Ecological attributes of the benthic community and indices of water quality in urban, rural and preserved environments Atributos ecológicos da comunidade bentônica e índices de qualidade da água de ambientes urbanos, rurais e preservados

• Published in: Acta limnológica brasiliensia 2012-01 (ahead), p.0
• Main Authors: Claudia Eiko Yoshida, Ana Paula Pozzo Rios Rolla
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atlantic Forest; degradação ambiental; diversidade de habitat; environmental degradation; habitat diversity; Mata Atlântica
• ISSN: 0102-6712; 2179-975X
• DOI: 10.1590/S2179-975X2012005000041

INTRODUCTION: Reference streams are pristine streams, untouched or unaltered by man, it being possible to use their environmental characteristics as quality threshold values. Besides the organic impacts measured via water quality biological monitoring programs, it has become necessary to evaluate the relationship between alterations in the landscape of streams and surrounding areas and changes in the structure of the macroinvertebrate community; AIM: The objective of the present study was to correlate the changes in the landscape with the ecological attributes of the community and indices of water quality, and to recommend reference condition values for the integrity of streams in the region of Jundiai (SP); METHODS: The benthic fauna were sampled in three urban streams, three rural streams and three preserved streams during July 2010, using a Surber-type sampler. The characteristics of the landscape were evaluated by means of Diversity of Habitat; the community, analyzed for several biodiversity indices, and; the water quality assessed using the indices River-BCI, BMWP-CETEC (CETEC - Science and Technology Center), ASPT and SOMI (SOMI - Serra dos Órgãos Multimetric Index (Serra dos Órgãos is a mountain range national park in the state of Rio de Janeiro)); RESULTS: The structure and the composition of the communities varied according to the stream and this was reflected in the values of the biological and environmental quality indices. The best conditions were found in preserved streams, intermediate streams and rural streams while the worst conditions were found in the urban streams. The significant Pearson correlations (r > 0.73 and P < 0.05) between the diversity of habitat index and the ecological and water quality index attributes in the streams of Jundiai demonstrated that diversity of habitat may be a good predictor of the environmental characteristics evaluated.INTRODUÇÃO: Riachos de referência dizem respeito a ambientes íntegros, sendo possível utilizar suas características ambientais como valores patamares de qualidade. Além dos impactos orgânicos medidos pelos programas de biomonitoramento da qualidade da água, se faz necessário avaliar as relações entre as alterações da paisagem dos riachos e de seu entorno com as mudanças na estrutura da comunidade de macroinvertebrados desses ambientes; OBJETIVOS: O presente estudo teve como objetivos correlacionar as mudanças da paisagem com os atributos ecológicos da comunidade e índices de qualidade da águ