Response of microcrustacean communities from the surface—groundwater interface to water contamination in urban river system of the Jarama basin (central Spain)

Abstract

In order to evaluate the water quality at the surface/groundwater interface (hyporheic zone), the pattern of microcrustacean assemblages in response to environmental stress caused by urban industrial contamination was studied in the Jarama River basin (central Spain) during high water discharges (March and April 2011). The clustering of biological variables and the concentration of urban contaminants in hyporheic waters showed that pristine hyporheic waters have moderate species diversity (two to seven species) and dominance of k strategist stygobites, whereas excessively contaminated sites are devoid by crustaceans. An intermediate level of disturbance in hyporheic waters is associated with a peak of species taxonomic diversity (four to nine species) and proliferation of r strategist more tolerant species. Typical species found in hyporheic zone, e.g., Paracyclops imminutus (Copepoda, Cyclopoida), Cryptocandona vavrai (Ostracoda) and Herpetocypris chevreuxi (Ostracoda), were good indicators of high concentrations of Cr, Mn, Ni, Cd, Pb and VOCs; whereas the stygobites do not show any significant correlation. The effectiveness of hyporheic crustaceans as efficient bioindicators for assessing the current ecological status of river ecosystems is emphasised.

Exploring the distribution of groundwater Crustacea (Copepoda and Ostracoda) to disentangle aquifer type features—A case study in the upper Tajo basin (Central Spain)

“…Records on groundwater fauna are also reported from the northern Spain in alluvial aquifers of Bidasoa and Ebro Rivers from Navarra, Guipuzcoa (Espanol et al, ), and Cantabria (Camacho, , ; Camacho, Dorda, & Rey, ; Deharveng et al, ), and from alluvial aquifers of rivers from central and south‐east in Castilla‐La Mancha, and Valencia provinces (Baltanás, Beroiz, & Lopez, ; Camacho & Jaume, ; Camacho et al, ; Gibert & Culver, ; Notenboom, , ; Notenboom & Meijers, ; Poquet & Mesquita‐Joanes, ; Rodriguez‐Noriega, ; Sendra et al, ). More recent records are documented from Central Spain (Madrid region) from alluvial aquifers and hyporheic zone of rivers of the Tajo catchment (Iepure, Martinez‐Hernandez, Herrera, Rasines‐Ladero, & de Bustamante, ; Iepure, Meffe, Carreño, Rasines‐Ladero, & de Bustamante, ; Rasines & Iepure, ; Rasines‐Ladero, ). However, the paucity of data from large areas across the country with distinct present or historic climatic conditions (Mediterranean, oceanic, and semiarid), constrains our attempts to understand local scale variations in groundwater biodiversity and hampers conclusions that are made of the influence of environmental and climatic factors on groundwater fauna from local to regional scale.…”

Geochemical, geological and hydrological influence on ostracod assemblages distribution in the hyporheic zone of two Mediterranean rivers in central Spain

“…Previous reports on the hyporheic biota from the Jarama basin have indicated that ostracods are important components of the meiofauna in the study area [Iepure et al, ]. Of all 19 species encountered in the whole Jarama basin (at 43 fluvial hyporheic sites) [Iepure et al, ], we recorded 17 species (living + dead specimens) in the hyporheic and alluvial aquifers of Tajuña and Henares Rivers.…”

“…Previous reports on the hyporheic biota from the Jarama basin have indicated that ostracods are important components of the meiofauna in the study area [Iepure et al, ]. Of all 19 species encountered in the whole Jarama basin (at 43 fluvial hyporheic sites) [Iepure et al, ], we recorded 17 species (living + dead specimens) in the hyporheic and alluvial aquifers of Tajuña and Henares Rivers. All the species are cosmopolitan and are frequently found in surface lotic habitats throughout the Iberian Peninsula [Belles, ; Baltanás et al, ] or in subsurface habitats (i.e., interstitial sediments, springs, groundwater) from Central and Western Europe [Meisch, ].…”

“…We also hypothesised that ostracod abundance and richness would be higher where active surface water/groundwater exchanges occurred. Previously, living ostracods have been used as a target group given their relatively high diversity in the study area, and based on the communities' structural pattern in response to the human-induced environmental changes perceived in the intermediate and lower sectors of HZs [Iepure et al, 2013]. The present work extends the research area to the flow path of entire rivers by also perceiving the ostracod community's longitudinal distributional pattern in relation to changes in riverbed geology.…”

“…Ostracods from Med-climate rivers in the Iberian Peninsula are known mainly from benthic [Mezquita et al, 2001;Mezquita et al, 2005;Poquet and Mesquita-Joanes, 2011] and spring habitats [Mezquita et al, 2000], and quite. Recently, a series of studies targeted ostracod assemblages from the HZ of rivers in central Spain has been carried out to determine the factors that shape biodiversity and spatial distribution [Iepure et al, 2013].…”