Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

Principal component analysis: an appropriate tool for water quality

evaluation and managementapplication to a tropical lake system
Bernard Parinet a, , Antoine Lhote a,b , Bernard Legube a
a

Laboratoire de Chimie de lEau et de lEnvironnement, UMR CNRS 6008, ESIP; 40 Avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France
b Laboratoire de Chimie de lEau INP-HB, BP 1093 Yamoussoukro, C
ote dIvoire
Received 10 April 2003; received in revised form 3 February 2004; accepted 12 March 2004

Abstract
An eutrophic lake system characteristic of Ivory Coast provided us with the opportunity to check that the values of all analytical
variables are linked to both causes and effects of eutrophication (feedback effect). Therefore, none of these values can accurately
describe a trophic state alone. To solve this difficulty we suggest here, that relationships between analytical variables are able to
generate better descriptors than variables themselves. We show that principal component analysis (PCA) using coefficients of
linear regression is, by construction, an appropriate tool for this purpose.
The graphic representations obtained underline that: (i) the first principal component is linked to the trophic potential and
the second one to the trophic level; (ii) the graphical locations of the different lakes studied are consistent with their apparent
features; (iii) allochthonous inputs have a spreading effect on the graphic representation. Extension of this model to other lakes,
located in the same geographical area, was successfully carried out. Furthermore, it has been shown that it is possible to reduce
the number of analytical parameters to four (pH, conductivity, UV absorbance at 254 nm and permanganate index for raw water)
without notably impairing the quality of the PCA representation. Moreover, these very simple parameters are easier to quantify
than classical one (nutrients, chlorophyll-a, etc.) and make their use easier for the water resources management.
2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Tropical water quality; Lake eutrophication; Macrophyte; Algae; Principal component analysis (PCA)

1. Introduction

Abbreviations: T, water temperature; cond, electrical conductivity; EH , redox potential (with standard hydrogen electrode as
reference); DO, dissolved oxygen; SS, suspended solids; PO4 -P,
orthophosphate ions; Ptot, total phosphorus; PIRW, permanganate
index in acidic medium on raw water; PIFW, permanganate index
in acidic medium on filtered water; Chl-a, chlorophyll a; UV abs,
UV absorbance at 254 nm; Na, sodium ions; K, potassium ions;
NH4 , ammonium ions; NO3 -N, nitrate ions; Ca, calcium ions; Mg,
magnesium ions
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-5-49453918;
fax: +33-5-49453768.
E-mail address: bernard.parinet@esip.univ-poitiers.fr
(B. Parinet).

In order to identify and classify the different trophic

states of waters (lakes or rivers), two main types of
trophic indicators have been and are still being used
(Pesson, 1980), belonging to biocenosys (biological factors) or biotope (physico-chemical factors).
The aim of the biological approach of eutrophication is to measure its impact on the environments
biodiversity. Thus, several classification indexes have
been drawn up (Woodiviss, 1964; Vernaux, 1982;
Kelly, 1998; Seele et al., 2000). Working with such
indexes requires quite complex analysis since it is
necessary to identify the local fauna and flora (Dodds

0304-3800/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2004.03.007

296

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

et al., 1998; Stambuck-Giljanovic, 1999). For the

physico-chemical approach, the aim is to quantify
the trophic state of an aquatic environment by measuring a number of physico-chemical parameters
(Carlson, 1977; Ryding and Rast, 1994). It is obvious
that the two approaches are similar since the biodiversity of an aquatic environment is conditioned by
the physico-chemical quality of its water (Gara and
Coimbra, 1998; Thornton, 1987).
As for the physico-chemical approach, the study of
the eutrophication process of superficial waters faces
an important difficulty: the choice of analytical parameters that are the most appropriate to describe the
phenomenon (Moss, 1998).
Although it is currently admitted that nitrogen,
phosphorus and chlorophyll parameters cannot be
ignored (OCDE, 1982; Salas and Martino, 1990),
the values of all analytical variables are more or
less linked to both causes and effects of eutrophication (feedback effect). Therefore, neither their
intrinsic values nor derived index, can satisfactorily
describe the trophic state of the aquatic system by
itself (Hakanson, 2000).
In fact, it seems obvious that eutrophication processes modify chemical equilibriums, and act on the
relationships that link each variable to the others
(Strain and Yeats, 1999).
The aim of this study is to verify that these relationships make up a set of informations that could provide a good way of characterising the state of the system. Although the relationships linking all variables by
pairs are not always linear, the whole set of coefficients
obtained from linear regression is probably a better
criterion of waters trophic state than the variables
themselves. Moreover, proceeding this way indirectly
takes into account all the physico-chemical, biological,
morphological and hydrological parameters of lakes.
However, it is generally not easy to find a suitable
aquatic system that is able to illustrate this. The lakes
studied here present the rare advantage of being supplied by the same streams running across a restricted
geographical zone of geological and climatic similarity. Moreover, the trophic characteristics of these
waters are altered by their passage through different
agricultural and urban zones. So, it become easy to
compare their different behaviours.
Such a system provides us with the opportunity
to verify the precedent assertion. In previous studies

