Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Volume 224, Issue -, Pages 759-770Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.12.072
Keywords
Salinization; Salt pulses; Mining; Diatoms; Aquatic invertebrates; Biotic indices
Categories
Funding
- People Program (Marie Curie Actions) of the Seventh Framework Program of the European Union (FP7) under REA (TECNIOspring Program) [600388]
- Agency for Competitiveness and Business of the Government of Catalonia, ACCIO [TECSPR14-1-0034]
- ICREA Funding Source: Custom
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In spite of being a widespread activity causing the salinization of rivers worldwide, the impact of potash mining on river ecosystems is poorly understood. Here we used a mesocosm approach to test the effects of a salt effluent coming from a potash mine on algal and aquatic invertebrate communities at different concentrations and release modes (i.e. press versus pulse releases). Algal biomass was higher in salt treatments than in control (i.e. river water), with an increase in salt-tolerant diatom species. Salt addition had an effect on invertebrate community composition that was mainly related with changes in the abundance of certain taxa. Short (i.e. 48 h long) salt pulses had no significant effect on the algal and invertebrate communities. The biotic indices showed a weak response to treatment, with only the treatment with the highest salt concentration causing a consistent (i.e. according to all indices) reduction in the ecological quality of the streams and only by the end of the study. Overall, the treatment's effects were time-dependent, being more clear by the end of the study. Our results suggest that potash mining has the potential to significantly alter biological communities of surrounding rivers and streams, and that specific biotic indices to detect salt pollution should be developed. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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