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The intensive increase in land use change is considered both a source of richness and a serious problem to landscape sustainability. In this scenario, although land use change plays a very important role for societal development, the impact of land use changes on economic, social, and ecological functions requires special attention. The new environmental paradigms associated with globalization and progressive climate change will certainly intensify the entropy and the instability in most of the existing land-uses. In this regard, this book aims to highlight a body of knowledge related to the discussion of the opportunities and challenges associated with the development of new sustainable landscapes, considering current and future challenges related to land-use changes and planning.
"The Piasa Creek Watershed (PCW) was once a landscape historically comprised of forest and prairie habitat, but today is largely comprised of agriculture and urban lands. Studies carried out in the watershed have shown stream biology, mainly fish, and water quality to have declined over time. In the PCW, macroinvertebrate bioassessments of water quality and land use have largely been underutilized. Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled during October 2011 from riffle habitats at 19 unique locations throughout the PCW in order to examine water quality as a function of land use. Collections were based on rapid bioassessment procedures with a minimum of 125 organisms sampled and identified to the family level, and summarized using a suite of metrics. Water quality ratings were determined using the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI) which incorporated regional pollution tolerance values. Data analyses with multiple regression were used to evaluate relationships between macroinvertebrate metrics and land use coverage. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) of community assemblages in combination with vector fitting procedures were employed to evaluate the effects of land use on communities. Data interpretation was assisted with the use of an analysis of similarity between communities of different stream orders and an indicator species analysis. Communities were obtained from 3rd through 6th order streams. In total, 5,345 organisms from 56 unique families of benthic invertebrates were identified. Predominant land uses included grass/pasture, agriculture, forest, and urban cover types. On average, water quality was rated as "fair" but ranged from "good" to "poor" using the HBI scale. Communities differed by the percentage of agriculture and forest land use in each watershed, as well as stream order, with those from 3rd order streams different from higher orders. Certain families of invertebrates discriminated among groups of stream sites, six families were indicative of 3rd order streams and two taxa were indicative of sites from higher orders. While the lack of significant relationships between land use and macroinvertebrates is weak, the results are based on a relatively small sample size which may have limited the scope of findings. Overall, the composition of macroinvertebrate communities in the PCW suggests water quality is impaired to some extent. An increase in the percentage of agricultural land cover affected community composition, and this land use is at least partially the source of water quality impairment. Additionally, community composition was also influenced by the percentage of forest land cover, and sites with the best water quality contained watersheds of mostly forest habitat. The relationship between land use and community composition is likely influenced by changes to riparian and in-stream habitat in addition to water quality. Stream systems in the PCW are likely influenced by land use at multiple spatial scales, however, findings from this study suggest the relationship does in fact extend to the watershed level. While addressing water quality and stream habitat issues in the PCW is a complex task, it may be beneficial to employ best management practices at key areas further out in the watershed to address water resource needs in the PCW."
This textbook provides a unique and thorough look at the application of chemical biomarkers to aquatic ecosystems. Defining a chemical biomarker as a compound that can be linked to particular sources of organic matter identified in the sediment record, the book indicates that the application of these biomarkers for an understanding of aquatic ecosystems consists of a biogeochemical approach that has been quite successful but underused. This book offers a wide-ranging guide to the broad diversity of these chemical biomarkers, is the first to be structured around the compounds themselves, and examines them in a connected and comprehensive way. This timely book is appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate students seeking training in this area; researchers in biochemistry, organic geochemistry, and biogeochemistry; researchers working on aspects of organic cycling in aquatic ecosystems; and paleoceanographers, petroleum geologists, and ecologists. Provides a guide to the broad diversity of chemical biomarkers in aquatic environments The first textbook to be structured around the compounds themselves Describes the structure, biochemical synthesis, analysis, and reactivity of each class of biomarkers Offers a selection of relevant applications to aquatic systems, including lakes, rivers, estuaries, oceans, and paleoenvironments Demonstrates the utility of using organic molecules as tracers of processes occurring in aquatic ecosystems, both modern and ancient
Ponds are an exceptional freshwater resource around the world and represent thirty percent of the global surface area of standing water. Furthermore, the millions of ponds which exist exhibit a particularly high biodiversity and have a high potential for ecosystem functions and services. Despite these impressive features, ponds face many threats from a variety of human activities and receive little or no protection under European and national legislation. Consequently, there is an urgent need to protect, consolidate and increase the pond resource in Europe. In order to achieve these objectives, the European Pond Conservation Network (EPCN) was launched 2004 in Geneva. Its aim is to promote the awareness, understanding and conservation of these small water bodies in the European landscape. This volume of “Developments in Hydrobiology” presents a selection of 31 papers presented during EPCN conferences held in 2006 in France (Toulouse) and in 2008 in Spain (Valencia). They represent a diverse collection of themes from across the continent and North Africa and present new and original insights into topics as wide ranging as pond biodiversity; human disturbance; landscape ecology; ecological assessment and monitoring; practical management measures; ecological restoration; hydrology and climate change; invasive species and threatened species.
