Assessing the ecological status of fluvial ecosystems employing a macroinvertebrate multi-taxon and multi-biomarker approach

Abstract

Biomarkers are recognised sensitive early-warning tools of biological effects in aquatic organisms. In this scope, the main aim of this study was to investigate the potential usefulness of a battery of biomarkers, evaluated in different benthic macroinvertebrate taxa, to discriminate aquatic ecosystems with different levels of ecological status and to provide further clues supporting environmental management. The study took place during the autumn of 2013 and the spring and summer of 2014, and the study cases were two Mediterranean rivers (Âncora and Ferreira rivers), differing in their ecological status. The biomarkers determined are widely employed and comprise a large set of biochemical responses: the activity of enzymes (cholinesterases, glutathione S-transferases, catalase and lactate dehydrogenase) and the levels of lipid peroxidation. They were assessed seasonally and in different macroinvertebrate taxa. Thirteen water physico-chemical parameters were also seasonally determined, and the concentration of seven organophosphorus pesticides and the percentage of 32 trace metals in sediments were determined in the spring. This is particularly useful for water management. Based on this, authorities can take actions to prevent further damage in the ecological status. Multivariate analyses showed distinct patterns of biological response for the Calopteryx spp., Chironomidae and Baetis spp. taxa. Calopteryx spp. and Chironomidae, in particular, showed distinct response patterns for the two rivers, which were fairly stable across seasons. This study sets the foundations for future cost-effective biomonitoring campaigns in Mediterranean rivers, allowing to establish historical data important to understand ecosystem evolution, as well as baseline levels of diagnostic biomarkers in informative macroinvertebrate taxa.

Occurrence of Selected Known or Suspected Endocrine-Disrupting Pesticides in Portuguese Surface Waters Using SPME-GC-IT/MS

“…Contamination, due to multiclass pesticides, has been reported in different countries, indeed recently, e.g., in surface water samples [24], and sediments [25]. In Portugal, several studies about the presence of these priority pesticides, resulting from the different sources, were reported in food [26,27], soils [28], sediments [29][30][31][32], marine samples [33], rivers waters [34][35][36][37][38], and Small Public Water Supply Systems [39]. Despite the resulting contamination from the last decades, there are only a few studies on the quantification and monitoring of known and suspected EDPs in Portuguese surface water samples.…”