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Impacts of diffuse urban stressors on stream benthic communities and ecosystem functioning: a review

Abstract: Catchment urbanisation results in urban streams being exposed to a multitude of stressors. Notably, stressors originating from diffuse sources have received less attention than stressors originating from point sources. Here, advances related to diffuse urban stressors and their consequences for stream benthic communities are summarised by reviewing 92 articles. Based on the search criteria, the number of articles dealing with diffuse urban stressors in streams has been increasing, and most of them focused on North America, Europe, and China. Land use was the most common measure used to characterize diffuse stressor sources in urban streams (70.7 % of the articles characterised land use), and chemical stressors (inorganic nutrients, xenobiotics, metals, and water properties, including pH and conductivity) were more frequently reported than physical or biological stressors. A total of 53.3 % of the articles addressed the impact of urban stressors on macroinvertebrates, while 35.9 % focused on bacteria, 9.8 % on fungi, and 8.7 % on algae. Regarding ecosystem functions, almost half of the articles (43.5 %) addressed changes in community dynamics, 40.3 % addressed organic matter decomposition, and 33.9 % addressed nutrient cycling. When comparing urban and non-urban streams, the reviewed studies suggest that urbanisation negatively impacts the diversity of benthic organisms, leading to shifts in community composition. These changes imply functional degradation of streams. The results of the present review summarise the knowledge gained to date and identify its main gaps to help improve our understanding of urban streams.

 Fuente: Limnetica, 2024, 43(1), 89-108

 Publisher: Asociación Ibérica de Limnología

 Publication date: 01/01/2024

 No. of pages: 20

 Publication type: Article

 DOI: 10.23818/limn.43.07

 ISSN: 0213-8409,1989-1806

Authorship

COLLS, MIRIAM

VIZA, AIDA

ZUFIARRE, AITZIBER

CAMACHO SANTAMANS, ALBA

FILIPE, ANA FILIPA

PÉREZ CALPE, ANA VICTORIA

FREIXA, ANNA

LUPON, ANNA

SANTAMANS, ANNA C.

PRADHAN, ARUNAVA

ESPINOSA, CARMEN

VERA TRUJILLO, CARMEN

GUTIÉRREZ CÁNOVAS, CAYETANO

MENDOZA LERA, CLARA

BRUNO, DANIEL

MERCADO BETTIN, DANIEL