(Lhote, 2000; Parinet et al., 2001) we showed that the

feedback effect was an important feature of the behaviour of these lakes. We concluded that the intrinsic values of analytical parameters are not sufficient to
make a correct assessment of their nature and trophic
status.
Given the complexity of the process, a multidimensional statistical treatment of collected variables
should be looked for. The well-known method of principal components analysis (PCA), using coefficients
of linear correlation offers this possibility (Wenning
and Erickson, 1994; Aruga et al., 1993). Over the last
20 years, this method has been widely used in many
fields dealing with the study of the natural environment, (Tomassone et al., 1993) including eutrophication of water (Reisenhofer et al., 1995; Vega et al.,
1998; De Ceballos et al., 1998; Perona et al., 1999).
However, as far as we know, and given the way it has
been used, it has not yet provided answers to the questions this kind of study generally poses. Nevertheless,
the originality of the lake system under study provided
us with the opportunity to test the relevance of this
tool.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Location of the site under study
The town of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre
of Ivory Coast, 250 km to the north-west of Abidjan,
at about 6 5 North latitude. A set of lakes was built
there on two connected rivers (Fig. 1). We studied ten
of them, numbered from 1 to 10. The surfaces of the
lakes and of their drainage basins are given in Table 1.
They are usually less than 3 m deep.
2.2. General description of the lakes
The trophic status of the lakes are direct consequence of their own local situation. Thus, lakes 14
located in an area of low urban density are colonised
by phytoplankton.
Lake 5, located in the centre of the town, receives
domestic wastewaters. This lake had been, over a long
period of time, entirely covered with water hyacinths
(Eichhornia crassipes), a very invasive floating macrophytes (Bard et al., 1991) and rooted macrophytes like

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

Fig. 1. Yamoussoukros lake system.

297

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B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

Table 1
Drainage basins and lake areas
Lake number

(km2 )

Lake area
Drainage basin area (km2 )

10

0.15
7.5

0.14
1.25

0.08
1.00

0.09
1.10

0.45
3.75

0.10
2.05

0.08
1.45

0.10
1.10

0.10
1.00

0.11
3.80

lotuses (Nelumbo nucifera). During the study period,

following the manual removal of the macrophytes in
July 1995, the water was strongly colonised by algae, which can be noted from high concentrations of
chlorophyll-a, close to 200 g/l.
Lake 6 presents a similar situation; it was almost entirely covered by E. crassipes in the first period of our
study (before July 97) and was then clear by manual
removal. As the elimination of water hyacinths highly
modified the characteristics of this lake, we will analyse the two periods separately. Therefore, numbers 6a
and 6b refer to lake 6 for the first and second period,
respectively.
Lake 7 receives wastewater from a densely populated area. Although this lake was also part of our
work, the results from this lake will not be shown here
because the water is closer to a wastewater pool rather
than of lake.
Finally, lakes 9 and 10 are almost completely
covered with lotuses (N. nucifera) which are rooted
macrophytes, with few water lettuces (Pistia stratiotes), while lake 8 is periodically colonised by water
lilies (Nymphea lotus) and algae.
Table 2 sums up the state of colonisation of the lakes
by aquatic plants.

2.3. Physico-chemical analyses

To follow up the water quality of the 10 studied lakes, 21 sampling stations were chosen, usually
at the entrance and exit of each lake. The constant
sampling period for all the lakes was a 2 h one
(from 8 to 10 a.m.). Sampling and analysis of the
18 physico-chemical parameters taken into account
was carried out between April 1996 and April 1998
(twice a month during the rainy season and once a
month otherwise). At each location, 1 l of water was
sampled, 50 cm below the surface; 250 ml were then
transferred into a brown glass bottle, for later analysis of chlorophyll. After in situ analysis, bottles were
kept in the dark in a cooler.
Analytical methods followed normalised French
standard methods (AFNOR, 1994). The following
parameters T, pH, cond, EH , DO were determined in
situ, and the others (SS, PO4 -P, Ptot, NO3 -N, NH4 ,
PIRW, PIFW, Chl-a, UV abs, Ca, Mg, Na and K) in
the laboratory within a 3 h delay. The floating macrophytes could not be quantified, because no satisfactory method is available. Their surface density on the
lake depending on the orientation and strength of the
wind.

Table 2
Colonisation of the studied lakes by aquatic plants
Lake

Macrophytes

Estimation of the algae density from the Chl-a concentration

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

A few Lotuses upstream

+
++
+++
++++
++++
++++ (after July 97)
+++++ (if no macrophytes)
+++
+

Lotuses, Pistia, Hyacinths (1020% covered)

Hyacinths before July 97
Pistia and others (usually 100% covered)
Water lilies, Lotuses, Hyacinths (10% covered)
Lotuses and Hyacinths (up to 95% covered in June 1995)
Lotuses, Pistia and others (100% covered until July 1998)

