1± 140.2± 21.1± 128.0± 126.0±
1.2 5.3 3.3NS 2.2 9.6** 8.76 7.6 5.6** 6.6
EC,umho/cm 88± 80.2± 50± 85±2.3 198± 419± 62± 310± 650±
7.6 9.7 7.6** 12.1 13.2** 2.3 11.4 23.6**
DO mg/L 7.2± 6.9± 6.8±** 7.5± 8.8± 8.9±** 7.9± 8.5±** 9.2±
0.1 0.02 0.09 0.1 0.8 0.07 0.4 0.8 4.3
BOD, mg/L 11.3± 24.2± 25.43± 10.0± 54.4± 51.2± 12.2± 45.5± 46.2±
0.01 1.1 1.1** 0.01 4.2** 4.8 0.09 3.8** 4.1
COD mg/L 1.8± 15.1± 14.0± 12.0± 38.4± 32.0± 10.0± 34.0± 24.1±
0.01 1.1** 0.9 1.4 2.6** 1,8 0.9 2.1** 1.8
Total hardness 250± 233± 239± 200± 1400± 1380± 280± 1900± 1780±
12.1 18.4** 16.1 9.67 34.3** 34.3 8.11 46.7** 39.8

Table 2. Seasonal fluctuations of molluscan fauna (organisms/m2) recorded at different stations of Chambal River in
different seasons during 2009-2010.

Class Order Family, Genus and species Monsoon Winter Summer

S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3
Gastropoda Mesogastropoda Melaniidae (Tiaridae)
Melania (Plotia) scabra(Muller) 5 3 1 6 3 1 6 3 1
M. striatella (Muller) 11 8 3 24 11 2 21 5 0
M. scabra var elegans(Hutton)
Faunus ater (Linnaeus) 10 11 8 13 8 2 22 9 0
Viviparidae 12 12 5 10 7 0 17 7 0
Vivipara dissimilis (Muller) 10 11 11 11 7 2 14 8 1
Ampullariidae
Pomacea bridgesii 9 10 9 9 8 4 11 5 0
Pila globosa (Swainson) 22 21 22 15 6 6 21 7 2
Pila conica(Gray) 21 19 18 14 8 9 20 8 1
Basommatophora Planorbis exustus (Deshayes) 12 13 11 12 8 3 22 8 1
Anisus(Gyraulus) 13 15 14 11 5 3 16 5 1
convexiusculus (Hutton) 19 14 13 16 7 4 18 8 1
Lymneidae 12 11 9 11 8 7 11 9 2
Lymnaea (Pseudosuccinea) acuminate 14 13 13 12 5 6 11 6 1
L. luteola (Walker)
L. pinguis (Walker)
188 162 142 166 99 48 200 88 11
Total Gastropods
Pelecypoda Eulamellibranchia Unionidae
Lamellidens corrianus (Lea) 24 22 21 22 11 9 24 11 1
Lamellidens marginalis (Lamarck, 1819) 11 12 14 8 5 2 11 5 1

Total Pelecypoda 35 34 35 30 16 11 35 16 2
Total 203 196 177 196 115 59 235 104 13
species

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Figure 1. Map showing Fig the location of Nagda and Chambal River

Table 3. Multiple Regression Analysis of Water quality index and its correlation with Molluscan Biodiversity
(Stattotools.com). n=9 varaible=10

Var mean SD
1 8.5111 1.1879
2 25.8 3.6083
3 244.7778 166.6747
4 79.8889 53.7086
5 215.7778 206.7721
6 7.6333 1.1979
7 30.8889 18.1552
8 20.1556 12.502
9 851.3333 742.6468
10 144.2222 75.0713

