The usefulness of ecotoxicological tools to improve the assessment of water bodies in a climate change reality

Abstract

This study aimed to analyse the added value of using ecotoxicological tools to complement and improve the assessment of natural water bodies status, in situations of climate change, with a higher frequency of extreme events as floods or droughts. Four water bodies of streams in the Guadiana Basin (Álamos, Amieira, Lucefécit, Zebro) were studied in 2017 and 2018 and classified based on the Water Framework Directive (WFD) parameters: Biological Quality Element – Phytobenthos (diatoms), General chemical and physicochemical elements, Specific pollutants, and Priority Substances. Complementarily, bioassays (including lethal and sublethal parameters) were carried out with organisms of different trophic levels: (i) the bacteria Aliivibrio fischeri; (ii) the microalgae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata; (iii) the crustaceans Daphnia magna, Thamnocephalus platyurus and Heterocypris incongruens. A classification system with 5 scores was developed, permitting to classify water bodies from non-toxic (EC50 > 100 %; growth and feeding rate > 80 %; blue) to highly toxic (EC50 < 10 %; growth and feeding rate < 10 %; red). The comparison between the classification based on the WFD parameters and on ecotoxicological endpoints showed similar results for 71 % of the samples, and significant positive Pearson correlations were detected between the diatom-based Specific Polluosensitivity Index (SPI) and EC50V.fisheri, the algae growth rate and Shannon diversity index. These results indicate that when the biological quality elements cannot be used (namely under drought or flooding conditions) the application of ecotoxicological bioassays may be a good alternative. Further, when ecotoxicological parameters were included, an increase of worse classifications (Bad and Poor) was observed, revealing an improvement in the sensitivity of the classification, mainly in presence of specific and priority substances. So, the ecotoxicological analysis appears to provide useful information regarding the potential presence of both known and unknown contaminants at concentrations that cause biological effects (even within the WFD limits), in agreement with several authors that have already suggested its use in biomonitoring.