title: Ecological impact and recovery of a Mediterranean river after receiving the effluent from a textile dyeing industry.
abstract: The textile industry is one of the largest sectors globally, representing up to 20% of industrial water pollution. However, there is limited insight into how fluvial ecosystems respond and recover from this impact. From summer 2012 to spring 2013, we examined water quality and ecological status upstream and 1.5km downstream the input of a textile industry wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Ripoll River, NE Spain. The ecological status was determined via diversity measures and 10 biotic indices based on diatoms, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates and fish. Our results showed that the WWTP severely deteriorated water quality and biological communities at the discharge site, but that they improved at 1.5km downstream. Severity also varied across taxa and seasons, being fish the most affected taxa and spring the season with the best ecological status. The strong correlation amongst water quality variables and many biotic indices across taxa indicated that this is a chronic pollution event affecting multiple trophic levels. Thus, this study suggests that there is an urgent need to invest in wastewater treatment in this industry to preserve the ecological integrity of Ripoll River and especially its fish fauna. Likewise, it illustrates the diagnostic power of biotic indices based on diatoms, macroinvertebrates and fish, as driven by the European Water Framework Directive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biology, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Colin
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Department of Integrative Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), 41092 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: albertomaceda@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maceda-Veiga
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Departament d'Ecologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Flor-Arnau
authors.affiliation: Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Departament d'Ecologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.affiliation: Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Departament d'Ecologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Pau
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fortuño
authors.affiliation: CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Departament d'Ecologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Narcís
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Prat
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Departament d'Ecologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cambra
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biology, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Sostoa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058448:Biota / Q000187:drug effects; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D017377:Diatoms / Q000187:drug effects; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes / Q000254:growth & development; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D012621:Seasons; D013030:Spain; D013783:Textile Industry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioindicators; Community structure; Ecosystem health; Multiple stressors; River self-depuration; Seasonal effects