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

3. Results and discussion

299

3.2. Comments on physico-chemical parameters

evolution

3.1. Data treatment

As previously mentioned, the measurement of 18
chemical and physical variables were carried out
twice a month during the rainy season and once a
month during otherwise on 21 sampling sites and
on 9 lakes. Eleven thousand analysis was carried
out during 23 months. A detailed statistical study
(ANOVA, Box plots, etc.), tests and more comments
on this large data base can be found through previous published works (Lhote, 2000; Parinet et al.,
2001).
As PCA is a non parametric method of classification, it makes no assumptions about the underlying statistical distribution of the data (Vega et
al., 1998; Helena et al., 2000; Kalin et al., 2000;
Wunderlin et al., 2001). Nevertheless, in conjunction with the KolmogorovSmirnov test, it could be
found (Table 3) that most variables were normally
distributed particularly when applied to individual
lake. When applied to the nine lakes, some variables could differ from normality, especially in the
case of nutrients (P-PO4 , Ptot, N-NH4 and N-NO3 )
that were the less normally distributed variables.
For these parameters, we obtained approximately
normal distribution with a Ln (x + a) transformation.
To examine the suitability of these data for factor
analysis, KaiserMeyerOlkin (KMO) and Bartletts
tests were performed. KMO is a measure of sampling adequacy that indicates the proportion of variance which is common variance, i.e. which might
be caused by underlying factors. High value (close
to 1) generally indicates that factor analysis may
be useful, which is the case in this study: KMO
= 0.85 (Table 4). If KMO test value is less than
0.5, factor analysis will not be useful. Bartletts test
of sphericity indicates whether correlation matrix is
an identity matrix, which would indicate that variables are unrelated. The significance level which is
0 (Table 4) in this study (less than 0.05) indicate
that there are significance relationships among variables.
Finally, PCA was applied to normalized data, and
so the covariance matrix coincides with the correlation
matrix.

This part presents a synthesis of the measurements.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the mean values of some studied
parameters for each lake, over the 2 years of the study.
A simplified comment is given here for pH, conductivity and alkalines (Na) ions, PO4 -P, Ptot, and Chl-a.
3.2.1. pH
Significant spatial variation of pH was noted
(Fig. 2a). This could be essentially explained here
by the physico-chemical and biological reactions due
to the presence of aquatic vegetation. Comparison
of lakes 6a and 6b demonstrates that the low pH of
water is a consequence of the macrophytes growth.
On the other hand the relatively higher pH in lakes
2, 3, 4, 5, 6b and 8, compared to lake 1 are probably
due to the presence of phytoplankton.
Such observations underline the fact that the environment has a strong feedback effect on the pH.
3.2.2. Conductivity and alkaline ions
Fig. 2c and 2d relative to conductivity and concentrations of sodium ions are logically quite similar,
since conductivity depends particularly on alkaline
ions in the studied waters. The important increase of
these parameters from lake 4 to lake 5 is probably due
to the discharge of domestic wastewater, as demonstrated by the high value of conductivity of lake 7
(500 S/cm) which can be considered as the first collector of Yamoussoukros wastewaters. Therefore, in
this lake system, conductivity will be dependent of
the degree of pollution from urban inputs.
On an other hand, value of conductivity in lake
6a (covered with hyacinths) is lower than its value
in lake 6b (after hyacinths removal). The meaning of
this observation is that conductivity is also depending
on the nature eutrophication processes. Such observation highlights again the feedback effect on conductivity.
3.2.3. Phosphate and total phosphorus
It is generally admitted that phosphorus (Martin,
1987) plays an important role in the development of
aquatic plants, and is, in most cases, considered as
the limiting factor of eutrophication in temperate lakes
(Vollenweider et al., 1980).

300

Table 3
Statistical descriptive and KolmogorovSmirnov normality tests for the samples analysed
Lake

