Abstract:O aumento na demanda de água para múltiplos usos, tais como irrigação, abastecimento público, industrial, geração de energia elétrica, entre outros, resulta na degradação ambiental e em conflitos pelo uso da água, especialmente no que concerne à conservação dos ecossistemas aquáticos naturais. O reconhecimento da alteração hidrológica causada por tais demandas e da sua consequente degradação ambiental, em uma escala global, conduziu aos estudos de ecohidrologia, ou seja, das inter-relações funcionais entre hid… Show more
“…At its core, the environmental flows concept recognizes that societies benefit directly (for example, via food production) and indirectly (for example, by supporting industry, recreation, and cultural identity) by allowing free-flowing water to support aquatic ecosystems ( 9 ). Several pioneering studies have sought to identify the gap between the state of the art globally and within Brazil’s legal framework on the subject of environmental flows ( 47 – 49 ), and some have worked to adapt and apply holistic environmental flows methodologies to specific cases within Brazil ( 50 , 51 ).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Despite this progress, implementation of environmental flows methods and policies remains in the early stages of development in Brazil ( 47 , 52 ). Particularly lacking in this context is a basin-wide characterization of the type and magnitude of dam-induced changes to the hydrologic regime and a synthesis of the environmental and management variables that drive alteration.…”
“…At its core, the environmental flows concept recognizes that societies benefit directly (for example, via food production) and indirectly (for example, by supporting industry, recreation, and cultural identity) by allowing free-flowing water to support aquatic ecosystems ( 9 ). Several pioneering studies have sought to identify the gap between the state of the art globally and within Brazil’s legal framework on the subject of environmental flows ( 47 – 49 ), and some have worked to adapt and apply holistic environmental flows methodologies to specific cases within Brazil ( 50 , 51 ).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Despite this progress, implementation of environmental flows methods and policies remains in the early stages of development in Brazil ( 47 , 52 ). Particularly lacking in this context is a basin-wide characterization of the type and magnitude of dam-induced changes to the hydrologic regime and a synthesis of the environmental and management variables that drive alteration.…”
Integrated analyses of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of aquatic ecosystems play an important role in decision making, which is linked to water resources management and promotion of ecosystem services. However, the possible advantages of such integration are still hampered by basic aspects, such as high uncertainties due to the partial and non-synchronized monitoring of discharges and observed concentrations of water quality variables. The lack of data has been limiting the adequate representation of a more accurate hydrological regime, which is in turn possibly affected by the potential effects of land use and size of drainage areas. The aim of this research was to discuss the advantages of the integrated analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from water bodies. Under different specific discharge regimes (L.s -1.km-2), we assessed the total phosphorus (TP, t.day-1 .km-2) and thermotolerant coliforms’ (TC, CFU.day-1.km -2) specific loads in rivers with different drainage areas (27-26,500 km 2) and land uses. We compared such loads with the admissible specific loads for these variables, which were estimated based on long-term average discharges and water quality guidelines (i.e., Brazilian environmental standards). Based on data from 2001-2013, we sought to contribute to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of surface waters, focusing on the discussion of the results on critical thresholds of duration and critical loads and discharges. The results showed the existence of significant time intervals with conflicts between the specific admissible and observed loads. This non-compliance varied between 10 and 100% of the duration of the regime for TP, and between 25 and 100% for TC, with a more critical situation observed in rivers with smaller drainage areas. The critical loads ranged from 1 10-4 to 8 10-3 t.day-1.km-2 (TP) and 1 10-2 to 1 10-1 CFU.day-1.km-2 (TC). Although a relatively limited dataset was considered (total N=1,402), the significant variations in discharges and critical loads highlighted the need for considering how these dynamics would affect the traditional methodology for estimating ecological flows, whose current approach is almost exclusively quantitative.
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