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Water quality in Atlantic rainforest mountain rivers (South America): quality indices assessment, nutrients distribution, and consumption effect

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Abstract

The South American Atlantic rainforest is a one-of-a-kind ecosystem considered as a biodiversity hotspot; however, in the last decades, it was intensively reduced to 7 % of its original surface. Water resources and water quality are one of the main goods and services this system provides to people. For monitoring and management recommendations, the present study is focused on (1) determining the nutrient content (nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, and phosphate) and physiochemical parameters (temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and total dissolved solids) in surface water from 24 rainforest mountain rivers in Argentina, (2) analyzing the human health risk, (3) assessing the environmental distribution of the determined pollutants, and (4) analyzing water quality indices (WQIobj and WQImin). In addition, for total coliform bacteria, a dataset was used from literature. Turbidity, total dissolved solids, and nitrite (NO2 −) exceeded the guideline value recommended by national or international guidelines in several sampling stations. The spatial distribution pattern was analyzed by Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis (PCA/FA) showing well-defined groups of rivers. Both WQI showed good adjustment (R 2 = 0.89) and rated water quality as good or excellent in all sampling sites (WQI > 71). Therefore, this study suggests the use of the WQImin for monitoring water quality in the region and also the water treatment of coliform, total dissolved solids, and turbidity.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by The Ministry of Ecology and Renewable Natural Resources of Misiones Province, Fundación Bosques Nativos Argentinos para la Biodiversidad and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (CONICET). We are also greatly indebted to D. Bucafusco, L. Diaz, G. Comte, R. Barassi, M. Torrents, and J. R. Vida for their invaluable collaboration for the sampling logistic. We thank the Editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Antonia Ramos, Fundación Bosques Nativos Argentinos para la Biodiversidad, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Esteban Avigliano & Nahuel Schenone

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Esteban Avigliano

  3. Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Animal (INPA-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1427CWO, Argentina

    Esteban Avigliano

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  1. Esteban Avigliano
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  2. Nahuel Schenone
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Correspondence to Esteban Avigliano.

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Responsible editor: Kenneth Mei Yee Leung

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Avigliano, E., Schenone, N. Water quality in Atlantic rainforest mountain rivers (South America): quality indices assessment, nutrients distribution, and consumption effect. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 15063–15075 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6646-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6646-9

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