RANK DISTRIBUTIONS OF SIZE-MORPHOLOGICAL GROUPS OF THE ALGAE IN PERIPHYTON AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE LEVEL OF WATER BODY POLLUTION

Diagnostics of the ecological state of a body of water was based on ra nk distributions of the numbers of hydrobionts. The two-year data on a bundance of the size-morphological groups of periphyton in the Elista river and two connected ponds (Kalmykia) were used. Analysis has shown differences in the parameters of rank distribution for the three abov e water bodies, thus suggesting a different intensity and pattern of t heir pollution. The described approach to estimation of the state of w ater bodies is less time-consuming that the traditional method of sear ch for the parameters of rank distributions based on the data of numbe rs for each species.