Open AccessInfluence of wastewater discharges on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in a cantabrian-atlantic coastal river
Author(s) -
David Gutiérrez,
Romina Álvarez-Troncoso,
Yasmina MartínezBarciela,
Alejandro Polina,
Josefina Garrido
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of limnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.465
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1723-8633
pISSN - 1129-5767
DOI - 10.4081/jlimnol.2021.2014
Subject(s) - benthic zone , environmental science , invertebrate , species richness , water quality , abundance (ecology) , estuary , wastewater , ecology , hydrology (agriculture) , sewage , oceanography , fishery , biology , environmental engineering , geology , geotechnical engineering
This paper studies the effect of wastewater discharges on benthic macroinvertebrates in the Furnia River (Pontevedra, NW Spain). Semiquantitative surveys were carried out in spring 2008 and 2017 in three different locations, upstream and downstream of a sewage treatment plant built in 2013. Different indexes were calculated based on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages: abundance, richness, Shannon-Wiener, EPT, IASPT, IBMWP and several physicochemical variables were measured concurrently. Although the indexes values decreased slightly along the water course, the results indicate an optimal water quality of the Furnia River, supporting a very diverse community of aquatic macroinvertebrates.