Spatial Changes in Invertebrate Structures as a Factor of Strong Human Activity in the Bed and Catchment Area of a Small Urban Stream

Abstract

The threats to small urban streams lead to a decrease in their water quality and dysregulate their ecological balance, thereby affecting the biodiversity and causing degradation of indicators that determine the ecological potential. The aim of our study was to determine the impact of abiotic conditions induced by intensive human activity on the community structures of invertebrates (zooplankton and macroinvertebrates) in the small urban stream Bukówka in the Szczecin agglomeration (NW Poland). This stream exhibits the same characteristics as a large river, in which the mass of live organic matter increases with their length. The composition of invertebrates (zooplankton and macroinvertebrates) was strongly influenced by the changes caused by humans in the stream bed. The construction of small reservoirs and bed regulation in this small urban streams had a similar effect on the quality of the water and ecological potential as in large rivers, but at a lower scale.

The influence of land use in the catchment area of small waterbodies on the quality of water and plant species composition

“…Water flowing from impervious surfaces in catchment areas contains large amounts of suspensions, including organic ones, as well as large amounts of nutrients, heavy metals, and other pollutants 45 – 47 . This has particularly negative influence on the ecosystem of waterbodies, especially on benthic macroinvertebrates 48 , 49 and macrophytes 50 , 51 . There were roads running at a short distance from nearly all of the waterbodies under study (except No.…”

The Influence of Land Use in the Catchment Area of Small Waterbodies on the Quality of Water and Plant Species Composition

“…Water owing from impervious surfaces in catchment areas contains large amounts of suspensions, including organic ones, as well as large amounts of nutrients, heavy metals, and other pollutants (Barałkiewicz et al, 2014;Zubala, 2020;So Fijanic et al, 2021). This has particularly negative in uence on the ecosystem of waterbodies, especially on benthic macroinvertebrates (Gołdyn et al, 2018;Czerniawski et al, 2020) and macrophytes (Hilt et al, 2006;Cao et al, 2019). There were roads running at a short distance from nearly all of the waterbodies under study (except No.…”

Construction of River Health Assessment System in Areas with Significant Human Activity and Its Application

“…Significant human activity refers to the frequent intervention of the ecological environment by human activities [34], encompassing the detrimental impacts of urbanization on river environments, as well as the restoration and regulation of river ecology through human engineering. The purpose of river health assessment is to strike a balance between natural ecological attributes and the social and economic services derived from rivers.…”