Assessment of the state of Volga-Akhtuba floodplain water reservoirs by various indices of zoobenthos in the conditions of the growing season of 2018

The conducted research allows to evaluatethe ecological and biological status of waterbodies of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain on the structural characteristics of pentosanase, which is the basis for further research. When conducting biological research of any nature, it is always important to know what species and in what quantityare part of this natural community. This allows to reflect the state of the ecosystem better and obtain objective materials from which long-term changes taking place in itcan be observed. Zoobenthos is one of the most important elements of the ecosystems of continental water bodies and streams. In the course of the work, 12 reservoirs have been investigated and 72 hydrological samples processed. To assess the state of the water bodies of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, the authors have used such indicators as: abundance, biomass, species richness (number of species) and have calculated Shannon index, Shannon evenness index, and Simpson dominance index. Based on the ranked values of the obtained indicators, five-point scales have been compiled for the assessment of water bodies. On the basis of the obtained data, a five-point scale has been developed to simplify the assessment of the state of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain. Scores for this work were built separately for each season. This is due to the fact that the overall score scale distorts the gradation of indicators and gives an insufficiently correct assessment. Analysis and visualization of data has been carried out using the programming language R, which is used for statistical data processing and graphics. The R language is a free open-source computing environment that implements the most advanced data analysis methods. Environment R is the most versatile biodiversity analysis software. Using this language, the indicators have been calculated, as well as their graphic processing of the obtained values. On the basis of the obtained data and compiled point scales, the authors present the assessment of water bodies by seasons.