Impact evaluation of the Vila Viçosa small hydroelectric power plant (Portugal) on the water quality and on the dynamics of the benthic macroinvertebrate communities of the Ardena river
Over a two-year period a study of the Vila Viçosa small hydroelectric development, located on the Ardena river (hydrographical basin of the Douro river, Portugal), was conducted, with the objective of evaluating the impact of its operation on the water quality and on the dynamics of the benthic macr...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2004 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:26096 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/26096 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Impacte ambiental Minicentrals hidroelèctriques Macroinvertebrats Qualitat de l'aigua Impacto ambiental Minicentrales hidroeléctricas Macroinvertebrados Calidad del agua Environmental impact Small hydroelectric power plant Macroinvertebrates Water quality |
| Sumario: | Over a two-year period a study of the Vila Viçosa small hydroelectric development, located on the Ardena river (hydrographical basin of the Douro river, Portugal), was conducted, with the objective of evaluating the impact of its operation on the water quality and on the dynamics of the benthic macroinvertebrate community. A morphological, hydrologic and physico-chemical characterization of the system was done, an analysis of the benthic macroinvertebrate communities looking into their structure and dynamics, as well as ecological and physiological characteristics. With the physical and chemical data, a study of its spatial and temporal variation was performed. With the data related to the macroinvertebrate communities, an analysis of the spatial variation of some indexes and metrics and of the (non) similarity between the samples collected were done, bearing in mind the composition of the communities, through different techniques of multivariate analysis. After the analysis of the data, it is possible to say that the Ardena River is a lothic system, with good water quality, in which the working of the small hydroelectric power plant causes alterations on the macroinvertebrate community, due to the alteration of the "natural" hydrologic regime. The impact on the macroinvertebrate communities is lower upstream of the plant, where the flow is minimal throughout the whole year leading to a change in the structure of the community. Downstream of the plant, where the flow is extremely variable, there is an impoverishment of the communities, leading to the displacement of substrate and organisms. |
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