Phytoplankton from urban and suburban polluted rivers

Abstract

The rivers and streams of the suburban area of Buenos Aires City are strongly affected by punctual discharges of industrial and domestic waste-waters as well as by diffuse pollution due to agricultural activities. Water quality in these systems is highly deteriorated thus influencing the structure and dynamics of phytoplankton. The response of the assemblages occurring in each water course depends upon the sensibility and tolerance of algal populations to the different types of pollutants and the local hydrological conditions. In this article, the phytoplankton from several lowland water courses of the Buenos Aires Province is compared on behalf of the information produced by field surveys and in situ and laboratory experimental studies. Spatial and temporal changes in phytoplankton composition is analysed for the largest rivers and streams, which present stretches with different levels of pollution. A synthesis of the data is presented taking into account the phytoplankton species and assemblages tolerant of pollution.