AN ALGEBRAIC GRAPHICAL TOOL TO COMPARE ECOSYSTEMS WITH RESPECT TO THEIR POLLUTION - THE GERMAN RIVER ELBE AS AN EXAMPLE .1. HASSE-DIAGRAMS

Often comparisons are to be performed, which have their basis not on simple but on vectorial quantities. With the example of polluted sections of the river Elbe and some of its tributaries the technique of Hasse-diagrams is shown. With respect to heavy metal pollution and some aspects of water quality the tributaries Saale and Mulde are maximally loaded, however, the kind of loading is different from each other. Phenomenological interpretations are given and the importance of long and short range effects is outlined.