pH

Cond

O2

PO4

Abs

Ptot

MES

IPEB

IPEF

NH4

NO3

Ca

Na

Mg

Chl

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

46
27.71
1.12
0.81
0.53

46
7.46
0.24
0.59
0.88

46
191.57
25.04
0.95
0.33

46
6.76
1.11
1.03
0.24

46
0.02
0.03
2.18
0.00

46
0.98
0.47
2.35
0.00

46
381.93
34.75
0.69
0.73

46
0.58
0.35
1.48
0.033

46
9.89
4.11
0.74
0.65

46
4.63
0.65
1.02
0.25

46
3.50
0.60
1.12
0.16

46
0.08
0.08
1.46
0.03

46
0.03
0.01
1.35
0.05

46
0.01
0.00
0.51
0.96

46
7.84
1.25
0.62
0.84

46
10.50
2.83
0.85
0.46

46
4.93
0.83
0.75
0.62

46
27.25
8.20
0.60
0.86

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

46
27.58
1.06
0.77
0.59

46
8.11
0.52
0.36
1.00

46
180.30
23.38
0.52
0.95

46
6.71
1.60
0.55
0.92

46
0.03
0.05
1.96
0.00

46
0.86
0.42
1.97
0.00

46
371.89
35.31
0.69
0.74

46
0.94
0.52
1.23
0.10

46
19.18
5.73
0.44
0.99

46
5.70
0.94
0.57
0.90

46
3.29
0.72
1.34
0.05

46
0.09
0.09
1.51
0.02

46
0.02
0.01
1.10
0.18

46
0.01
0.00
1.07
0.20

46
6.83
1.22
0.78
0.57

46
9.46
2.74
0.75
0.62

46
4.32
0.95
1.30
0.07

46
74.33
22.08
0.47
0.98

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

46
27.76
1.06
0.93
0.36

46
8.05
0.43
0.79
0.56

46
182.74
25.62
0.50
0.96

46
6.34
1.22
0.71
0.69

46
0.09
0.13
1.65
0.01

46
1.06
0.59
1.48
0.03

46
370.53
34.54
0.64
0.81

46
1.33
0.41
1.29
0.07

46
27.30
7.97
0.57
0.90

46
6.77
1.39
0.92
0.37

46
3.77
0.86
0.77
0.59

46
0.09
0.10
1.80
0.00

46
0.03
0.02
1.50
0.02

46
0.02
0.00
0.66
0.78

46
7.46
1.39
0.40
1.00

46
11.49
2.62
0.51
0.96

46
4.24
0.82
0.86
0.45

46
95.35
31.51
1.10
0.18

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

46
27.63
1.20
0.45
0.99

46
8.27
0.56
0.71
0.69

46
198.09
24.84
0.76
0.61

46
5.70
1.74
0.66
0.78

46
0.13
0.18
1.97
0.00

46
1.20
0.75
1.29
0.07

46
360.95
37.32
0.56
0.91

46
2.24
0.59
0.68
0.75

46
35.82
12.67
0.78
0.58

46
8.45
2.09
0.78
0.58

46
4.52
1.72
0.86
0.46

46
0.11
0.12
1.61
0.01

46
0.04
0.03
1.37
0.05

46
0.01
0.00
0.53
0.95

46
7.79
1.57
0.51
0.95

46
13.60
3.55
0.58
0.89

46
3.73
0.59
0.95
0.33

46
139.11
61.85
0.84
0.48

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

138
27.93
1.16
0.67
0.76

138
7.90
0.45
0.85
0.46

138
317.95
29.42
1.08
0.20

138
5.73
2.11
0.97
0.31

138
0.09
0.11
3.14
0.00

138
1.59
0.80
3.10
0.00

138
345.12
49.34
0.84
0.48

138
2.55
0.73
1.60
0.01

138
28.48
9.11
0.83
0.50

138
8.57
1.49
0.72
0.68

138
4.74
0.96
1.52
0.02

138
0.34
0.37
2.07
0.00

138
0.04
0.02
1.89
0.00

138
0.02
0.00
1.29
0.07

138
20.3
3.15
1.16
0.13

138
21.13
3.78
0.46
0.99

138
5.60
0.76
1.19
0.12

138
179.46
46.16
0.71
0.70

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

46.00
27.40
1.53
0.56
0.91

46.0
7.17
0.45
1.04
0.23

46
322.76
30.65
0.74
0.64

46
3.78
2.23
0.88
0.42

46
0.14
0.13
1.56
0.02

46
1.84
0.95
1.68
0.01

46
270.04
89.29
0.99
0.29

46
2.21
0.70
0.61
0.84

46
19.42
11.90
0.69
0.73

46
7.88
1.57
0.95
0.32

46
5.05
1.11
0.77
0.60

46
0.77
0.48
0.57
0.90

46
0.04
0.02
1.18
0.12

46
0.02
0.00
0.90
0.39

46
20.5
3.38
0.37
1.00

46
20.96
3.71
0.34
1.00

46
5.63
0.72
0.51
0.96

46
105.01
69.01
0.94
0.33

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

46.00
27.54
1.28
0.74
0.64

46.0
7.88
0.65
1.01
0.26

46
278.02
39.00
0.57
0.90

46
5.79
2.77
0.73
0.66

46
0.09
0.18
2.56
0.00

46
1.52
0.91
0.97
0.30

46
343.00
49.34
0.92
0.36

46
3.02
1.90
1.26
0.08

46
35.18
22.26
1.08
0.19

46
8.39
3.49
0.62
0.84

46
4.63
1.71
0.94
0.34

46
0.15
0.15
1.71
0.01

46
0.04
0.03
1.10
0.17

46
0.02
0.00
0.77
0.60

46
15.9
3.35
0.69
0.73

46
19.27
5.03
0.64
0.80

46
4.78
0.86
0.78
0.57

46
168.69
102.54
1.53
0.02

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

23.00
27.47
1.20
0.53
0.94

23.0
7.10
0.27
0.42
0.99

23
229.87
29.67
0.79
0.57

23
3.50
1.02
0.56
0.92

23
0.02
0.03
1.35
0.05

23
0.81
0.40
1.32
0.06

23
331.03
40.74
0.43
0.99

23
0.69
0.27
0.87
0.44

23
5.35
4.08
0.84
0.48

23
3.19
0.48
0.41
1.00

23
2.27
0.44
0.35
1.00

23
0.09
0.07
0.79
0.56

23
0.02
0.01
0.67
0.75

23
0.02
0.00
0.58
0.89

23
10.4
2.36
0.45
0.99

23
13.51
2.08
0.45
0.99

23
3.86
0.94
0.82
0.51

23
24.97
9.93
0.55
0.92

10

N
Mean
S.D.
Z
Sign.

23.00
25.89
1.26
0.64
0.81

23.0
6.61
0.17
0.63
0.82

23
224.74
41.99
0.67
0.76

23
1.14
0.34
0.86
0.46

23
0.55
0.29
0.85
0.46

23
2.22
1.29
0.75
0.63

23
159.93
61.94
0.90
0.39

23
1.96
0.73
0.57
0.90

23
11.37
10.24
0.81
0.54

23
4.98
1.40
0.93
0.35

23
3.50
1.01
0.69
0.73

23
0.13
0.07
0.62
0.84

23
0.06
0.04
0.73
0.65

23
0.02
0.00
0.63
0.82

23
10.5
2.09
0.57
0.90

23
13.09
3.33
0.46
0.98

23
3.52
0.85
0.78
0.57

23
11.11
6.26
0.79
0.55

Grey boxes: significance value smaller than 0.05 indicate that the observed distribution is non normal (14% of the total).

