Search

• Urbanization causes biodiversity loss in rivers. • Benthic macroinvertebrates can be used as indicators of land use changes. • Land uses changes modify the trophic structure of benthic communities. • Riparian forests act as a buffer zone important to preserve riverine biodiversity. • Management politics must highlight the importance of biological indicators. Since the second half of the 20th century, when monitoring programmes were implemented as a measure to improve the water quality of rivers, numerous advantages have been achieved. one of the most remarkable advances was the integration of bioindicators as a suitable and quick tool to complement the assessment based on the evaluation of physical and chemical parameters. This paper evaluated which of the already used water quality indices based on macroinvertebrates would be more suitable to assess the ecological status of 6 rivers (Barxas, Deva, Tea, Manco, Louro and Furnia rivers) within the Miño River international basin (NW Spain and N Portugal) applying the methodology proposed by the Water Framework Directive (WFD). In addition, the relationship between the water quality and the land uses within a buffer zone of 100 along the watershed of each river was studied. Our findings demonstrate that the IBMWP (Iberian Biomonitoring Working Party) is the most suitable index to evaluate the water quality of rivers from this geographical zone. Nevertheless it is necessary to use other more sensitive index like EPT and PT indices to identify any potential pressures that might be concealed by IBMWP. The tributaries of the Miño River generally presented a good ecological status according to the IBMWP. Nevertheless, the Louro River had the lowest score for all the indices being the worst preserved among all within the basin. On the contrary Barxas, Deva and Furnia rivers showed the higher values. The results indicated that the most urbanised river was the Louro River (13 %) followed, to a lesser extent, by Manco River (7 %) and Tea River (2 %). Consequently, the Louro River had the worst water quality (poor quality) and a less diverse benthic macroinvertebrate community, in which more generalist taxa such as Chironomids, Ceratopogonids, or Crustaceans were found. On the other hand, the rivers with the best water quality were the Barxas, Deva, and Furnia, all of them with a negligible proportion of artificial cover surface (<1 %) within the delimited buffer zone. This would suggest a negative influence of the proportion of artificial areas over diversity and quality indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Lead (Pb) is a metal that is non-essential to any metabolic process and, moreover, highly deleterious to life. In microbial mats – benthic stratified ecosystems – located in coastal areas, phototrophic microorganisms (algae and oxygenic phototrophic bacteria) are the primary producers and they are exposed to pollution by metals. In this paper we describe the search for bioindicators among phototrophic populations of Ebro delta microbial mats, using high-resolution microscopic techniques that we have optimized in previous studies. Confocal laser scanning microscopy coupled to a spectrofluorometric detector (CLSM-λscan) to determine in vivo sensitivity of different cyanobacteria to lead, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), both coupled to energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX), to determine the extra- and intracellular sequestration of this metal in cells, were the techniques used for this purpose. Oscillatoria sp. PCC 7515, Chroococcus sp. PCC 9106 and Spirulina sp. PCC 6313 tested in this paper could be considered bioindicators for lead pollution, because all of these microorganisms are indigenous, have high tolerance to high concentrations of lead and are able to accumulate this metal externally in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and intracellularly in polyphosphate (PP) inclusions. Experiments made with microcosms demonstrated that Phormidium-like and Lyngbya-like organisms selected themselves at the highest concentrations of lead assayed. In the present study it is shown that all cyanobacteria studied (both in culture and in microcosms) present PP inclusions in their cytoplasm and that these increase in number in lead polluted cultures and microcosms. We believe that the application of these microscopic techniques open up broad prospects for future studies of metal ecotoxicity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The approval of the current Bathing Water Directive (Directive 2006/7/EC) involves a set of changes regarding to its predecessor. One of the most important ones is the necessity to define bathing water profiles. These profiles should identify putative pollution sources (“source apportionment”). In urban beaches, bacteriological pollution problems depend, in most instances, on the operation of the sanitation system. Due to the novelty of the bathing water profile concept, the methodologies proposed in the literature to solve this issue are still scarce. This paper presents a methodology to assess the percentage in which a bacteriological concentration is exceeded, according to the Directive 2006/7/EC standards, which could be a suitable indicator of bacteriological pollution in bathing waters, due to it is related with the probability to impair the Directive 2006/7/EC regulatory standards. This indicator would be useful for the “source apportionment” in bathing waters and, consequently, for the definition of the bathing water profile, and can be used in combination with other sources of information, especially those provided by the analysis of extreme events, maybe more interesting for the managers. The methodology involves the characterisation of effluents under different hydrometeorological conditions, the characterisation of advection, diffusion and reaction processes of bacteriological organisms in the aquatic environment by using mathematical models, in which calibration and sensitivity analysis were carried out. The outcome of the application of this methodology in an urban beach located in Santander (Northern Spain) is also shown. To define the bathing water profile we have considered the sanitation system operating under normal conditions, which include storm water overflows (CSOs), and the uncontrolled discharges. