Papers

61,005 results
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Meta Analysis Tier 1

Developing predictive models of riparian buffer efficacy with meta-analysis

Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of hundreds of studies on riparian buffer zones — strips of vegetation along streams — and found that a 15-meter-wide buffer retains about 67% of pollutants from nearby land and supports roughly 79% of local species richness. While most research focused on nutrients and sediment, the authors flag microplastics as an emerging pollutant that riparian buffers have not yet been adequately studied to address.

2025 Environmental Challenges
Article Tier 2

Quality Profile of Riparian Zone and Vegetation Quality in Amprong River, Tumpang District Based on QBR index and NDVI

Researchers assessed the riparian zone quality of the Amprong River using the QBR index and NDVI, finding medium overall quality with two stations rated 'good' due to high vegetation cover, while low scores at other stations were linked to agricultural disturbance.

2021 Biotropika Journal of Tropical Biology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of Floating Plastics through the Fluvial Vector: The Impact of Riparian Zones

Researchers tracked how riparian vegetation affects the transport of floating plastics through river systems, using field observations and modeling to show that dense vegetation traps plastic debris and reduces downstream transport. The findings suggest riparian buffer strips could serve as a natural management tool for reducing riverine plastic export to the ocean.

2024 Water 8 citations
Article Tier 2

The The structure of mangrove communities in response to water quality in Jakarta Bay, Indonesia

Researchers examined the structure of mangrove communities in Jakarta Bay, Indonesia in relation to water quality parameters, finding that degraded water quality from urban pollution was associated with changes in mangrove species composition and community structure.

2019 Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Urbanisation and specifically impervious cover alter riparian plant communities in a rapidly urbanising landscape in the Himalayas

Researchers studied how urbanization and impervious surfaces like roads and buildings affect riparian plant communities along rivers in the Himalayas. The study found that expanding impervious cover along riverbanks significantly alters species diversity and composition, threatening these important transitional ecosystems in a rapidly developing region.

2025 Urban forestry & urban greening 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluación De La Calidad Química Y Microbiológica Del Agua Para Consumo Humano De La Junta De Agua Potable De La Parroquia Benitez, Cantón Pelileo, Provincia De Tungurahua

Researchers evaluated the chemical and microbiological quality of drinking water supplied by the community water board in Benitez parish, Ecuador, assessing multiple quality parameters to determine safety for human consumption and identify potential health risks.

2022 LA CIENCIA AL SERVICIO DE LA SALUD Y NUTRICIÓN
Article Tier 2

Assessing land-use impacts on a 5th-order tropical river using multiple environmental indicators

Researchers combined multiple environmental indicators to assess the health of a tropical river system in Brazil affected by land-use change from agriculture and urbanization. Rivers in degraded landscapes also carry higher microplastic loads, and multi-indicator approaches provide a more complete picture of ecosystem health.

2021 Caderno de Geografia 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A first step to assess suspended microplastics in a freshwater wetland from the coastal region of Ecuador

Researchers conducted the first assessment of suspended microplastics in La Segua wetland in Ecuador, a Ramsar-designated site threatened by agricultural and aquaculture pressures, evaluating potential risks to filter-feeding organisms in aquatic food webs.

2023 Frontiers in Environmental Science 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging contaminants in rural water: microplastic pollution and its association with agricultural, livestock, and industrial activities in Ecuador

Researchers surveyed 169 samples from 29 rural drinking water systems in southern Ecuador, finding microplastics in 61.5% of samples, with PET as the most frequent polymer and contamination levels correlating with proximity to agricultural, livestock, and industrial activities.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Article Tier 2

Evaluacion de la calidad de agua mediante un analisis multivariante en los esteros del Golfo de Fonseca, Honduras.

Researchers analyzed water quality data from eight monitoring sites in the Gulf of Fonseca esteros in Honduras (2000-2015) using principal component analysis and cluster analysis, identifying three significant water quality groups with nitrogen, phosphorus, BOD, and alkalinity explaining the greatest variance as indicators of poor water quality.

2023 Boletín de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Sustainability Implications of Microplastic Accumulation in Riverbank Vegetation of the Niger, Omambala, and Idemili Rivers

Researchers examined microplastic accumulation in riverbank vegetation along the Niger, Omambala, and Idemili Rivers, assessing the environmental sustainability implications of plastic contamination in freshwater plant communities.

2025 International Journal of Agriculture and Technology
Article Tier 2

Variations of surface water quality in selected tidal creeks of Sagar Island, Indian Sundarban eco-region: a multivariate approach

Researchers monitored water quality in tidal creeks of India's Sundarbans mangrove region for a full year, finding that salinity, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen varied most dramatically across seasons and were heavily influenced by monsoon runoff and boat traffic. The baseline data provides a foundation for managing water quality in this ecologically sensitive and biologically rich estuary.