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

Table 4
Correlation matrix (a) and level of significance (b)
T

(b)b
T
pH
Cond
Ptot
SS
O2
PO4
EH
PIRW
PIFW
NH4
NO3
Chl-a
Ca
K
Na
Mg
Abs

pH

Cond

Ptot

SS

O2

PO4

EH

PIRW

PIFW

NH4

NO3

Chl-a

Ca

Na

Mg

Abs

1.000
0.540
0.089
0.071
0.394
0.460
0.290
0.421
0.328
0.293
0.181
0.082
0.486
0.218
0.091
0.225
0.223
0.186

1.000
0.096
0.244
0.724
0.813
0.378
0.560
0.490
0.221
0.246
0.115
0.701
0.451
0.066
0.103
0.049
0.306

1.000
0.529
0.183
0.193
0.120
0.280
0.507
0.556
0.512
0.186
0.434
0.601
0.917
0.902
0.606
0.521

1.000
0.652
0.031
0.235
0.203
0.671
0.560
0.266
0.329
0.609
0.122
0.481
0.634
0.160
0.478

1.000
0.489
0.154
0.258
0.745
0.463
0.084
0.082
0.836
0.274
0.188
0.379
0.072
0.054

1.000
0.523
0.722
0.264
0.057
0.332
0.210
0.520
0.485
0.178
0.063
0.090
0.462

1.000
0.681
0.082
0.269
0.140
0.580
0.157
0.141
0.120
0.170
0.178
0.794

1.000
0.030
0.154
0.346
0.370
0.302
0.424
0.262
0.209
0.023
0.0657

.
1.000
0.811
0.327
0.324
0.780
0.121
0.498
0.672
0.316
0.417

1.000
0.395
0.397
0.529
0.002
0.542
0.707
0.398
0.582

1.000
0.229
0.024
0.270
0.514
0.466
0.305
0.445

1.000
0.077
0.018
0.164
0.277
0.056
0.664

1.000
0.125
0.430
0.589
0.245
0.121

1.000
0.497
0.332
0.473
0.241

1.000
0.858
0.635
0.505

1.000
0.454
0.555

1.000
0.157

1.000

.000
0.124
0.179
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.009
0.144
0.000
0.002
0.119
0.002
0.002
0.008

0.107
0.001
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.002
0.001
0.067
0.000
0.000
0.194
0.089
0.261
0.000

0.000
0.008
0.006
0.058
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.008
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.000
0.345
0.001
0.004
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.056
0.000
0.000
0.018
0.000

0.000
0.022
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.138
0.142
0.000
0.000
0.007
0.000
0.176
0.241

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.228
0.000
0.003
0.000
0.000
0.010
0.207
0.120
0.000

0.000
0.142
0.000
0.034
0.000
0.020
0.033
0.059
0.013
0.010
0.000

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.057
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.492
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.001
0.380
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.158
0.406
0.016
0.000
0.235
0.000

0.052
0.000
0.000
0.001
0.057

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.001

0.000
0.000
0.000

0.000
0.000

0.020

0.350
0.022
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.003
0.385
0.000

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

(a)a
T
pH
Cond
Ptot
SS
O2
PO4
EH
PIRW
PIFW
NH4
NO3
Chl-a
Ca
K
Na
Mg
Abs

KMO test: measure of sampling adequacy: if close to 1, PCA may be useful (KMO test of sampling adequacy: 0.850). Significance level of Barletts test: if close to 0 indicate that there are
significance relationship among variables (Bartletts test of sphericity: significance level: 000).
a
Grey boxes: value of pearson correlation >0.6.
b
Significance values: in the greyed boxes indicate less significance (only 10 values >0.2).

301

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B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

Fig. 2. Average value and standard deviations for each lake: (a) pH; (b) DO; (c) cond; (d) Na; (e) SS; (f) Chl-a.

The quite low values of PO4 -P (Fig. 3e) as well as its

important variability with the allochthonous input led
to high standard deviations. The analysis of this figure
shows that phosphate concentration is not linked to
chlorophyll-a (compare Figs. 2f and 3e for lakes 3 and
5). Lake 5, with chlorophyll-a concentration twice that
of lake 3 has the same phosphate concentration. A low
value of phosphate concentration can be measured in
a mesotrophic lake (little phosphorus inputs) as well
as in an hypereutrophic one (available phosphate is
consumed by biomass).
Nonetheless, PO4 -P concentration seems to depend
on the nature of the biomass. Indeed, the highest
PO4 -P concentrations were those of lakes colonised
by macrophytes (lakes 6a and 10): lake 6a was cov-

ered with water hyacinths and lake 10 was partly

covered by P. stratiotes associated to lotuses rooted
in the sediments.
This result has to be linked to EH value in these
lakes, which was about 150 mV compared to 350 mV
in other lakes (Table 3). Indeed, a reducing environment (EH < 200 mV) leads to a release of mineral
phosphate accumulated in sediments (Ryding and
Rast, 1994).
As for lakes with a high phytoplanktonic biomass,
they are characterised by a generally lower level of
phosphate.
Measurements of total phosphorus (Fig. 3f), carried out on the raw water after mineralization, include
the quantity of phosphorus contained in phytoplank-

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

303

Fig. 3. Average value and standard deviation for each lake: (a) PIRW; (b) UV abs; (c) NO3 -N; (d) NH4 ; (e) PO4 -P; (f) Ptot.

ton and other aquatic organisms. For that reason, they

give an apparently better representation of the trophic
state of the environment in the case of colonisation by
phytoplankton.
Fig. 3f is quite similar to that showing the evolution
of chlorophyll (Fig. 2f) for the first five lakes, which
confirms the link between total phosphorus and phytoplankton (both linked to external load).
However, in the case of colonisation by macrophytes, another interpretation of total phosphorus
should be made. This parameter is one of those
used in the trophic classification (OCDE, 1982).
Applied to our system, the values of total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a mainly correspond to hypereutrophic lakes. However, this classification does
not take into account the great differences exist-

ing among the states of the lakes, as seen previously.

