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Si us plau utilitzeu sempre aquest identificador per citar o enllaçar aquest document: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/99343
Ecology and bioindicator potential of benthic macroinvertebrates in a Mediterranean salt wedge estuary: the Ebro River case
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[eng] The Ebro Delta-Estuary complex is one of the largest wetland areas in the western Mediterranean, and it is considered one of the most important estuarine zones in Europe. In 2013, the Ebro watershed, including its deltaic plain, was declared World Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO. Due to its singularity, a total of 7.736 ha of Delta are protected under the Spanish Natural Park figure (including coastal lagoons, freshwater springs, bays and adjacent coastline) which stands out by its faunal (mainly, ornithological and ichthyological) and halophilic floral composition. The Ebro River flows into the Mediterranean Sea and forms a salt wedge or highly stratified estuary, a unique estuary type only found in microtidal coasts worldwide. Diverse human activities occur in this area such as tourism, shooting, commercial fishing and agriculture, as a consequence the entire Delta-Estuary complex is under permanent anthropogenic pressures threatening its ecological integrity; therefore, its conservation should be a priority task. The main objective of the present PhD thesis was to analyze the ecology of the benthic macroinvertebrate community from the Ebro Estuary, in order to evaluate its potential use as biological indicator of highly stratified Mediterranean estuaries. To achieve this goal the study of the macroinvertebrate community was carried out at a high level of taxonomic resolution and its spatiotemporal dynamics in relation with the estuarine environmental gradients was assessed. An exhaustive environmental description of benthic condition of the Ebro Estuary was done, including water physico-chemistry, grain size characterization and total organic estimation in sediments. Furthermore, due to the relevance of river discharge on salt wedge dynamics and therefore on estuarine benthic ecology, a comparison between current salt wedge dynamics and past near natural conditions was done using historical data available at the Ebro basin authority database. Finally, the bioindicator potential of macroinvertebrates to assess the ES according to the WFD criteria was examined throughout the analysis of the response of macrozoobenthos based metrics to the main human pressures in the Ebro estuary, nutrient enrichment and altered flow regime
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NEBRA COSTAS, Alfonso. Ecology and bioindicator potential of benthic macroinvertebrates in a Mediterranean salt wedge estuary: the Ebro River case. [consulta: 28 de novembre de 2025]. [Disponible a: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/99343]