Biodiversity and distribution of diatoms and their use as bioindicators of the quality of the reservoirs in Piracicaba River basin and Cantareira System

• Grant number: 13/23703-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Denise de Campos Bicudo
• Grantee: Stéfano Zorzal de Almeida
• Host Institution: Instituto de Botânica. Secretaria do Meio Ambiente (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 09/53898-9 - Paleolimnological reconstruction of Guarapiranga Reservoir and diagnosis of water and sediment current quality of SPMR water supply reservoirs facing their management, AP.TEM

Abstract

One of the major problems of watershed management is eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems. An important tool for management is the monitoring of physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the water and, most recently, the monitoring of sediment that accumulates spatial and temporal information of environmental change. Diatoms are excellent bioindicators of water quality due to sensitivity to physical and chemical changes in the environment. However little is known about diatoms ecology in tropical regions hindering their use as bioindicator. This project aims to evaluate the relationships between diatom species and variations of limnological conditions of Piracicaba River Basin and Cantareira System reservoirs, considering habitat, connectivity and land use, and consequently contributing to: (a) Characterization of ecological quality of these systems, (b) assess the potential of these communities as bioindicators of trophic status, and (c) expansion of knowledge about the ecology of tropical diatoms. Sampling of water and planktonic and periphyton diatoms will be carried out during dry and rainy seasons. For geochemical and diatom of surface sediment analyses, the samples will be carried out in the dry season. Water variables includes: water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, transparency, euphotic zone, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, nitrogen series, phosphorus series, soluble reactive silica and chlorophyll-a. Sediment variables includes: total phosphorus, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, stable isotope (´13C and ´15N) and grain size. Diatoms will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively and several biological indices will be calculated (diversity and water quality). Regression analysis and multivariate ordination and classification will be used to analyze data. This study is pioneer in Piracicaba River Basin and the Cantareira System. It is also the third in Brazil to assess the structural organization and the potential diatom as a bioindicator of different habitats in reservoirs with different trophic states, emphasizing the pioneering analyses about influence of land use. Binds to an interdisciplinary project which will contribute with information about the biodiversity and ecology of diatoms in order to compose a regional database and its future application in transfer function model (diatom-phosphorus). (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ZORZAL-ALMEIDA, STEFANO; BARTOZEK, ELAINE C. RODRIGUES; BICUDO, DENISE C.. Homogenization of diatom assemblages is driven by eutrophication in tropical reservoirs{*}. Environmental Pollution, v. 288, NOV 1 2021. (13/14337-7, 13/23703-7, 09/53898-9)

SALIM, ALINE; NASCIMENTO, MAJOI DE NOVAES; BINI, LUIS MAURICIO; BICUDO, DENISE CAMPOS. Effects of land use and spatial processes in water and surface sediment of tropical reservoirs at local and regional scales. Science of The Total Environment, v. 644, p. 237-246, DEC 10 2018. (13/23703-7, 09/53898-9)

KRYSNA STEPHANNY DE MORAIS; ELAINE RODRIGUES BARTOZEK; STÉFANO ZORZAL-ALMEIDA; DENISE C. BICUDO; CARLOS EDUARDO DE MATTOS BICUDO. Taxonomia e ecologia da ordem Surirellales (Bacillariophyceae) em reservatórios tropicais no Sudeste do Brasil. Acta Limnol. Bras., v. 30, 2018-11-14. (13/14337-7, 13/23703-7, 09/53898-9)

ZORZAL-ALMEIDA, STEFANO; BINI, LUIS MAURICIO; BICUDO, DENISE CAMPOS. Beta diversity of diatoms is driven by environmental heterogeneity, spatial extent and productivity. Hydrobiologia, v. 800, n. 1, p. 7-16, OCT 2017. (13/23703-7, 09/53898-9)

ZORZAL-ALMEIDA, STEFANO; RODRIGUES BARTOZEK, ELAINE C.; MORALES, EDUARDO A.; BICUDO, DENISE C.. Brachysira aristidesii sp. nov. (Bacillariophyceae, Brachysiraceae): a new species from oligotrophic and mesotrophic tropical reservoirs in southeastern Brazil. PHYTOTAXA, v. 456, n. 1, p. 105-113, AUG 19 2020. (13/23703-7, 13/14337-7, 09/53898-9)

ZORZAL-ALMEIDA, STEFANO; SOININEN, JANNE; BINI, LUIS M.; BICUDO, DENISE C.. Local environment and connectivity are the main drivers of diatom species composition and trait variation in a set of tropical reservoirs. Freshwater Biology, v. 62, n. 9, p. 1551-1563, SEP 2017. (13/23703-7)

LEHMKUHL, ELTON A.; MORALES, EDUARDO A.; TREMARIN, I, PRISCILA; BARTOZEK, ELAINE C. R.; ZORZAL-ALMEIDA, STEFANO; LUDWIG, V, THELMA A.; BICUDO, CARLOS E. DE M.. Two new species of Nitzschia (Bacillariaceae, Bacillariophyta) from tropical reservoirs of southeastern Brazil. PHYTOTAXA, v. 399, n. 1, p. 83-99, MAR 25 2019. (13/23703-7, 09/53898-9, 13/14337-7)