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Anthropogenic impacts on rivers: use of multiple indicators to assess environmental quality status

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Abstract

The effects of urban growth are multidimensional and therefore they cannot be assessed using only one indicator. The objective of this study was to assess the environmental quality of urbanized rivers through the evaluation of multiple indicators, including water quality, habitat condition, macroinvertebrate assemblages, and anuran amphibians as bioindicators. Twelve sites along three rivers were characterized regarding water quality and habitat condition using a Habitat Model Affinity score, during high-flow and low-flow seasons between 2009 and 2013. Fourteen water quality parameters were assessed at each site. A general Water Quality Index was applied to the physical, chemical, and bacteriological data. Macroinvertebrate taxa richness, Plecoptera–Ephemeroptera–Trichoptera richness, and the Biotic Index of San Luis Sierras were the metrics used to analyze macroinvertebrate assemblage shifts. Species richness and relative abundance of amphibians were estimated from calling and visual encounter surveys, in parallel with all aforementioned parameters. Principal Component Analysis identified that macroinvertebrate-based metrics were superior in reflecting the water quality and habitat condition impairments, whereas amphibian metrics showed a differential sensitivity to specific water quality parameters such as nutrient enrichment. This study contributes to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the chemical and biological processes experienced by urban affected environments.

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Acknowledgements

Authors gratefully acknowledge Instituto de Química de San Luis “Dr. Roberto Olsina”- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (INQUISAL-CONICET) and Universidad Nacional de San Luis (Project PROICO 2-2418) for financial support. We thank MSc. Angela Stires for the valuable language and grammar revision of the manuscript. Finally, we would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped to improve the quality of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by Universidad Nacional de San Luis through a Grant Project PROICO 02-2418 and a Postdoctoral Grant for Dr. Mirian Calderon (RESOL-2020-134-APN-DIR#CONICET) from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INQUISAL-CONICET, Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, UNSL, Chacabuco 917, D5700BWS, San Luis, Argentina

    Mirian Roxana Calderon, Silvia Patricia González, Juan Manuel Pérez-Iglesias & Mariana Beatriz Jofré

  2. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, UNSL, Ejercito de los Andes 930, Bloque I, Piso 2, D5700BWS, San Luis, Argentina

    Mirian Roxana Calderon, Silvia Patricia González & Mariana Beatriz Jofré

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  1. Mirian Roxana Calderon
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  2. Silvia Patricia González
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  3. Juan Manuel Pérez-Iglesias
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  4. Mariana Beatriz Jofré
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design of the results provided in this manuscript. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by MRC, SPG, JMPI, and MBJ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MRC and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mirian Roxana Calderon.

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Calderon, M.R., González, S.P., Pérez-Iglesias, J.M. et al. Anthropogenic impacts on rivers: use of multiple indicators to assess environmental quality status. Hydrobiologia 850, 469–487 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-05090-6

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