Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Zooplankton Communities as Ecological Indicators in Urban Wetlands of Argentina

María Julieta Arias, Pablo Andrés Vaschetto, Mercedes Marchese, Luciana Regaldo and Ana María Gagneten
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María Julieta Arias: Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias (UNL), Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina
Pablo Andrés Vaschetto: Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias (UNL), Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina
Mercedes Marchese: Instituto Nacional de Limnología (INALI, UNL-CONICET), Santa Fe 3000, Argentina
Luciana Regaldo: Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias (UNL), Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina
Ana María Gagneten: Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias (UNL), Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Urban aquatic ecosystems are important sources of fresh water for multiple uses, but often receive a point or diffuse anthropic contamination. Benthic and zooplankton invertebrates are sensitive to water quality, being good indicators of ecosystem health. In this study, the composition and structure of benthic and zooplankton communities and environmental variables were analyzed seasonally in six urban wetlands of Santa Fe City (Argentina). We present the effect of water quality on both communities as bioindicators of ecological conditions, using different community attributes, functional feeding groups, and biotic indices. For the benthic community, the Macroinvertebrate Index for Pampean Rivers (IMRP) and the Benthic Community Index (BCI) were selected. For the zooplankton community, abundance of rotifers/abundance of total zooplankters, microcrustaceans/total zooplankters, cladocerans/total zooplankters, and macrozooplankton/microzooplankton ratios were applied. A functional feeding groups (FFGs) classification, adapted from the literature, is proposed for zooplankters. The urban wetlands showed a gradient from the most to the least disturbed sites. Some benthic and zooplankton species were identified as excellent bioindicators of pollution, and the FFGs and biotic indices revealed the ecological condition of each urban wetland. The present study contributes to the enhancement of management practices in urban landscapes aiming to maintain ecosystem services in sustainable cities.

Keywords: urban water quality; zoobenthos; zooplankton; functional feeding groups; biotic indices; sustainable cities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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