Paolo Formichetti

Biological quality of running waters in protected areas: the influence of size and land use

There are still substantial questions about whether protected areas affect the quality and biodiversity of surface waters within their borders. In this study, the size and land use of 19 protected areas of Latium Region (central Italy) were related to the biological quality of 32 streams running inside them. Additionally, the biological quality of 18 out of the 32 streams was compared with the quality recorded on the same streams outside the boundaries of the protected areas. The biological quality was assessed using the Extended Biotic Index, which indicates the macroinvertebrate community health. The quality of 32 study streams running through the protected areas was not related to the size of these areas, but it did reflect land use. On average, the 18 study sites inside protected areas had biological quality similar to external control sites. In the protected areas, the biological quality of streams was higher than for the same streams in the surrounding territory provided that anthropogenic changes were fewer. These data indicate that the creation of protected areas per se does not increase freshwater biodiversity and that land use has a major impact on the biological quality of the stream in a protected area. As a consequence, a higher number of reserves or landscape designations specifically created for aquatic conservation is necessary and recovery programs aimed at restoring physical habitats and reducing sources of impact to aquatic life have to be pursued. Also, where the anthropogenic impact is high (e.g., as in the case of strongly urbanised areas), the creation of effective protected areas might improve the biological quality of water courses.

The presence of a river bird, the dipper, in relation to water quality and biotic indices in central Italy

A good water quality bio-indicator should be sensitive to different forms of water degradation in any geographical area, and effectively track water quality changes in time. We investigated whether the presence of a bird, the dipper (Cinclus cinclus), in 47 reaches of 35 streams of central Italy was affected by stream pollution as assessed by the Extended Biotic Index. Data from the literature and interviews with ornithologists furnished information about past dipper presence and water quality in the study streams. In 93.3% of cases dippers occurred in unpolluted reaches. The dipper was absent from 93.7% of polluted or strongly polluted streams. Dippers disappeared from 50% of the study streams for which past information was available. In a few streams dippers disappeared after the quality of water had degraded. Water quality degradation in the study area, especially in the hill streams, is causing dipper areale to contract to higher altitudes. Dipper is a good water quality bio-indicator for Mediterranean streams.

Breeding site selection of Bufo viridis in the city of Rome (Italy)

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A molecular approach for the impact assessment of fecal pollution in river ecosystems

Microbiological indicators such as Escherichia coli and Enterococci are commonly used to detect fecal pollution and presence of other pathogens, in the monitoring programs of sanitary surveillance of freshwater ecosystems. Clostridium perfringens (spores) is suggested as an alternative fecal indicator, it provides evidence of historical fecal contamination. This work aims at assessing the genetic variability of the anaerobic microbial community in river sediments and its relation to different fecal pollution sources. This can be obtained through a combined approach involving microbiological and molecular (16S rRNA) tools of isolated bacteria. The study was conducted on the river systems Foglia, Tevere, Astura, and Sitzerri located in three Italian regions. The frequencies of observed haplotypes proved to be remarkably different in the four sampling areas. The phylogenetic relationships among the species obtained from the comparison of the different genetic sequences made it possible to identify six homogeneous clusters, among which, five were attributed to the genus Clostridium and one to the genus Bacillus. The results of this study suggest a possible relation between different typologies of impacts and the presence of particular species of anaerobes. The research for sulfite reducing clostridia in river sediments could therefore have an essential role in the query for complete information on the quality state of river ecosystems.