Montserrat Real

Community composition and sensitivity of periphyton to atrazine in flowing waters : The role of environmental factors

The relationship between environmental variables, community composition and the sensitivity of periphyton on artificial substrata to the herbicide atrazine (EC50 values obtained by concentration-effect curves of photosynthesis to atrazine) was studied for 20 stream and river sites on a latitudinal across Europe (Sweden, The Netherlands, Spain). Sensitivity to atrazine was higher in Swedish than in the Spanish or Dutch sites. Direct gradient analyses were used to relate diatom taxa and algal groups with environmental variables. A first redundancy analysis (RDA) based on diatom taxa showed a pollution gradient (atrazine and nutrient concentration) associated to diatom taxa that are indicators of different degrees of pollution. A second RDA based on algal groups showed that diatom-dominated communities corresponded both to sites at higher altitudes and less industrialized areas and to sites with higher atrazine concentration; Cyanobacteria were the most common in industrial areas, whereas Chlorophyceae dominated in sites with high water temperature and alkalinity. Linear regression analyses were applied to find the relationship between the ordination axes obtained and the EC50 values. First axes of both RDA showed significant or marginally significant relationship with atrazine sensitivity. Regression analyses for the Spanish sites indicated that the sensitivity to atrazine was related with light conditions (EC50 was positively correlated with light) and the percentage of different algal groups (EC50 was positively correlated with the percentage of diatoms and negatively correlated with the percentage of green algae). The results indicating that differences in sensitivity are related to environmental variables such as light, nutrients or atrazine concentration, permitted us to identify biological indicators of sensitivity to atrazine in lotic systems: Bacillariophyceae-dominated periphyton communities were more tolerant than Chlorophyceae and Chrysophyceae-dominated communities. In addition, diatom taxa found to be tolerant to atrazine in this study have been considered in the literature to be tolerant to organic pollution.

Effects of atrazine on periphyton under grazing pressure.

An experiment was carried out using indoor experimental channels to assess the long-term effect (18 days) of herbivores (Physella acuta, Gastropoda) on periphyton communities exposed to low levels of atrazine (14 microg l(-1)). We hypothesized that herbivorism modifies the response of periphyton to atrazine. Carbon incorporation, chlorophyll-a content, biovolume and algal taxonomic composition in the channels that contained atrazine were not significantly different from the control channels (not receiving atrazine). In channels with grazers and atrazine, there was a significant reduction of carbon incorporation and algal density. In this treatment, physiognomic forms and algal composition were significantly different from the others. The biomass of grazers (measured as change in dry mass) was not significantly affected by the addition of atrazine. Grazers maintained low levels of periphyton biomass, enhancing algal cell exposition to toxicant and inhibiting any adaptation of the algae to the toxic exposure. The increase in atrazine toxicity with grazing not only affected the metabolism, but also the structure of the algal community, which suggests that effects were not transient but permanent.

Structure and function of benthic algal communities in an extremely acid river

The composition of algal species and pigments and the structural and functional characteristics of the algal community were investigated in an acid stream of southwestern Spain, the Río Tinto. The algal community had low diversity and showed few seasonal differences. It was mainly made up of Klebsormidium flaccidum Kütz. (Silva, Mattox & Blackwell) that produced long greenish or purplish filaments, Pinnularia acoricola Hust. (producing brown patches) and Euglena mutabilis Schmitz. The algal filaments made up a consistent biofilm that also included fungal hyphae, iron bacterial sheaths, diatoms, and mineral particles. HPLC analyses on Río Tinto samples showed that undegraded chl accounted for 67% of the total chl in the filamentous patches but were a minority in the brown patch (2.6%). The brown patch had a concentration of carotenoids eight times lower than that observed in the green patch. When chl concentrations were weighted for the proportion of the different patches on the streambed, undegraded chl a accounted for 89.2 mg chl a·m−2 of stream surface area (5.4 g C·m−2). This high algal biomass was supported by relatively high nutrient concentrations and by a high phosphatase activity (Vmax = 137.7 nmol methylumbelliferyl substrate·cm−2·h− 1 , Km = 0.0045 μM). The remarkable algal biomass in Río Tinto potentially contributed to the bacterial–fungal community and to the macroinvertebrate community and emphasizes the role that the algae may have in the organic matter cycling and energy flow in extreme systems dominated by heterotrophic microorganisms.

The effect of copper exposure on a simple aquatic food chain

The effect of copper (44 microg l(-1)) on a simple food chain was studied using indoor experimental channels to identify the changes in periphyton community (metabolism, chlorophyll a content, abundance, composition and lipid and protein content) and in herbivore (Stagnicola vulnerata) growth rate and reproduction. The algal community was sensitive to copper at the beginning but differences between treatments were not significant during the experiment. However, copper affected growth rate, reproduction and embryo hatching on snails. These results indicate that the effects on snails are more sensitive endpoints in assessing sublethal copper toxicity than effects on periphyton.