Correlation matrix
1 0.2476 0.8242 0.7968 0.6578 0.0586 0.8683 0.7791 0.7952 -0.7956
0.2476 1 0.2591 0.1399 0.4265 -0.1637 0.1263 0.1054 0.4486 -0.2489
0.8242 0.2591 1 0.96 0.7712 0.3603 0.967 0.9561 0.9479 -0.8723
0.7968 0.1399 0.96 1 0.758 0.369 0.9721 0.9143 0.9344 -0.883
0.6578 0.4265 0.7712 0.758 1 0.4973 0.7211 0.5696 0.8426 -0.9524
0.0586 -0.1637 0.3603 0.369 0.4973 1 0.3583 0.2346 0.2369 -0.466
0.8683 0.1263 0.967 0.9721 0.7211 0.3583 1 0.9435 0.8934 -0.8671
0.7791 0.1054 0.9561 0.9143 0.5696 0.2346 0.9435 1 0.8549 -0.733
0.7952 0.4486 0.9479 0.9344 0.8426 0.2369 0.8934 0.8549 1 -0.8927
-0.7956 -0.2489 -0.8723 -0.883 -0.9524 -0.466 -0.8671 -0.733 -0.8927 1

Tables of output
PCor=Partialcorrelationcoefficient
PSReg = Partial standardised regression coefficient (Influence of independent variable on dependent variable)
PReg = Partial regression coefficient (Change in the dependent variable for each change in independent variable)
SE=Standarderror of partial regression coefficient
p = alpha (α) probability of Type I error of PReg

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Table 4. Stepwise removable of least effective independent variable

var PCor PSReg PReg SE t p
1.pH -0.9894 -0.5 -31.6006 4.646 -6.8016 <0.0001
3.TDS 0.9929 1.6763 0.755 0.0905 8.3387 <0.0001
4.TSS -0.9866 -0.6933 -0.969 0.1603 -6.0457 <0.0001
5.EC -0.9981 -1.0249 -0.3721 0.0227 -16.3611 <0.0001
6.DO -0.9848 -0.2093 -13.1147 2.314 -5.6675 <0.0001
7.BOD 0.9627 0.6817 2.8187 0.7927 3.5559 <0.0001
8.COD -0.9913 -1.3225 -7.9411 1.0551 -7.526 <0.0001
Const=559.1687
R = 1 R Sq = 1

Analysis of variance
RUN 8.
var PCor PSReg PReg SE t p
5 -0.9524 -0.9524 -0.3458 0.0418 -8.2691 0.0002
Const=218.8369
R = 0.9524 R Sq = 0.9071

Analysis of variance
df SSq MSq F p
Reg 1 42941.0975 42941.0975 140.1695 <0.0001
Res 7 2144.458 306.3511
Tot 8 45085.5556
Smallest Partial Correlation Coefficient is from variable 5

High pH and BOD and with low DO stations were characterized by much less diverse fauna and subspecies of
Gastropod and Bivalia. Thus distribution of number of species differs greatly in different research zones. In general
Gastropoda and Bivalia ratio is 2.69 in marine and 1.70 in freshwater mollusks (Yuri et al 2005). If we consider the
fauna of different research zones the ratio appears to vary strongly. At high pH, BOD, COD and EC area (Station B and
C) the gastropods strongly prevail while the share of bivalves is much higher at Station A. In our experiment the
Gastropoda/ Bivalia ratio ranges from 4.2:1 to 5.6:13. The cause of this phenomenon is unclear and besides probable
differences in these groups in respective areas may also reflect the difference in the environment and the history of
fauna formation. The stepwise multiple regression analysis clearly showed that correlation between various water
parameters influence the biodiversity of total molluscs species in different seasons of Chambal River. ( Table 2).
Correlation matrix analysis show that total hardness was the smallest and DO and EC showed high correlation
coefficient and it was followed by BOD, pH, COD and TSS which were the main parameters that influenced the
biodiversity of mollusks.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we have to stress that the study of species distribution and relationship with water quality can be
considered a useful tool to protect the biodiversity of molluscs .Two conclusions have emerged from recent research
that complicate the ability to predict how biodiversity losses may affect ecosystem function: (1) species traits determine
ecosystem function and the effects of biodiversity losses depend on abiotic and biotic context and spatial and temporal
scales, and (2) successfully predicting linkages between biodiversity and ecosystem function requires using multiple
empirical approaches across scales. The developed regression equations for the parameters having significant
correlation co-efficient were successfully used to estimate the concentration of other constituents,

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