Abstract
An applied groundwater study of the ‘Plana de Castellón’ was performed to investigate possible impacts of pollutants on ecological characteristics of the aquifer. The area is illustrative for a western mediterranean coastal plain, densely populated, industrialized, and with intensive agricultural land-use. During one year, six wells in a subsection of the plain were monitored, simultaneously sampled for zoological and physicochemical analysis. Heavy metals and pesticides were not (or at very low levels) detected in the wells. Low correlations were found between physicochemical and biological data, but there were indications that organic pollution affects the abundance of the fauna. A logarithmic relationship between abundance and COD/BOD5-ratio is postulated. Salinization, an important threat to the groundwater of the area, was clearly reflected in the chemistry of one of the wells. Probably, this process has important consequences for abundance and diversity of the fauna.
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Notenboom, J., Serrano, R., Morell, I. et al. The phreatic aquifer of the ‘Plana de Castellón’ (Spain):relationships between animal assemblages and groundwater pollution. Hydrobiologia 297, 241–249 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019288
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019288