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Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures

Livestock grazing can compromise the biotic integrity and health of wetlands, especially in remotes areas like Patagonia, which provide habitat for several endemic terrestrial and aquatic species. Understanding the effects of these land use practices on invertebrate communities can help prevent the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Epele, Luis Beltrán, Miserendino, María Laura
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4598092/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26448652
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137873
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author Epele, Luis Beltrán
Miserendino, María Laura
author_facet Epele, Luis Beltrán
Miserendino, María Laura
author_sort Epele, Luis Beltrán
collection PubMed
description Livestock grazing can compromise the biotic integrity and health of wetlands, especially in remotes areas like Patagonia, which provide habitat for several endemic terrestrial and aquatic species. Understanding the effects of these land use practices on invertebrate communities can help prevent the deterioration of wetlands and provide insights for restoration. In this contribution, we assessed the responses of 36 metrics based on the structural and functional attributes of invertebrates (130 taxa) at 30 Patagonian wetlands that were subject to different levels of livestock grazing intensity. These levels were categorized as low, medium and high based on eight features (livestock stock densities plus seven wetland measurements). Significant changes in environmental features were detected across the gradient of wetlands, mainly related to pH, conductivity, and nutrient values. Regardless of rainfall gradient, symptoms of eutrophication were remarkable at some highly disturbed sites. Seven invertebrate metrics consistently and accurately responded to livestock grazing on wetlands. All of them were negatively related to increased levels of grazing disturbance, with the number of insect families appearing as the most robust measure. A multivariate approach (RDA) revealed that invertebrate metrics were significantly affected by environmental variables related to water quality: in particular, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, nutrient concentrations, and the richness and coverage of aquatic plants. Our results suggest that the seven aforementioned metrics could be used to assess ecological quality in the arid and semi-arid wetlands of Patagonia, helping to ensure the creation of protected areas and their associated ecological services.
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spelling pubmed-45980922015-10-20 Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures Epele, Luis Beltrán Miserendino, María Laura PLoS One Research Article Livestock grazing can compromise the biotic integrity and health of wetlands, especially in remotes areas like Patagonia, which provide habitat for several endemic terrestrial and aquatic species. Understanding the effects of these land use practices on invertebrate communities can help prevent the deterioration of wetlands and provide insights for restoration. In this contribution, we assessed the responses of 36 metrics based on the structural and functional attributes of invertebrates (130 taxa) at 30 Patagonian wetlands that were subject to different levels of livestock grazing intensity. These levels were categorized as low, medium and high based on eight features (livestock stock densities plus seven wetland measurements). Significant changes in environmental features were detected across the gradient of wetlands, mainly related to pH, conductivity, and nutrient values. Regardless of rainfall gradient, symptoms of eutrophication were remarkable at some highly disturbed sites. Seven invertebrate metrics consistently and accurately responded to livestock grazing on wetlands. All of them were negatively related to increased levels of grazing disturbance, with the number of insect families appearing as the most robust measure. A multivariate approach (RDA) revealed that invertebrate metrics were significantly affected by environmental variables related to water quality: in particular, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, nutrient concentrations, and the richness and coverage of aquatic plants. Our results suggest that the seven aforementioned metrics could be used to assess ecological quality in the arid and semi-arid wetlands of Patagonia, helping to ensure the creation of protected areas and their associated ecological services. Public Library of Science 2015-10-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4598092/ /pubmed/26448652 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137873 Text en © 2015 Epele, Miserendino http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Epele, Luis Beltrán
Miserendino, María Laura
Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures
title Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures
title_full Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures
title_fullStr Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures
title_full_unstemmed Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures
title_short Environmental Quality and Aquatic Invertebrate Metrics Relationships at Patagonian Wetlands Subjected to Livestock Grazing Pressures
title_sort environmental quality and aquatic invertebrate metrics relationships at patagonian wetlands subjected to livestock grazing pressures
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4598092/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26448652
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137873
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