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether introducing reclaimed water to the lower part of the Llobregat River has an effect on the macroinvertebrate community assemblage and the biomarker responses of the caddisfly larvae Hydropsyche exocellata. Therefore, a before-and-after experiment was carried out at two locations, upstream and downstream of the discharge effluent. At both of the stations, quantitative benthic samples were taken using a Surber net. Several biological metrics were calculated to evaluate the biological quality. For the biomarker study, the population condition of the caddisfly H. exocellata was analysed. In both sites, as a result of physicochemical water conditions, the macroinvertebrate communities are dominated by taxa that are tolerant to pollution, and the ecological status of both sites is always poor. The discharge of the reclaimed water did not affect the composition and abundance of the dominant taxa, but the few intolerant species that were found upstream before the experiment disappeared downstream. Consequently, most of the metrics indicating the level of biological impairment had slightly lower values after the introduction of the treated water, even though the ecological status was always poor. Nevertheless, significant and specific toxic effects on the collected H. exocellata larvae were observed using biomarkers. The effects included oxidative stress-related responses, such as decreased antioxidant enzyme activities and increased levels of lipid peroxidation. Therefore, indications of additional stress to the populations of the caddisfly H. exocellata were found using several biomarkers, which can indicate a potential further deterioration of the ecological status of the river. In polluted rivers, such as the Llobregat, structural indicators are unable to indicate further impairment and biomarkers may be used as an useful tool to detect then the environmental impoverishment. The combination of both kinds of indicators is necessary for the establishment of the ecological status of a system, following the indications of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sustainable tourism is being consolidated at an international level as an approach that should be used to make all types of tourism more environmentally, socially and economically beneficial. A common practice is to use an indicator system for designing and implementing tourism models that focuses on the sustainability approach. Indicators are considered as useful tools that allow tourism managers to diagnose the situation of the destination, and to identify and evaluate issues that require addressing to improve the level of sustainability of the tourist activities. However, these indicator systems usually do not provide a practical guide to establish how to interpret information and how to integrate it into the decision-making. In this paper we present an indicator system to evaluate sustainable tourism at cultural destinations. Likewise, we suggest a method based on goal programming to construct composite indicators. The definition of the indicator system and composite indicators is completed providing guidelines that establish how to use these tools in tourism sector planning. Specifically, we propose three basic practical uses for these tools: the formulation of general action plans at a regional level, the definition of short-term strategies for destinations and the establishment of destination benchmarking practices. Each practical use is illustrated using the case of cultural tourism destinations in the Andalusia region (Spain). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Damage caused to objects of cultural heritage is one of the most serious detrimental effects of air pollutants. Within the 6th Framework Programme of the EU, the CULT-STRAT project is an inter-agency, multi-disciplinary project that has integrated research and monitoring information to provide answers to policy and management questions, which relate the effects of air pollutants on heritage and the management options available to mitigate them. The overall aim of the project has been to assess and predict the effects of different pollutants on materials and objects of cultural heritage in a multipollutant scenario and to identify indicators and thresholds levels of pollutants. These have been used for development of management strategies for sustainable maintenance and preventive conservation of European Cultural Heritage and air quality policy from continental to local scale. The present paper reports one of the studies carried out in the CULT-STRAT project at city level and focused on the town of Madrid (Spain). Different maps are shown for the present and possible future scenarios (2010 and 2020): inventory of stock of cultural heritage for each selected material, concentration of selected pollutants (SO2, NO2, O3 and PM10), corrosion (cast bronze) and recession (Portland limestone), exceedance of tolerable degradation thresholds for each material and corrosion-cultural heritage overlapped maps. