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Implications of wastewater discharges on environmental features and fish communities in an urban river

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Abstract

Wastewater effluent discharges from treatment plants (WTP) are among the most pervasive stressors in urban rivers, however, their impact on the different levels of biological organization is poorly understood. This study examined the effects of wastewater effluent outflow on different trophic levels in an urban river and measured physicochemical features; bacterial, periphyton, and riparian forest composition; as well as the abundance, density, and biomass of freshwater fish at both pre- and post-WTP effluent discharge sites. Strong modification of the riparian vegetation was seen downstream from the WTP with a dominance in the richness of exotic plants. The highest values of conductivity, total bacterial composition, periphyton, and nutrients were detected in post-WTP sites. The freshwater fish recorded in the pre-WTP reaches had the highest abundance values for all species recorded. However, the exotic Brown Trout appeared to be indirectly favoured by the nutrient subsidy from the WTP discharges since the biggest individuals were recorded at post-WTP river reaches. Although the river assessed runs through an underdeveloped region in the country; our findings indicated a strong deterioration in environmental conditions and a complex relationship between the biotic responses to effluent pollution. Adequate treatment of effluent discharges is a crucial issue for urban rivers. Management actions are required because the consequences of chronic exposure on aquatic wildlife are unknown. Mostly, Patagonian aquatic systems have not yet reached an ecological tipping point, so it is recommended that restoration plans incorporate improvements in sewage treatment to avoid further degradation of ecosystem services.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Secretaría de Pesca de Río Negro, Secretaría de Pesca Continental de Chubut and the wildlife protection team. This paper has been supported by grants from Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Ciencia y Tecnología Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco PI 1460/18, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología-PICT2016-0180 and Proyecto de Unidades Ejecutoras-CONICET- 0060/17. Thanks to Gwion Elis-Williams (BSc) for the English language revision and valuable comments and suggestions. Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments that greatly improved the manuscript. This is Scientific Contribution Nº 165 from LIESA-FCNyS.

Funding

This paper has been supported by grants from Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Ciencia y Tecnología Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco PI 1460/18, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología-PICT2016-0180 and Proyecto de Unidades Ejecutoras-CONICET- 0060/17.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica (CONICET-UNPSJB), Roca 780, Esquel, Chubut, Argentina

    Cecilia Yanina Di Prinzio, Yanina Andrea Assef, Adriana Mabel Kutschker, Walter Mauricio Dromaz, Pamela Quinteros & María Laura Miserendino

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Esquel, Chubut, Argentina

    Alan Sebastián Andrade-Muñoz, Cecilia Yanina Di Prinzio, Yanina Andrea Assef, Adriana Mabel Kutschker, Germán Alday, Walter Mauricio Dromaz, Pamela Quinteros & María Laura Miserendino

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  1. Alan Sebastián Andrade-Muñoz
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  2. Cecilia Yanina Di Prinzio
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  3. Yanina Andrea Assef
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  4. Adriana Mabel Kutschker
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  8. María Laura Miserendino
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Ph.D. student Alan Sebastian Andrade-Muñóz, Dr. Cecilia Di Prinzio, Dr. Yanina Assef, Dr. Adriana Kutchsker, MSc German Alday, Technical assistant Mauricio Dromaz, Dr. Pamela Quinteros and Dr. M Laura Miserendino. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dr. Cecilia Di Prinzio and Ph.D. Student Alan Sebastian Andrade-Muñóz and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Cecilia Yanina Di Prinzio.

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Andrade-Muñoz, A.S., Di Prinzio, C.Y., Assef, Y.A. et al. Implications of wastewater discharges on environmental features and fish communities in an urban river. Urban Ecosyst 26, 779–791 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01331-1

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