Eleni Avramidi , Sergio Carlos García Gómez , Sokratis Papaspyrou , Vasilis Louca , Dimitrios Xevgenos , Frithjof C. Küpper
{"title":"Benthic biodiversity near brine discharge sites in the Port of Rotterdam","authors":"Eleni Avramidi , Sergio Carlos García Gómez , Sokratis Papaspyrou , Vasilis Louca , Dimitrios Xevgenos , Frithjof C. Küpper","doi":"10.1016/j.wri.2022.100173","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Port of Rotterdam is a heavily man-modified estuarine system, Europe's major seaport and home to a large number of chemical and petrochemical plants, many of which are supplied with distilled water from two demineralized water plants in Botlek and Maasvlakte. In this study, we assessed the ecological conditions near the brine outfalls and at a reference site unimpacted by brine, focusing on the benthic macrofaunal composition. Overall, the analysis of the communities and species revealed a similar macrobenthic composition, although with lower abundance and diversity compared to the nearby North Sea environment. The outfall area of the Botlek demineralized water plant, which is a dead-end entirely marine waterway with no to little currents in contrast to the well flushed brackish environment of the outfall of the Maasvlakte demineralized water plant, was characterized by the lowest abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates, species richness and Shannon diversity index. Higher biodiversity values at the Maasvlakte demineralized water plant compared to the reference site were also associated with the presence of a large biogenic reef of the Pacific oyster <em>Crassostrea gigas</em> with specimens of over 8 years estimated age being observed, however with many dead individuals recorded at the time of surveys. The outfall area of the Botlek demineralized water plant also had the highest disturbance levels according to the results of AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) in conjunction with Benthos Ecosystem Quality Index (BEQI). Its community was dominated by the opportunistic native species <em>Capitella capitata</em> and <em>Varicorbula gibba</em>, and species typical for organic matter enrichment such as <em>Alitta succinea</em> (native), <em>Streblospio</em> cf <em>shrubsolii</em> (native) and <em>Theora lubrica</em> (invasive), which correlates well with higher levels of anthropogenic pollution in this area. Generalized linear model (GLM) and distance-based multivariate linear model (DistLM) showed that the distance from the outfalls was an important factor in terms of brine impacts however explaining a small part of the variation observed. Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER), multivariate analysis, and permutational multivariate analysis (PERMANOVA) showed low similarity between and within study sites, confirming that high levels of heterogeneity exist within the estuarine system in terms of natural conditions and anthropogenic stress.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23714,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Industry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212371722000038/pdfft?md5=77b1114e9d4b438e994497a9135f54f1&pid=1-s2.0-S2212371722000038-main.pdf","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Water Resources and Industry","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212371722000038","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"WATER RESOURCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
The Port of Rotterdam is a heavily man-modified estuarine system, Europe's major seaport and home to a large number of chemical and petrochemical plants, many of which are supplied with distilled water from two demineralized water plants in Botlek and Maasvlakte. In this study, we assessed the ecological conditions near the brine outfalls and at a reference site unimpacted by brine, focusing on the benthic macrofaunal composition. Overall, the analysis of the communities and species revealed a similar macrobenthic composition, although with lower abundance and diversity compared to the nearby North Sea environment. The outfall area of the Botlek demineralized water plant, which is a dead-end entirely marine waterway with no to little currents in contrast to the well flushed brackish environment of the outfall of the Maasvlakte demineralized water plant, was characterized by the lowest abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates, species richness and Shannon diversity index. Higher biodiversity values at the Maasvlakte demineralized water plant compared to the reference site were also associated with the presence of a large biogenic reef of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas with specimens of over 8 years estimated age being observed, however with many dead individuals recorded at the time of surveys. The outfall area of the Botlek demineralized water plant also had the highest disturbance levels according to the results of AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) in conjunction with Benthos Ecosystem Quality Index (BEQI). Its community was dominated by the opportunistic native species Capitella capitata and Varicorbula gibba, and species typical for organic matter enrichment such as Alitta succinea (native), Streblospio cf shrubsolii (native) and Theora lubrica (invasive), which correlates well with higher levels of anthropogenic pollution in this area. Generalized linear model (GLM) and distance-based multivariate linear model (DistLM) showed that the distance from the outfalls was an important factor in terms of brine impacts however explaining a small part of the variation observed. Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER), multivariate analysis, and permutational multivariate analysis (PERMANOVA) showed low similarity between and within study sites, confirming that high levels of heterogeneity exist within the estuarine system in terms of natural conditions and anthropogenic stress.
期刊介绍:
Water Resources and Industry moves research to innovation by focusing on the role industry plays in the exploitation, management and treatment of water resources. Different industries use radically different water resources in their production processes, while they produce, treat and dispose a wide variety of wastewater qualities. Depending on the geographical location of the facilities, the impact on the local resources will vary, pre-empting the applicability of one single approach. The aims and scope of the journal include: -Industrial water footprint assessment - an evaluation of tools and methodologies -What constitutes good corporate governance and policy and how to evaluate water-related risk -What constitutes good stakeholder collaboration and engagement -New technologies enabling companies to better manage water resources -Integration of water and energy and of water treatment and production processes in industry