Effects of Water Pollution on Diatom Communities of Roșia Montană Mining Area, Romania

Adriana Olenici (), Saúl Blanco, Francisco Jiménez-Gómez, María Borrego-Ramos and Călin Baciu
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Adriana Olenici: Diatom Lab, Universidad de León, IMA, La Serna 58, 24007 Leon, Spain
Saúl Blanco: Diatom Lab, Universidad de León, IMA, La Serna 58, 24007 Leon, Spain
Francisco Jiménez-Gómez: Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Campus de Las Lagunillas, s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain
María Borrego-Ramos: Diatom Lab, Universidad de León, IMA, La Serna 58, 24007 Leon, Spain
Călin Baciu: Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Fântânele Street, No. 30, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: We investigated the diatom communities and physicochemical water variables in the Abrud River catchment area (the Roșia Montană mining area, Romania) at 16 sampling sites, some of them impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD) and heavy metals. Diatoms serve as effective indicators of water characteristics owing to their ubiquity and sensitivity to environmental variables. This study aimed to enhance the understanding of the key environmental factors influencing the diatom flora of polluted rivers across various spatial and temporal scales, thereby informing the optimization of ecosystem management strategies. This work contributes to the knowledge of Romanian diatom flora through the identification of 274 taxa belonging to 63 genera, including 35 taxa recorded for the first time in the country. The spatial and temporal variations in the species richness patterns highlighted the effects of water pollution resulting from past mining activities, revealing distinctions between the main Abrud River stream and its tributaries, some of which exhibited extremely low species richness with few or no identified taxa. This contrasted sharply with the cleaner upstream waters of the Roșia Valley, where a notably rich diatom community (85 taxa) persisted, highlighting the severe localized impact of mining discharges on biodiversity.

Keywords: diatom flora; water pollution; biological indicators; heavy metals; acid mine drainage; Abrud River (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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