Better Safe Than Sorry: A Model to Assess Anthropic Impacts on a River System in Order to Take Care of the Landscape

Abstract

The need to find a trade-off between protecting water-related ecosystems and increasing safe water-use for human society is recognized in the 2030 Agenda of the European Union. We assess the ecological status of a riverine system in order to mitigate human impacts, considering its importance for supplying drinking water to more than 4 million users in Rome. We used an integrated approach, analyzing animal and plant communities at riverbanks and the riverbed. A macrobenthos analysis revealed a well-structured community with a good ecology for all sampling stations. The highest value was found immediately upstream and downstream of the springs collection system, while the lowest richness value was where the river collects urban wastewater. A floristic inventory showed Hemicryptophytes composing almost 45% of all species, and prevalence of Euroasiatic (35%) and Orophilous (34%) chorotypes. A positive correlation between riverbed vegetation and the quality of the benthic community was revealed, while tree height seems to have a negative trend. Our data suggest a river stretch affected by resurgence and water abstraction did not highlight irreversible alterations to the landscape. Indeed, the composition of vegetation and correlated animal communities mirrored a clinal gradient expected for an Apennine river system. Our study has the potential to improve the approach used to monitor the impacts of humans on freshwater ecosystems, aiming at preserving the integrity of the water-related landscape.