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

GÓMEZ, NORA; SIRI, AUGUSTO; CAPÍTULO, LEANDRO RODRIGUES; COLAUTTI, DARÍO CÉSAR; ALCALDE, LEANDRO; RODRIGUES CAPITULO A; DONATO, MARIANO; FERNANDA ÁLVAREZ, MARÍA; DE SOUZA, JAVIER RICARDO GARCÍA; JENSEN, ROBERTO FRANCISCO; BAUER, DELIA ELENA; MAROÑAS, MIRIAM; PAREDES DEL PUERTO, JUAN MARTÍN; ALTIERI, PAULA; ARMENDÁRIZ, LAURA CECILIA; BENITEZ, HERNÁN HUGO; CASSANO, MARÍA JULIA; CORTESE, BIANCA; GIORGI, HUGO DANIEL; DONADELLI, JORGE LUIS; GELIS, MARÍA MERCEDES NICOLOSI; GARCÍA, IGNACIO DANIEL; MAIZTEGUI, TOMÁS; PARACAMPO, ARIEL HERNÁN; SÁNCHEZ, ROCÍO MARÍA; SATHICQ, MARÍA BELÉN; CATANZARO, LUDMILA NOELIA SOLEDAD RODRÍGUEZ

Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology

ELSEVIER

Año: 2022 vol. 22 p. 355 - 369

1642-3593

ABSTRACTRiparian areas of riverine plains develop extensive floodable areas named riverine wetlands, which are essential to the watercycle balance and ecosystem dynamics. In this study, we contrasted the hydrological and physicochemical variables of riverinewetlands of both peri-urban areas impacted by intensive farming and those of rural areas with the indicators of the bioticstructure (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 thegroundwater level caused by aquifer overexploitation in peri-urban areas, as well as the declining surface water quality withhigher phosphorus and total nitrogen concentrations, affected the taxonomic richness, diversity, and total density of the bioticassemblages of riverine wetlands. The taxonomic richness of birds, turtles, phytoplankton, chironomids, and fishes was themost sensitive to land use. Phytoplankton, chironomid, and fish diversity showed the greatest differences between rural andperi-urban riverine waters, while the total density of chironomids and birds showed the greatest differences according to landuse. The results suggest that the socioeconomic development in those riverine wetlands that still maintain conditions close tothe natural ones needs to be subject to guidelines derived from integrated basin management and sustainable urban planning