How Does Mining Salinisation Gradient Affect the Structure and Functioning of Macroinvertebrate Communities?

Abstract

Elevated salinity creates degrading conditions for the development of aquatic biota in different regions of the world. There is a need for research on freshwater salinisation in order to understand how this stressor alters ecosystem function and to predict changes in biodiversity globally. Such data are missing from Central Europe, and therefore, the presented study was performed in inland anthropogenic ponds with different salinity levels located in the second largest European hard coal basin. The researcher indicated a positive correlation between water salinity and the biomass and density of macrozoobenthos as well as the percentage of shredders and the abundance of alien species, whereas there was a decrease in taxa diversity and richness and the abundance of filtering and gathering collectors and predators along with increasing salinity. The survey showed that a high level of nutrients and organic matter were also significantly correlated with the distribution of the macroinvertebrate taxa and functional feeding groups. The conducted research confirmed that mining salinisation acts as a strong filter that shapes the biodiversity because it affects the composition, abundance, biomass and functional traits of benthic macroinvertebrates and significantly contributes to the invasion of alien species.