Urbanisation of catchment areas is a major cause of freshwater ecosystem degradation worldwide. As catchments become more developed and river ecosystems become increasingly engulfed in various land use activities, there is a growing need to understand these impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Benthic macroinvertebrates are extensively used as indicators of ecosystem health and have been an instrumental tool in ecosystem monitoring and management. The effects of changing land use on macroinvertebrates at a fine scale however, have not been extensively investigated. Therefore an investigation was conducted to compare chemical, physical and biological surface water quality parameters and aquatic macroinvertebrate community composition along the first 8 km of the Hartbeesspruit, which contains multiple land use types, in the upper Apies-Pienaar catchment in Gauteng, South Africa. Five sampling sites corresponding to changes in land use were sampled four times at six-week intervals from September 2013 to February 2014. Influential variables that were recorded included in-stream habitat, riparian cover, flow regime and surface water quality parameters. Physical surface water parameters that were tested in situ included pH, salinity, total dissolved solutes, temperature, clarity and conductivity. Ex situ surface water parameters that were tested included physical parameters (alkalinity and turbidity), chemical parameters (major ions, metal ions and nutrients), and biological parameters (bacteria, coliforms and Escherichia coli). Macroinvertebrates were sampled using Hester-Dendy artificial samplers, which, following a 6 week exposure period, were sampled three times from November 2013 to February 2014. Macroinvertebrates were identified to family level and counted. Macroinvertebrate community composition across sites was assessed through macroinvertebrate abundance, family richness, SASS score, ASPT, Shannon-Wiener index, Pielou s evenness, non-metric multidimensional scaling and Indval analyses. Nineteen families were collected, of which only three made up 80% of macroinvertebrates sampled. These families were Hirudinea, Chironomidae and Oligochaeta. Indices of macroinvertebrate community composition indicated a general increase in value from upstream to downstream which showed similar comparative variation between sites to physical water quality parameters (except temperature and clarity), major ions (except arsenic), the metal ion magnesium and nutrient sulphate. Surface water parameters showed patterns indicative of effects due to evaporation, dilution and connectivity of water flow along the stream due to the presence of dams and wetlands. Temperature was an important influence on macroinvertebrate abundance and family richness at a temporal scale. On a spatial scale the most influential parameters on macroinvertebrate composition were seen to be depth, turbidity and conductivity, and temperature to a lesser extent. The land use types that showed the greatest association with various assemblages were the urban, recreational and least transformed wetland land uses. Although major influential factors, this pattern was not seen to be strictly due to the input of contaminants arising from associated activities, nor the variation in physical characteristics, but rather the discontinuity in flow regime. It was concluded that at a fine scale, the strongest factors that influenced macroinvertebrate community composition along the Hartbeesspruit, was not land use type but rather the hydrological pathways of connectivity and stream flow that exist within the system. The hydrological pathways influenced values and concentrations of chemical and physical surface water parameters which in turn further influenced macroinvertebrate assemblages present.