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Effects of urban demand for food and water on physicochemicals and biotic structure of riverine wetlands in the Pampean plain

2021; Elsevier BV; Volume: 22; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ecohyd.2021.08.006

2080-3397

Nora Gómez, Augusto Siri, Leandro Rodrigues Capítulo, Darío César Colautti, Leandro Alcalde, Alberto Rodrigues Capítulo, Mariano Donato, María Fernanda Álvarez, Javier Ricardo García de Souza, Roberto Jensen, Delia Elena Bauer, Miriam Edith Maroñas, Juan Martín Paredes del Puerto, Paula Altieri, Laura Cecilia Armendáriz, Hernán Hugo Benítez, Maria Cassano, Bianca Cortese, Hugo Daniel Di Giorgi, Jorge Luis Donadelli, María Mercedes Nicolosi Gelis, Ignacio García, Tomás Maiztegui, Ariel Paracampo, Rocío Sánchez, María Belén Sathicq, Ludmila Noelia Soledad Rodríguez Catanzaro,

Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology

Riparian areas of riverine plains develop extensive floodable areas named riverine wetlands, which are essential to the water cycle balance and ecosystem dynamics. In this study, we contrasted the hydrological and physicochemical variables of riverine wetlands of both peri-urban areas impacted by intensive farming and those of rural areas with the indicators of the biotic structure (taxonomic richness, Shannon diversity and total density) of benthic diatoms, phytoplankton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, chironomids, fishes, turtles, and birds. The study was performed on riverine waters of the Pampean plain, Argentina, with four seasonal samplings conducted in 2017–2018. Our results showed that the significant deepening of the groundwater level caused by aquifer overexploitation in peri-urban areas, as well as the declining surface water quality with higher phosphorus and total nitrogen concentrations, affected the taxonomic richness, diversity, and total density of the biotic assemblages of riverine wetlands. The taxonomic richness of birds, turtles, phytoplankton, chironomids, and fishes was the most sensitive to land use. Phytoplankton, chironomid, and fish diversity showed the greatest differences between rural and peri-urban riverine waters, while the total density of chironomids and birds showed the greatest differences according to land use. The results suggest that the socioeconomic development in those riverine wetlands that still maintain conditions close to the natural ones needs to be subject to guidelines derived from integrated basin management and sustainable urban planning.