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Application of a statistical model for the assessment of environmental quality in neotropical semi-arid reservoirs

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a statistical model to assess the environmental quality of reservoirs located in semi-arid region using metrics of anthropogenic disturbance, water quality variables, and benthic macroinvertebrate communities as indicators. The proposed model was applied to 60 sites located in three reservoirs in the Paraíba river basin, Brazilian semi-arid region. Collections were made in December 2011. In each site, we collected one sample of benthic macroinvertebrates and one water sample for the determination of physical and chemical parameters. Characterization of the landscape was made through application of 10 physical habitat protocols on each site for the collected information on disturbance and subsequent calculation of disturbance metrics. The results showed the formation of two groups: group 1, consisting of 16 minimally altered sites, and group 2, with 44 severely altered sites. The proposed statistical model was sensitive enough to detect changes. In the minimally altered group, the Chironomids Aedokritus and Fissimentum were dominant, indicating a higher environmental quality, while Coelotanypus and Chironomus were abundant in severely altered sites with lower environmental quality. The conservation and management of reservoirs in semi-arid regions should be intensified in view of the need to maintain the environmental quality of these ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Coordenação Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes), for providing a masters scholarship for the first author; the Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB); the Laboratório de Ecologia de Bentos (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais); and the Laboratório de Ecologia Aquática and Ecologia de Bentos (UEPB), reserarch project (CNPq/MCTI 446721/2014-0). MC was awarded a research productivity CNPq (no. 303380/2015-2), research project CNPq (no. 446155/2014-4), and Minas Gerais research grant FAPEMIG PPM-IX—00525–15.

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  1. Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Departamento de Biologia, Laboratórios de Ecologia Aquática e Laboratório de Ecologia de Bentos, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Rua das Baraúnas, Campina Grande, PB, 58429-500, Brazil

    Evaldo de Lira Azevêdo, José Etham de Lucena Barbosa, Leandro Gomes Viana, Maria José Pinheiro Anacleto & Joseline Molozzi

  2. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Laboratório de Ecologia de Bentos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, CP. 486, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil

    Marcos Callisto

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  1. Evaldo de Lira Azevêdo
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  2. José Etham de Lucena Barbosa
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de Lira Azevêdo, E., de Lucena Barbosa, J.E., Viana, L.G. et al. Application of a statistical model for the assessment of environmental quality in neotropical semi-arid reservoirs. Environ Monit Assess 189, 65 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5723-3

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