3.2.4. Chlorophyll-a
Chlorophyll-a concentration is considered as a good
indicator of the phytoplanktonic biomass (Forsgerg
and Ryding, 1980; Cloot and Ros, 1996). The high
increase of this parameter between lake 1 (located in
a rural area) and lake 5 (urbanised area) can be explained by urban wastewaters. It must be reminded
that the first four lakes are fed by the same stream,
then their differences in composition is mainly due to
the nature of their inputs. For the first four lakes, we
can note an opposite evolution of DO concentration
(Fig. 2b) and Chlorophyll-a (Fig. 2f). We could consider this, as surprising result, but it has to be noticed

304

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

that measurements were carried out in the morning

when oxygen production by phytoplankton has not yet
compensated its nocturnal consumption.
Lakes 1 and 6a cannot be labelled using the same
trophic state, even if they are both very poor in
chlorophyll-a lake 6a is colonised by macrophytes
that prevent light from penetrating into the water.
Photosynthesis is thus blocked and phytoplankton
cannot develop. Furthermore, as Nakai et al. (1996)
mention, macrophytes may release algaecide constituents. On the other hand, lake 6b results, show that
once hyacinths have been removed, the concentration
in chlorophyll-a rapidly increases, until it reaches that
of lake 5.
These results clearly show that trophic states are
multiform and that those with macrophytes growth
must be separated from those with algae growth.
3.3. Interpretation with the use of principal
component analysis (PCA)
Because of the feedback effect, which depends on
the particular characteristics of each lake, the above
comments pointed out that the intrinsic values of analytical data are not sufficient to make a correct assessment of the trophic status of these lakes.
The trophic levels should therefore be evaluated
from other criteria, which will indirectly take into account relations between analytical parameters.
In this section, we examine how application of
principal component analysis, using correlation coefficients, can describe the various trophic states of this
aquatic system.
3.3.1. Analysis of the 18 variables from the 10 lakes
The study of the main variables presented above
with the examination of the correlation matrix
(Table 4) shows, for all lakes, a good consistence
between the results. For instance we can observe a
good correlation between some couple of variables
Chl-a and PIRW, SS and pH, cond and Na or K,
DO and pH. The correlation between SS and pH
which could, at first, appear surprising, is easily explained by the fact that, in most lakes, SS are made
up of algae biomass which affects the pH (photosynthesis). Concerning the correlation between pH
and Chl-a (Table 5), it can be noted that the value
of this correlation coefficient depends strictly on the

Table 5
R-value of pH/Chl-a correlation
Lake

R value of pH/Chl-a correlation

1
2
3
4
5
6a
6b
8
9
10

0.145
0.354
0.171
0.625
0.624
0.254
0.821
0.748
0.07
0.77

considered lake. In fact, its the same for all others

couples.
The principal component analysis showed that the
eigenvalues of the two first principal components represent up to 62% of the total variance (PC1 35.3%; PC2
27.2%) of the observations. This percentage rises up
to 75.5% when taking into account three components.
However, considering the large number of variables
studied (18), we decided for greater clarity, to plot
factor loadings on a PC1 PC2 axes plane (Fig. 4a). To
correctly interpret this graph, the factor loadings for
each variable on the unrotated components must be
taken into account, as shown in Table 6. The twelve
parameters shown in the greyed boxes of this table
are well represented on the plane under consideration,
either by the first component (cond, Na, K, PIFW,
PIRW, Ptot, UV abs) or by the second (pH, DO, EH ,
SS, Chl-a).
A close look at Fig. 4a shows that well correlated
variables with mineral character (Na, K and cond),
contribute to the construction of component 1, as well
as PIFW which is rather characteristic of organic matter. The observation of data shows that these variables
are linked to allochthonous inputs due to urban pollution in lakes 5, 6 and 8. Therefore, the first component favours the characterisation of allochthonous inputs. The positive values on component 1 correspond
to important inputs, and the negative values to low
inputs.
DO, pH, EH and, to a lesser degree, T, contribute
to the construction of component 2. The positive values of this component will characterise a colonisation
of phytoplanktonic type. Indeed, in an aquatic environment, photosynthesis brings a simultaneous rise in

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

305

Fig. 4. Loadings of the 18 experimental variables (a) and scores of the lakes on the plane defined by principal components 1 and 2
obtained by the 18 experimental variables (b).