2021 Applied Water Science 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Riparian vegetation as a natural barrier: experimental analysis of plastic particle retention in a vegetated reach

Researchers ran laboratory experiments showing that riverside plants act as natural traps for microplastics, with heavier plastic particles (1.4 g/cm³) being retained at rates up to 93% while lighter, irregularly shaped pieces were captured at twice the rate of disk-shaped ones. Lower water turbulence improved trapping, suggesting that preserving riparian vegetation could help prevent microplastics from reaching the ocean.

2025 Environmental Advances
Article Tier 2

Avaliação do uso e cobertura da terra e da qualidade da água da Sub-bacia do Lajeado Pardo no Noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul

Researchers evaluated land use, land cover, and water quality across five sub-watersheds of the Lajeado Pardo basin in northwestern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, analyzing parameters including nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, phosphorus, pH, conductivity, coliforms, E. coli, and turbidity to assess the impact of agricultural and urban land use on water quality.

2024 Revista de Geografia 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Land Use Change on Water Quality Index in the Upper Ganges River near Haridwar, Uttarakhand: A GIS-Based Analysis

Researchers assessed water quality in the upper Ganges River near Haridwar using GIS-based analysis, finding that land use changes including urbanization and agriculture significantly impacted water quality parameters along a 78-kilometer stretch.

2021 Water 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Green barriers to plastic transport in rivers: an indoor study

Indoor flume experiments demonstrated that riparian vegetation and green infrastructure along riverbanks can trap floating and suspended plastic debris, suggesting that natural and planted green barriers could help reduce plastic transport to the ocean.

2024
Article Tier 2

Relative contributions of different local sources to riverborne microplastic in a mixed landuse area within a tropical catchment

Researchers quantified the relative contributions of different land-use sources to riverborne microplastics in a tropical catchment, providing data to help prioritize pollution reduction measures for protecting human and ecological health.

2022 Environmental Research 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in rivers and coastal waters of the province of Esmeraldas, Ecuador

Researchers found microplastic contamination throughout rivers and coastal waters of Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador, with coastal waters showing significantly higher concentrations than rivers and transparent fibres and brown fragments being the most abundant types.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in tropical Andean rivers: A perspective from a highly populated Ecuadorian basin without wastewater treatment

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations in a highly populated Ecuadorian river basin that lacks wastewater treatment, finding contamination throughout the system and demonstrating that rivers in low-income tropical countries with poor infrastructure are major conduits for microplastics.

2020 Heliyon 66 citations
Review Tier 2

Impacts of land use/land cover on water quality: a contemporary review for researchers and policymakers

This review examines how different land uses, from farming to urban development, affect water quality through diffuse pollution. Natural vegetation acts as a protective buffer against contamination, but more research is needed to determine how much vegetation is required to effectively filter pollutants. The findings are relevant to microplastic pollution because urban runoff and agricultural land use are major pathways by which microplastics enter drinking water sources.

2024 Water Quality Research Journal 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Water Quality Analysis and Its Impact on Biodiversity in Freshwater Ecosystems

Researchers measured physicochemical water quality parameters and biological communities at five freshwater sites with varying degrees of anthropogenic disturbance, using correlation analysis, PCA, and cluster analysis to link water quality to aquatic biodiversity. They found strong positive correlations between dissolved oxygen and species richness, and significant negative associations between BOD, nitrate, heavy metals, and biodiversity, concluding that degraded water quality directly compromises freshwater ecosystem function.

2025 Aquapolis.
Article Tier 2

Relationship between Urban Growth and Water Pollution: Experience of Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

Researchers evaluated water pollution levels in two historic ponds in Kano, Nigeria, finding that rapid urban and population growth in the metropolis is causing significant deterioration of water quality through increased runoff and waste discharge into natural water bodies.

2023 Journal of Hunan University Natural Sciences
Article Tier 2

Impact of watershed habitat quality based on land use: a case study of taking Ciyao River Basin

Land use change analysis in the Ciyao River Basin from 1985 to 2020 showed that habitat quality declined in areas with increased agricultural and urban expansion, highlighting land use as a key driver of watershed ecological health. The findings support land use planning as a tool for biodiversity and water resource protection.

2023 Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Los invertebrados y la calidad del hábitat como indicadores de la condición biológica de la costa del Río de la Plata, Argentina

Researchers analyzed the structural and functional characteristics of meso- and macroinvertebrate assemblages along 155 km of the freshwater intertidal zone of the Río de la Plata estuary in Argentina, using invertebrates and habitat quality as biological condition indicators. The study assessed how human development and pollution stress along this ecologically and socioeconomically important estuary affect aquatic invertebrate communities.

2022 Ecología Austral 1 citations