Effects of urban demand for food and water on physicochemicals and biotic structure of riverine wetlands in the Pampean plain

GÓMEZ N; SIRI A; RODRIGUES CAPÍTULO L; COLAUTTI DC; ALCALDE L; RODRIGUES CAPÍTULO A; DONATO M; ALVAREZ MF; GARCÍA DE SOUZA JR; JENSEN RF; BAUER DE; MAROÑAS M; PAREDES DEL PUERTO JM; ALTIERI P; ARMENDÁRIZ LC; BENÍTEZ HH; CASSANO MJ; CORTESE B; DIGIORGI HD; DONADELLI JL; NICOLOSI GELIS MM; GARCÍA ID; MAIZTEGUI T; PARACAMPO AH; SÁNCHEZ RM; SATHICQ MB; RODRÍGUEZ CATANZARO LNS

Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology

European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Año: 2022 vol. 22 p. 355 - 369

1642-3593

Riparian areas of riverine plains develop extensive floodable areas named riverine wet- lands, which are essential to the water cycle balance and ecosystem dynamics. In this study, we contrasted the hydrological and physicochemical variables of riverine wetlands of both periurban areas impacted by intensive farming and those of rural areas with the indicators of the biotic structure (taxonomic richness, Shannon diversity and total density) of benthic diatoms, phytoplankton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, chironomids, fishes, turtles, and birds. The study was performed on riverine waters of the Pampean plain, Argentina, with four seasonal samplings conducted in 2017–2018. Our results showed that the significant deepening of the groundwater level caused by aquifer overexploitation in peri-urban areas, as well as the declining surface water quality with higher phosphorus and total nitrogen concentrations, affected the taxonomic richness, diversity, and total density of the biotic assemblages of riverine wetlands. The taxonomic richness of birds, turtles, phytoplankton, chironomids, and fishes was the most sensitive to land use. Phytoplankton, chironomid, and fish diversity showed the greatest differences between rural and periurban riverine waters, while the total density of chironomids and birds showed the greatest differences according to land use. The results suggest that the socioeconomic development in those riverine wetlands that still maintain conditions close to the natu- ral ones needs to be subject to guidelines derived from integrated basin management and sustainable urban planning.