Applying environmental fragility in studies evaluating watershed can guide policy decisions on monitoring and management regarding soil use planning, improving water quality for public supply. The objective of this study is to characterize the environmental fragility as well as to relate it to water quality factors of catchment rivers for public supply in western Paraná, Brazil, in order to evaluate the in uence of anthropic actions on catchment sources. Water quality data such as temperature (Temp; C), electrical conductivity (Ec; mS/cm −1 ), dissolved oxygen (DO; mg L −1 ), turbidity (Turb; NTU) and pH were measured on site by the multi-parameter probe HORIBA brand, model U-5000. Slope data were obtained from the site of the National Institute of Space Research (INPE). Soil use and occupation was performed in the QGis software, with image obtained from the Sentinel 2A Satelite. Köppen-Geiger classi cation was used for the climate type. For the environmental fragility maps, the variables slope, climate, soil use and occupation were analyzed using the QGis raster software calculator. The intermediate fragility class predominates in the nine municipalities studied, making it necessary to manage them aimed at restoration and conservation, and the municipalities that are the largest areas of high fragility class are: Guaraniaçu, Catanduvas and Cascavel, demanding greater attention. The variation in fragility mainly responded to the pH, E. coli and DQO temperature values, which can be strongly associated with the difference in soil use and slope of the areas evaluated.

Lotic environments are subjected to the impacts of human activities in an intense way in urban regions and one of the ways to assist in the environmental diagnosis is through the knowledge of the composition of bioindicator organisms, including microalgae. The objective of this work was to qualitatively characterize the Chlorophyceae Class Wille, providing descriptions and meristic data of the specimens as well as the environmental conditions in which the taxa were recorded. Water and phytoplankton samplings were carried out quarterly in 2020, in nine supply rivers, distributed in three river basins in the western region of Paraná (Paraná III basin, Piquiri basin and Baixo Iguaçu basin). The studied rivers were classified as oligotrophic or mesotrophic and the taxa were mostly rare. Thirty-six taxa belonging to the Chlorophyceae class were recorded, distributed in five families: Hydrodictyaceae Dumortier, Neochloridaceae Ettl & Komárek, Radiococcaceae Fott ex P.C.Silva, Scenedesmaceae Oltmanns, Selenastraceae Blackman & Tansley. These taxa have mainly cenobial representatives, with about 70% of the individuals in this thallus configuration, followed by 22% colonies and 8% unicellular thallus. Among the identified species, five occurred only in mesotrophic sites, warning for environments with tendencies to elevate their trophic, since they are genera previously associated with these conditions. Ten new citations were recorded for the State of Paraná, namely: Pseudopediastrum boryanum var. longicorne (Reinsch) P.M.Tsarenko, Radiococcus skujae I.Kostikov, T.Darienko, A.Lukesová & L.Hoffmann, Desmodesmus perforatus (Lemmermann) E.Hegewald, Desmodesmus subspicatus (Chodat) E.Hegewald & A.W.F.Schmidt, Scenedesmus indicus Philipose ex Hegewald, Engelberg & Paschma, Ankistrodesmus bernardii Komárek, Monoraphidium capricornutum (Printz) Nygaard, Monoraphidium caribeum Hindák, Raphidocelis danubiana var. elegans (Playfair) Taşkin & Alp, Selenastrum rinoi Komárek & Comas. Taxonomic studies, such as this one, are an important tool for understanding the flora, and in addition to contributing to the registration of species in aquatic ecosystems, they serve as a basis for ecological studies and other approaches used to preserve biodiversity in these places.

Aim Urbanization, agriculture, and deforestation are the main anthropogenic factors that modify the soil, altering the quality of water, and influencing limnological aspects and the aquatic biota in rivers. We investigated the morphology-based taxonomic and functional response (MBFG) of the phytoplankton community among different public supply rivers in distinct hydrographic basins with ultraoligotrophic, oligotrophic, and mesotrophic characteristics. Methods We sampled the phytoplankton community and environmental variables in nine rivers along three hydrographic basins in western Paraná. In order to evaluate the taxonomic and functional relationship of the community with the environmental variables, we applied both variance and redundancy analyses. Results Differences in temperature, pH, turbidity, total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand, and total dissolved solids were identified among river basins and/or trophic states. The highest taxonomic contributions to richness and biovolume were from green algae and diatoms, while the highest functional contributions were from MBFG IV (algae without specialized traits), MBFG V (unicellular flagellated algae), MBFG VI (algae with a siliceous exoskeleton) and MBFG (large colonial algae). The taxonomic approach was sensitive to environmental variability in the rivers, while for the functional approach no relationship to environmental variability was identified. Conclusions The taxonomic approach of the phytoplankton community was more sensitive to the environmental variability of the studied rivers than the functional approach based on morphology. Therefore, we reinforce the importance of biological indicators for understanding the dynamics in aquatic ecosystems, providing crucial information for the management of water resources used for public supply.

Applying environmental fragility in studies evaluating watershed can guide policy decisions on monitoring and management regarding soil use planning, improving water quality for public supply. The objective of this study is to characterize the environmental fragility as well as to relate it to water quality factors of catchment rivers for public supply in western Paraná, Brazil, in order to evaluate the influence of anthropic actions on catchment sources. Water quality data such as temperature (Temp; C), electrical conductivity (Ec; mS/cm−1), dissolved oxygen (DO; mg L−1), turbidity (Turb; NTU) and pH were measured on site by the multi-parameter probe HORIBA brand, model U-5000. Slope data were obtained from the site of the National Institute of Space Research (INPE). Soil use and occupation was performed in the QGis software, with image obtained from the Sentinel 2A Satelite. Köppen-Geiger classification was used for the climate type. For the environmental fragility maps, the variables slope, climate, soil use and occupation were analyzed using the QGis raster software calculator. The intermediate fragility class predominates in the nine municipalities studied, making it necessary to manage them aimed at restoration and conservation, and the municipalities that are the largest areas of high fragility class are: Guaraniaçu, Catanduvas and Cascavel, demanding greater attention. The variation in fragility mainly responded to the pH, E. coli and DQO temperature values, which can be strongly associated with the difference in soil use and slope of the areas evaluated.