Effects on macroinvertebrate communities a year after the rehabilitation of an urban river (Tinto River, Portugal)

Abstract

The Tinto River is a small urban watercourse in the Douro River basin (Portugal) that has been subject to various types of environmental disturbances over the years, which has led to severe degradation of its ecological status. Between 2013 and 2017, several studies were carried out to characterize and monitor some environmental parameters and to identify sources of environmental disturbances. From these studies, a set of actions and projects were undertaken in 2017–2019 to mitigate some of the environmental problems and to rehabilitate the river and its riverside areas. Here, we compare some parameters related to the river’s ecological state (naturalness of the channel and banks, physicochemical conditions and benthic macroinvertebrate community) before the interventions and one year after the interventions at Tinto River. Conductivity, oxygen concentration and biotic indices improved after one year, especially during the adverse hydrological conditions brought on by a very dry summer and autumn with some flood episodes.