pH, DO and EH in the epilimnion, in the conditions

of this study (Fig. 2a and 2b). The negative values
of this component rather characterise a reducing and
acid medium, resulting from macrophytes colonisation (Fig. 2a), the vegetal cover lowering the water
temperature. Thus, this component characterises the
nature of the plants, which colonise the water, and the
intensity of their development.
SS and Chl-a, located next to diagonal XX separating the positive values of components 1 and 2, are
characteristic of external inputs with phytoplanktonic
development (simultaneous influence of components
1 and 2 in their positive values). UV abs, PO4 -P and
NH4 , next to diagonal YY , are characteristic of al-

lochthonous inputs with growth of macrophytes (reducing environment leading to a release of phosphates
and a reduction of nitrate into ammonia). The presence of macrophytes means a rise in UV abs (Fig. 3b)
and a low temperature value.
3.3.2. Analysis of the lakes with 18 variables
With the same approach as on Fig. 4a (build with
18 variables), Fig. 4b shows the scores of each lake
during the period of the study.
In relation to component 1 (characteristic of allochthonous inputs), the position of all lakes is completely in agreement with observations drawn in the
commented results: low allochthonous inputs for lakes

Table 6
Loadings of the principal components 1 and 2
Variable

Component 1

Component 2

Variable

Component 1

Component 2

Na
Cond
K
PIFW
PIRW
Ptot
UW abs
NH4
Mg

0.918
0.856
0.836
0.825
0.812
0.759
0.695
0.522
0.519

0.114
0.165
0.145
0.132
0.407
0.139
0.518
0.371
0.495

NO3 -N
pH
O2
EH
SS
Chl-a
T
PO4 -P
Ca

0.429
0.135
0.077
0.300
0.492
0.635
0.189
0.296
0.323

0.289
0.901
0.886
0.786
0.696
0.678
0.638
0.611
0.530

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B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

1, 2, 3 and 9 and important for lakes 8, 5 and 6 (lakes

4 and 10 being intermediate).
In relation to component 2 (characteristic of nature
and development of biomass), lakes 6a, 9 and 10, covered with macrophytes, were to be found in the negative part of this component while lakes 2, 3, 4, 8, 5
and 6b are in the positive part, subject to greater phytoplanktonic growth.
The positions of lakes 6a and 6b in relation to component 2 confirm the choice of this component for a
characterisation of the nature of the biomass present
in the water. In fact, lake 6a was covered by hyacinths
while lake 6b had been undergoing phytoplanktonic
development after they were removed. The similar position of lake 6 in relation to component 1 in its two
configurations (6a and 6b) logically justifies that allochthonous inputs have changed little between the
periods of study. The type of biomass seems then to
be independent of allochthonous inputs.
Lake 9 is partially covered with lotuses. Its position
on this graph is effectively that of a lake with a low
colonisation by macrophytes.
As for lake 1 with little allochthonous inputs and
little aquatic plant colonisation, it is found at an expected position on the graph.
To sum up, the lakes that evolve from area 1 to area
2 (arrow 1 on Fig. 4b) will be increasingly colonised

by phytoplankton as long as allochthonous inputs increase. The lakes evolving from area 3 to area 4 (arrow 2 on Fig. 4b) will be increasingly colonised by
floating macrophytes. Rooted macrophytes are found
mainly in the shallow lakes of area 3 for which allochthonous inputs are low, the nutrients being in the
sediments. As for an evolution from area 4 to area 2
(observed for lake 6) and from area 3 to area 1 (not
observed), it depends on the outcome of the competition between the plants.
For this kind of water, it seems acceptable to say
that the trophic potential increases along component
1. However, it is necessary to make a distinction based
on the kind and the quantity of biomass produced.
Component 2 seems to be a good representation of the
trophic level.
3.3.3. Time patterns analysis
Fig. 5 shows the scores of lakes 1, 5 and 10 (month
by month) between October 1996 and April 1998 on
the plane defined by the components 1 and 2.
It is interesting to note that scores for each month
are distributed in particular zones of the plane,
which depend both on the water quality of the lake
and its seasonal evolution. This remark could be
taken into account for good management of water
bodies.

Fig. 5. Month by month scores of the lakes 1, 5 and 10.

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

For example, the points corresponding to July 1997

and April 1998 appear quite characteristic for each
lake.
Lake 1 for example, is represented by points which
are located in a small area, which means that the quality of its water depends little on the season, whereas
the points representing lake 5 (which is in an urban
zone), cover a larger area. This indicates that its water quality depends on the season and consequently on
the allochthonous inputs.
The points representing lake 10 (covered with lotuses and P. stratiotes) also spread into a larger area
in the zone corresponding to macrophytes.
The months of July 1997 and April 1998 are shown
on the outer extremities of component 1, characteristic
of allochthonous inputs. These results can be easily
interpreted by taking into account the rainfall shown
on Fig. 6.
The month of July 1997 had a low rainfall (29 mm).
It comes at the end of the rainy season, and followed
June, which had a particularly high rainfall (263 mm).
Lake water was diluted by the rainfall of the previous months, and the soil was too washed for the allochthonous input to be high.

307

The points representing July 1997 for the three lakes

under consideration are located on the lower values
of component 1 (allochthonous inputs component),
which further confirms the preceding hypotheses.
On the other hand, for the month of April 1998,
the situation is reversed. This month is at the beginning of the rainy season, and the rainfall brings to the
lakes the organic and mineral matter accumulated during the three previous months. In that case, the points
representing the three lakes are on the side of the high
values of component 1.
In fact, this observation applies to all the lakes of
this system, which shows that the allochthonous inputs
essentially linked to rainfall runoff plays a major role
on the lakes behaviour.
To sum up, the allochthonous inputs have a spreading effect on the graphic representation while waters
that receive few of these inputs have a condensed representation.
This observation could be used to establish a criterion in order to make a seasonal follow up of the quality of waters. Moreover, the evolution of the shapes of
these graphical surfaces could provide information on
the kind of problems the water under study encoun-

Fig. 6. Rainfall.

