Assessing the impacts of mining activities on zooplankton functional diversity.
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2016
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Mining activities generate countless environmental impacts, including heavy-metal
contamination, sorting and increased turbidity. In aquatic ecosystems these impacts can drastically
affect the initial links of the food chain, such as zooplankton. Methods: To evaluate how the different
mining activities can influence the structure and functional diversity of zooplankton, we investigated
the geochemical characteristics of the water and sediment in two small impoundments impacted by
different mining activities (kaolin and iron extraction). We also explored zooplankton composition,
species diversity and functional diversity (feeding guilds taxa). Results: As expected, the water and the
sediment of both of the reservoirs showed high concentrations of trace elements, particularly Al, Ba,
Fe, Mg, Mn, Sr and Zn. Zooplankton biomass and diversity were markedly reduced (< 12 μg.DW.L-1
and H’ < 1.5, respectively), and negatively correlated with turbidity and total suspended solids. Small
microphages dominated the trophic composition of zooplankton, and an alternation of trophic guilds
was not observed, since the dynamics of raptorial organisms was essentially linked to the temporal
fluctuation of a single species of rotifer (Polyarthra cf. dolichoptera). Conclusions: In addition to
changes in the aquatic habitat and zooplankton composition, the functional niches were also affected
by the mining impacts. The use of the functional diversity analysis can emerge as a valuable approach
to understand how zooplankton communities respond to drastic environmental changes.
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Palavras-chave
Mining, Impact, Functional diversity, Zooplankton
Citação
MOREIRA, F. W. A. et al. Assessing the impacts of mining activities on zooplankton functional diversity. Acta Limnológica Brasiliensia, v. 28, p. 1-19, 2016. Disponível em: <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2179-975X2016000100309>. Acesso em: 25 ago. 2017.