Samarco dam breach : an environmental disaster on a highly impacted river basin and the use of Leaf Fluctuating Asymmetry for bioindication.
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Date
2020
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Abstract
In November 2015, the Doce River hydrographic basin, one of the main river
basins in Brazil with an European occupation varying from 200-300 years,
suffered an environmental disaster, caused by the breach of a mining tailing dam
(Fundão dam). We evaluated leaf Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA) as a proxy for
environmental stress, along with herbivory levels and specific leaf area (SLA)
from plants in a community of riparian vegetation impacted by the iron tailings
resulted from this disasters along the Doce River basin. True patterns of FA were
detected in the community of riparian plants from the upper Doce River basin.
We did not find, however, significant differences in FA levels for the plant
community in control and impacted areas, neither for levels of herbivory.
However, when comparing the points in upper and mid Doce River, herbivory
levels were higher in the mid basin. The same pattern was observed for the SLA
levels, indicating that plants from the mid Doce River may have better nutritional
quality, being more consumed by herbivores. Although plants in the areas studied
are asymmetric, it appears that the mining toxic mud did not represent a source
of impact capable to increase further asymmetry to the levels already found in
plant communities in places where the tailings did not reach. The long history of
degradation of the Doce River basin may be a source of stress in the plant
community parallel to that caused by the mud. Thus, other factors associated with
land-use intensity and abiotic factors may influence plant stress, levels of
asymmetry and herbivory and deserve further investigation.
Description
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais. Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolução e Meio Ambiente, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.
Keywords
Bacia do Rio Doce, Indicadores biológicos, Barragens de rejeitos
Citation
SILVA, Ello Brasil Ribeiro da. Samarco dam breach: an environmental disaster on a highly impacted river basin and the use of Leaf Fluctuating Asymmetry for bioindication. 29 f. 2020. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ecologia de Biomas Tropicais) - Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, 2020.