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The Salado River basin, Buenos Aires, Argentina, contains numerous permanent shallow lakes under anthropic pressure due to different land uses/land covers (LULC) in their catchments. Here, we explored the relation of LULC in the surrounding areas and the physical and chemical variables of six shallow lakes of the aforementioned basin with phytoplankton structure and morpho-functional groups (MFGs) along one year and evaluated whether LULC or physical and chemical variables were more relevant in shaping phytoplankton structure. We hypothesized that: (1) shallow lakes with higher proportion of land committed to agriculture exhibit more eutrophic characteristics; (2) the phytoplankton structure and MFGs differ in shallow lakes with different LULC in their surrounding areas; and (3) LULC effects decrease with increase in buffer width. Landsat satellite images were used to extract LULC composition in three buffer zones surrounding each lake: 1, 2.5 and 5 km. In all the lakes studied, LULC had greater influence on phytoplankton MFGs than physical and chemical variables. This influence was highest for the 2.5 km buffer. The phytoplankton structure and some physical and chemical characteristics were also different between the shallow lakes studied. Cyanobacteria were widely detected, probably related to the high proportion of land dedicated to agriculture in the region. Chlorococcales, typical of these eutrophic systems, were also well represented. Our study evidenced the influence of LULC on the shallow lakes studied, particularly on the phytoplankton structure. The response of the planktonic microalgal communities to human activities in catchments evidences their value as sentinels of aquatic ecosystems.

The effects of a commercial glyphosate formulation on the oxidative stress parameters and morphology (including the ultrastructure) of the phytoplanktonic green microalga Scenedesmus vacuolatus were evaluated. After 96 h of exposure to increasing herbicide concentrations (0, 4, 6, 8 mg L −1 active ingredient) with the addition of alkyl aryl polyglycol ether surfactant, the growth of the cultures decreased (96 h-IC50- 4.90 mg L −1 ) and metabolic and morphology alterations were observed. Significant increases in cellular volume (103–353%) and dry weight (105%) and a significant decrease in pigment content (41–48%) were detected. Oxidative stress parameters were significantly affected, showing an increase in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) contents, oxidative damage to lipids and proteins and a decrease in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and the detoxifying enzyme glutathione-S-transferase (GST). Cells exposed to glyphosate formulation were larger and showed an increase in vacuole size, bleaching, cell wall thickening and alteration of the stacking pattern of thylakoids. The results of this study showed the participation of oxidative stress in the mechanism of toxic action of the commercial glyphosate formulation on S. vacuolatus and the relation between the biochemical, morphological and ultrastructure alterations. Fil: Iummato, Maria Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Fassiano, Anabella Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina Fil: Graziano, Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Dos Santos Afonso, María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física; Argentina Fil: Rios, Maria del Carmen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina Fil: Juárez, Angela Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina

Fluvial systems are particularly sensitive to changes in the terrestrial ecosystems where they are embedded, receiving simultaneously the impact of multiple stressors. The design of adequate management policies requires analyzing fluvial systems as social-ecological systems, because the decoupling of natural and social systems can lead to a severe mismatch between maintaining ecological integrity and the pursuit of human well-being. Pampean streams are especially prone to the impact of human activities because they are located in a region that provides almost half of the agricultural production of Argentina and concentrates 66% of the whole population of the country. In the present work, we conceived a general social-ecological framework that links the occurrence of multiple stressors and their impacts on ecosystem services, with changes in environmental perception of streams, which in turn feedback over institutional actions at the watershed's governance. We identified four current key drivers of the dynamics in Pampean streams: a dominant agro-industrial model for the region, a command-and-control governance regime mainly based on an engineering hydraulic perspective, the real estate market speculation of surrounding lands, and the persistence of structural poverty in urban areas. The resulting dynamics resembles the occurrence of different kinds of social-ecological traps, i.e., a highly stable but undesirable state of the system that is difficult to escape. Based on this analysis, we provide a leverage point perspective to avoid this trap. Together, this approach could be applied to other fluvial systems of the world to link the ecological and social domains to multiple stressors analysis, and to improve institutional fit for the sustainability of fluvial social-ecological systems.

Multiple anthropogenic stressors act simultaneously on the environment, with consequences different from those caused by single-stressor exposure. We investigated how the combination of the invasive mussel Limnoperna fortunei and a widely applied herbicide, Roundup Max®, affected freshwater microscopic communities and water quality. Further, we compared these results with those induced by the combination of the mussel and technical-grade glyphosate. We carried out a 34-day experiment in outdoor mesocosms, applying the following six treatments: 6 mg L−1 of technical-grade glyphosate (G), the equivalent concentration of glyphosate in Roundup Max® (R), 100 mussels (M), the combination of mussels and herbicide either in the technical-grade or formulated form (MG and MR, respectively), and control (C). Herbicides significantly increased total phosphorus in water; R and MR showed greater initial total nitrogen and ammonium. R increased picoplankton abundance and caused an eightfold increase in phytoplankton, with high turbidity values; G had a lower effect on these variables. Herbicide-mussel combination induced an accelerated dissipation of glyphosate in water (MG 6.36 ± 0.83 mg G g DW−1 day−1 and MR 5.16 ± 1.26 mg G g DW−1 day−1). A synergistic effect on ammonium was observed in MR but not in MG. MR and MG had an antagonistic effect on phytoplankton, which showed a drastic reduction due to grazing, as revealed by M. We provide evidence of differential effects of Roundup Max® and technical-grade glyphosate over water quality and microscopic communities, and in combination with mussels. However, in the combination of mussels and herbicides, mussels seem to play a leading role. In the presence of L. fortunei, the effects of higher nutrient availability provided by herbicides addition were counteracted by the filtration activity of mussels, which released nutrients, grazed on picoplankton and phytoplankton, and boosted the development of other primary producers, periphyton and metaphyton. Fil: Gattás, Florencia María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Vinocur, Alicia Liliana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Graziano, Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentina Fil: Dos Santos Afonso, María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; Argentina Fil: Pizarro, Haydee Norma. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Cataldo, Daniel Hugo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina