Biomonitoring of the confluence of the Maguaca and Yuna rivers, Cotui, Dominican Republic

Abstract

The degradative processes such as mining cause loss of species, forest cover, ecosystem services and contaminate bodies of water. Under this problem, the behavior of the water quality of the confluence of the Maguaca and Yuna rivers, in the municipality ofCotuí, Dominican Republic, associated with mining activities, was determined. The research was carried out during two moments: December 2020 (t1) and February 2021 (t2). For this, a deterministic sampling of seven equidistant points in the Maguaca River, and two in the Yuna River, was carried out at t1 in rainy season and t2 in dry season. In addition, the presence of benthic macroinvertebrate species was analyzed as indicators of water quality according to the BMWP-Cub method, and the composition and structure of the riparian vegetation was determined. Likewise, the spatial behavior of the physicochemical variables of water such as potential hydrogen (pH), salinity, electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, biological oxygen demand (BOD), nitrates (NO3-), chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphates (PO43-), temperature, dissolved oxygen (O2D), total organic carbon (TOC), and iron concentration (Fe). Water of critical quality (very contaminated) was obtained in the upper part and very critical quality (heavily contaminated) in the lower part, at both times. It is recommended to strengthen monitoring policies for environmental, socioeconomic and health effects.