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the birth of the sustainable development concept and its application to urban planning and construction projects, countless sustainability indicator sets have appeared. This paper analyses the problems posed by these sets and the need to establish a method to identify and select an indicator set which includes every participant involved in the life cycle of a project, to find a proper balance between all actors. Sustainability is proposed as an opportunity for improvement throughout the project. Thus, we have developed a methodology to identify, classify and prioritise sustainability indicators based on risk management standards. The application of this method to infrastructure projects in Spain will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed method and is the first step to develop an indicator set for civil engineering projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The main objective of this work is to measure water quality using a stochastic index built with tools of Probability Theory. Its great advantage is that it accounts for the underlying uncertainty in quality classification that results from variations in the data for individual physical and chemical characteristics, considering them as random variables. We compare the results obtained by measuring water quality with this index (the probabilistic index, PI) and a classical deterministic index (the general quality index, GQI). Also we do a comparison with other usual indices in order to validate the PI index. To demonstrate the application of PI and GQI indices, we used information from the Confederación Hidrográfica del Júcar (Spain) for the period between 1990 and 2005. Our analyses showed that GQI was positively correlated with PI throughout the study period. Because of its high potential, the PI index can be used to analyze possible temporal changes in water quality, as well as to determine the individual influence of each variable in water quality. The results suggested an improvement in water quality over time and that omitting individually, one at a time, five of the nine water quality variables from the PI calculation significantly improved the calculated water quality. Novelty of this paper is the design of an index that takes into account the uncertainty inherent to data, and its application for measuring water quality from a general perspective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The ecological status of streams depends on an equilibrium between hydrological processes and biological dynamics. Water discharge is the main requisite for a wealthy riparian habitat. Nevertheless, human practices severely affect water availability through stream water derivation and groundwater withdrawal. In this sense, impacts upon aquifer water storage and its effects on base flow generation have a significant effect on stream biology. Consequently, biological indicators will point out poor conditions resulting from such human impacts. In this paper, the effects of groundwater exploitation on stream discharge and surface water quality are evaluated and compared to biological indicators in a Mediterranean catchment. The stream–aquifer relationship is investigated by considering the hydrological context of each river reach, including human pressures, and the hydraulic head in the contiguous alluvial aquifer, where it exists. These data allow us to differentiate distinct types of reaches that are defined according to a “Stream–Aquifer relationship and chemical Pressure” (SAP) classification, which is used later on to standardize the different hydrochemical and biological features of the sampling points. Stream water and groundwater hydrochemistry are compared to depict the hydraulic behavior of the sampled watercourses during wet and dry periods. Specific elements are used as tracers of groundwater inputs, wastewater influence, or even stagnant conditions during the dry season. This dataset defines a framework to interpret the biological status of each reach based on the Iberian biological monitoring working party indicator (IBMWP). Affinities between hydrological and hydrochemical conditions with biological indicator values allow the causal effects of groundwater exploitation on stream ecology to be defined. The use of multivariate principal component analysis shows that the dataset variance is distributed according to the SAP classification, and that variable grouping is in agreement with the observed hydrological processes and their effects on biological indicator values. This work provides evidence of the importance of groundwater dynamics on biological indicators in a human-modified environment. When using the SAP classification, biological indicators acquire a broader meaning as they reveal the status of biological processes and the causal references. Such information is relevant for water management assessment within the context of the European Water Framework Directive, as it emphasizes the control of groundwater exploitation as a key parameter in the preservation of stream ecological status and the achievement of the objectives of the directive. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper introduces an indicator system to evaluate sustainability in established coastal tourism destinations, applying the recommendations and definitions of the World Tourism Organization (WTO). We also develop a new synthetic indicator to simplify the measurement of sustainability and facilitate the comparative analysis of destination ranking. This measurement was obtained by applying a procedure to reduce the number of subjective decisions made by the analyst, using a novel two-stage aggregation methodology based on principal component analysis and on the distance to a reference point. The synthetic indicator obtained was applied to Spanish coastal destinations, and the results serve as a guideline for tourism planning. The conclusions of this research can be extrapolated to the study of other tourism destinations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]