Water toxicity assessment and spatial pollution patterns identification in a Mediterranean River Basin District. Tools for water management and risk analysis

In compliance with the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive, monitoring of the ecological and chemical status of Catalan river basins (NE Spain) is carried out by the Catalan Water Agency. The large amount of data collected and the complex relationships among the environmental variables monitored often mislead data interpretation in terms of toxic impact, especially considering that even pollutants at very low concentrations might contribute to the total toxicity. The total dataset of chemical monitoring carried out between 2007 and 2008 (232 sampling stations and 60 pollutants) has been analyzed using sequential advanced modeling techniques. Data on concentrations of contaminants in water were pre-treated in order to calculate the bioavailable fraction, depending on substance properties and local environmental conditions. The resulting values were used to predict the potential impact of toxic substances in complex mixtures on aquatic biota and to identify hot spots. Exposure assessment with Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) and mixture toxicity rules were used to compute the multi-substances Potentially Affected Fraction (msPAF). The combined toxicity of the pollutants analyzed in the Catalan surface waters might potentially impact more than 50% of the species in 10% of the sites. In order to understand and visualize the spatial distribution of the toxic risk, Self Organising Map (SOM), based on the Kohonens Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm, was applied on the output data of these models. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed on top of Neural Network results in order to identify main influential variables which account for the pollution trends. Finally, predicted toxic impacts on biota have been linked and correlated to field data on biological quality indexes using macroinvertebrate and diatom communities (IBMWP and IPS). The methodology presented could represent a suitable tool for water managers in environmental risk assessment and management.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DISTRIBUTION OF CHIRONOMIDS AND OLIGOCHAETES IN PROFUNDAL AREAS OF SPANISH RESERVOIRS

A canonical correlation analysis was performed in order to explain the distribution and abundance of the profundal macrozoobenthos in 71 Spanish reservoirs. Two sets of variables were considered: one set consisted of subgroups of benthic organisms based on their feeding strategy, and the other consisted of environmental variables related to the trophic state of the reservoir.The results showed that densities of phytophagous chironomids decreased with water depth and increased with oxygen content in the bottom waters, while Tanypodinae densities increased with rising densities of phytophagous chironomids and/or oligochaetes, revealing their strong dependence on the abundance of available prey. The abundance of oligochaetes and phytophagous chironomids showed a disjunct distribution with season and depth, suggesting the importance of food quality and sediment texture.Oxygen availability and water depth acted as governing factors for the zoobenthos. Chlorophyll-a was of secondary importance and correlated inversely with the abundance of benthic fauna, especially in summer. Autogenic production coupled with inputs of allochthonous coarse particulate organic matter and a long stratification period lead to long lasting anoxia that reduces the benthic fauna in Spanish reservoirs.Only up to 18% of the variability in the biological data could be associated with the environmental factors considered. Thus, factors other than the trophic state are much more important in reservoirs. Fluctuations of the water level and inputs of organic and inorganic materials coming from the basin are greater than in lakes and act as stressing factors for the benthic fauna.

Monitoring the effects of floods on submerged macrophytes in a large river

The lower Ebro River (Catalonia, Spain) has recently undergone a regime shift from a phytoplankton to a macrophyte-dominated system. Macrophytes started to spread at the end of the 1990s and since 2002 artificial floods (flushing flows) of short duration (1-2 days) are released from the Riba-roja dam once or twice a year in order to reduce macrophyte density. The aim of this study was to analyse the spatiotemporal trends of the submerged macrophytes in two stretches of the lower Ebro River using high-resolution hydroacoustic methods, in order to elucidate the effects of artificial floods and natural floods on its distribution and abundance. Results showed that the mean cover in the two studied stretches (Móra and Ginestar) was not reduced after a flushing flow (from 36.59% to 55.85% in Móra, and from 21.18% to 21.05% in Ginestar), but it was greatly reduced after the natural flood (down to 9.79% in Móra and 2.04% in Ginestar); surprisingly the cover increased in Móra after the artificial flood. In order to increase the efficiency of floods in controlling macrophyte spreading, the magnitude and frequency of them should largely increase, as well as the suspended sediment load, approaching as much as possible to the original flood pattern before dam construction. Hydroacoustic methods combined with geostatistics and interpolation in GIS can accurately monitor spatiotemporal trends of submerged macrophytes in large rivers. This is the first article to apply this monitoring system to submerged macrophytes in rivers.

Chironomids and regional water types

The distribution pattern of 115 chironomid taxa at 664 sites, distributed over all kinds of water, was analyzed and related to 42 water types, based on the complete macrofauna composition. The distinction of chironomid groups was not useful to recognize water types. The use of individual chironomid taxa was more sensitive, though also too limited to recognize water types clearly. Chironomids are distributed along a continuum which is directed by master factors and detailed by habitat factors.

Hydromorphological Methodologies to Assess Ecological Status in Mediterranean Rivers: Applied Approach to the Catalan River Basin District

Methodologies currently used to assess hydromorphological features in Mediterranean rivers are reviewed in this chapter. Most relevant methodologies developed across Europe in compliance with WFD (Water Framework Directive) are also analyzed, along with their adaptations to different spatial scales from European, national to regional scales. We also present those hydromorphological protocols that have been developed, used and tested in the Catalan River Basin District, within the framework of monitoring programmes under the requirements of the WFD. The Catalan Water Agency developed a comprehensive protocol to assess hydromorphological conditions in Catalan watersheds, named HIDRI, which assesses and combines hydrological alteration, river continuity and morphological conditions. HIDRI is a compiled protocol based on different metrics and includes large information at river catchment scale.