saprobity Ecol.
(səˈprəʊbɪtɪ)
[f. saprobic a. + -ity.]
The degree to which the decomposition of organic material is occurring in an aquatic environment.
| 1956 Archiv für Hydrobiol. LI. 389 Utilization of the running water Macroorganism as Indicators of the water saprobity degrees (sensu Kolkwitz-Marsson). 1965 Hydrobiologia XXV. 523 The saprobity system is applicable only to organic pollution undergoing bacterial decomposition and it is useless for the assessment of the effects of poisons or other pollutional matters. 1973 Bayly & Williams Inland Waters & their Ecol. xii. 254 The ‘saprobity indices’ of several European workers..are indirect measures of pollution based upon a combination of chemical, bacteriological, and biological features. |