{"title":"Influence of aquatic biodiversity on the self-purification of tropical rivers","authors":"Jaielle Rodrigues Nascimento , Jovenilson Ferreira dos Santos , Gisele Daiane Pinha , Jeniffer de Barros Cabral , Nadson Ressyé Simões","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107540","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water resources face several challenges from human activities that increase their vulnerability and negatively impact on their resilience, particularly concerning the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study hypothesized that aquatic biodiversity contributes to maintaining the ecosystem service of the improving water quality in the Almada and Cachoeira Rivers, in northeastern Brazil. To test the hypothesis, samples were taken upstream (clean water zone) and downstream (active decomposition zones) from three urban areas of each river basin, and the Streeter-Phelps self-purification model was applied. The landscape was predominantly characterized by pastures and forest formations. Principal Component Analysis indicated greater variability in the physical and chemical variables of the active decomposition zones. The headwater stretches were the most affected by organic pollution; the Almada River presented a more efficient self-purification process. Zooplankton richness and abundance showed significant differences between the clean water and the active decomposition zones. There was a correlation between attributes of both benthic and planktonic communities and certain physicochemical variables, such as dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). The correlation between community attributes, including tolerant groups, and DO and BOD concentrations along each stretch, generated by the model, demonstrated the positive effect of the composition and abundance of planktonic organisms on self-purification processes. Given the observed anthropogenic impacts, sewage treatment measures should be implemented to sustain ecosystem services provided by water.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 107540"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecological Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092585742500028X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Water resources face several challenges from human activities that increase their vulnerability and negatively impact on their resilience, particularly concerning the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study hypothesized that aquatic biodiversity contributes to maintaining the ecosystem service of the improving water quality in the Almada and Cachoeira Rivers, in northeastern Brazil. To test the hypothesis, samples were taken upstream (clean water zone) and downstream (active decomposition zones) from three urban areas of each river basin, and the Streeter-Phelps self-purification model was applied. The landscape was predominantly characterized by pastures and forest formations. Principal Component Analysis indicated greater variability in the physical and chemical variables of the active decomposition zones. The headwater stretches were the most affected by organic pollution; the Almada River presented a more efficient self-purification process. Zooplankton richness and abundance showed significant differences between the clean water and the active decomposition zones. There was a correlation between attributes of both benthic and planktonic communities and certain physicochemical variables, such as dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). The correlation between community attributes, including tolerant groups, and DO and BOD concentrations along each stretch, generated by the model, demonstrated the positive effect of the composition and abundance of planktonic organisms on self-purification processes. Given the observed anthropogenic impacts, sewage treatment measures should be implemented to sustain ecosystem services provided by water.
期刊介绍:
Ecological engineering has been defined as the design of ecosystems for the mutual benefit of humans and nature. The journal is meant for ecologists who, because of their research interests or occupation, are involved in designing, monitoring, or restoring ecosystems, and can serve as a bridge between ecologists and engineers.
Specific topics covered in the journal include: habitat reconstruction; ecotechnology; synthetic ecology; bioengineering; restoration ecology; ecology conservation; ecosystem rehabilitation; stream and river restoration; reclamation ecology; non-renewable resource conservation. Descriptions of specific applications of ecological engineering are acceptable only when situated within context of adding novelty to current research and emphasizing ecosystem restoration. We do not accept purely descriptive reports on ecosystem structures (such as vegetation surveys), purely physical assessment of materials that can be used for ecological restoration, small-model studies carried out in the laboratory or greenhouse with artificial (waste)water or crop studies, or case studies on conventional wastewater treatment and eutrophication that do not offer an ecosystem restoration approach within the paper.