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B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

Fig. 7. Variance of factor scores for PC1 and PC2 components for the 10 studied lakes.

ters. For example, plotting of the variance of components 1 and 2 scores versus lake number (Fig. 7)
could provide a representation of water quality evolution for each lake during the studied period. Variance
of factor score 1 gives information about the seasonal
variation of allochthonous inputs, while variance of
factor score 2 gives information about biological or
physico-chemical evolution of the lakes. The annual
evolution of the sum of these two values can be use
as a water quality index.
3.3.4. Interpretation through the PCA using a
reduced number of variables
We may observe that some variables are well correlated. Consequently, it seems possible to simplify this
model. Therefore, we propose here to study how the
representations of variables and lakes evolve when a
more restricted number of variables are taken into account.
Among the set of variables that strongly contribute to the construction of the two first components, we chose to consider the global ones, because
they are more representatives of the whole system.
Their two-by-two correlation include necessarily
the correlation of other variables, which depend on
them.

Four parameters easy to measure were selected: pH

(as an indicator of nature of biomass), conductivity
(as an indicator of external inputs), UV abs and PIRW
(as indicators of dissolved and particular organic matter). We can notice that total organic carbon (TOC)
could be probably used instead of PIRW. Conductivity and pH contribute respectively to the construction
of component 1 and component 2, UV abs and PIRW
contribute to the construction of both components and
are located in two different half planes of the graph
(Fig. 8a). Although phosphorus and nitrogen are usually considered as important parameters for this kind
of study, we did not consider them in this small-scale
model of variables. We will explain this choice latter.
Moreover, it has to be noted that the chosen variables
(except to some extend for conductivity) are more dependent on the effects of eutrophication than on the
causes.Fig. 8a shows the position of the four selected
variables loadings on the principal components 1 and
2. It can be noted that the four variables loadings remain in unchanged positions compared to the eighteen
initial ones. Therefore, the signification of the components remains the same than in the previous case. The
results obtained with four variables (Fig. 8b) show that
the absence of the other variables does not alter the
model (for the studied case).

B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

309

Fig. 8. Loadings of the four selected experimental variables (a) and scores of the 10 lakes on the plane PC1 PC2 obtained by the four
selected variables (b).

3.3.5. Extension of the model to other lakes in the

Yamoussoukro area
Five other lakes were studied in the Yamoussoukro area in order to test the upgradeability of the
model. For lakes in the whole, one (and two for some
lakes) analytical campaigns were conducted (Lhote,
2000).
The Kossou lake (40 km from Yamoussoukro)
is a reservoir of very pure water, with no macrophytes and very few chlorophyll-a. The Yabra lake
(20 km from Yamoussoukro) is entirely covered with
Pistia. The Basilique lake (in Yamoussoukro City)
is entirely covered with Echornia crassipes. The
C.F.P. lake (in Yamoussoukro City) is characterised
by an intermediate urban environment with low
chlorophyll-a concentrations (inferior to lakes 3 and
4), but high conductivity and no macrophytes. The
I.N.S.E.T. lake (7 km from Yamoussoukro) was built
on springs and receives wastewater. It contains many
algae.
For this model, the estimated scores (Fig. 9) of the
five additional lakes were computed by multiplying
the mean values of their five normalised variables by
factor score coefficients. As it could be shown, the
five lakes are totally in accordance with the findings
and the summary description made. It can be noted
that Yabra lake and Basilique lake are indeed in a
macrophyte zone and that the I.N.S.E.T. lake, containing many algae is in an expected position. Although

these 5 lakes are not supplied by the same waters as

the 10 reference lakes, their PCA representation is in
good agreement with their physico-chemical and biological features. Consequently, the extension of this
methodology to other tropical water seems possible. In
the same way, it is now possible to envisage building
larger PCA models taking into account a great number
of different tropical lakes.

Fig. 9. Extension of the PCA model (with four variables) to other

lakes in the Yamoussoukro area.

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B. Parinet et al. / Ecological Modelling 178 (2004) 295311

4. Conclusion
From the study of the behaviour of these lakes,
it is obvious that the feedback effect can be applied to eutrophication processes, but also to other
physico-chemical and biological ones. This feedback effect could be extended to every lake in
tropical but also in temperate climates whatever the
kind of biomass that colonises them. When such a
phenomenon appears, the state of equilibrium of the
aquatic medium is modified. Therefore, we observe a
change in every relation linking analytical variables.
By construction, PCA made with correlation coefficients, takes into account these changes, and become
an easy and appropriate tool for such a description.
Based on an ideal lacustrian tropical system, this
study tried to show that a precise description could be
made. It also showed that it was possible to simplify
the description (without impairing its quality) by the
use of only four simple parameters: conductivity,
pH, permanganate index (in acidic medium) and UV
absorbance (at 254 nm).
It seemed a priori iconoclastic to describe such a
lake system without considering nutrients (nitrogen
and phosphorus) or morphology contributions. Although, values of analytical variables are linked to
both causes and effects of eutrophication, nutrients
are mostly linked to causes and become unpredictable
variables (because of their allochthonous character).
Consequently, it is better to consider only variables
that are mostly linked to effects.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank the UNDP/GEF project IWC/94/
G31 Aquatic weed control in water bodies for improving/restoring biodiversity, for financial support.

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