Natural and anthropogenic variations in a channelized water course in Centre of Portugal
The present study took place in the Mondego River, located in the Centre of Portugal. The lower sector of the river (Lower Mondego) is largely man-made due to regularization and rectification of the channel. The objective was to assess the impacts on the aquatic communities (fishes and benthic inver...
| Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Publication Date: | 2004 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repository: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:26098 |
| Online Access: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/26098 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Invertebrats bentònics Peixos Canalització Dinàmica fluvial Riades Invertebrados bentónicos Peces Canalización Dinámica fluvial Riadas Benthic invertebrates Fishes Channelization Fluvial dynamics Floods |
| Summary: | The present study took place in the Mondego River, located in the Centre of Portugal. The lower sector of the river (Lower Mondego) is largely man-made due to regularization and rectification of the channel. The objective was to assess the impacts on the aquatic communities (fishes and benthic invertebrates). Fauna inventories were performed in June and September of 2000 and 2001, together with habitat characterization. Three sampling sites were selected in this segment and compared to a reference site located upstream. It is concluded that the presence of structures such as submerged weirs and riprap, promoted the diversity, due to the physical complexity, which they introduced into the system. The dramatic flood peaks that occurred in the winter of 2000/01 also caused substantial changes in the fluvial dynamics and in the habitats: the large amount of suspended solids transported resulted in a riverbed of unstable fine materials, and in a subsequent biological impoverishment. However, both communities displayed a high resilience to these changes; the inter-annual differences being obscured by the seasonal ones on macroinvertebrate communities. |
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