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Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Triggers for the Impoverishment of the Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Human-Impacted Rivers of Two Central European Ecoregions
ClearThe Role of Landscape Configuration, Season, and Distance from Contaminant Sources on the Degradation of Stream Water Quality in Urban Catchments
A study of a Portuguese river basin found that landscape configuration and proximity to pollution point sources both affect stream macroinvertebrate communities. Macroinvertebrates are sensitive to microplastic pollution, and their decline in contaminated streams can indicate broader ecosystem degradation.
Microplastic accumulation in benthic macroinvertebrates is widespread, regardless of the river ecological status
A broad survey of freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates across multiple rivers found that microplastic accumulation was widespread regardless of local urban development levels, suggesting that factors beyond proximity to urban areas—such as river hydrology and upstream sources—drive MP exposure in freshwater invertebrates.
Long-term trends in stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities are driven by chemicals
This paper is not about microplastics. It investigates long-term trends in stream macroinvertebrate communities in Germany from 2007 to 2021, finding that in-stream chemical pollution data explained about 50% of the variation in biodiversity changes over time. The study focuses on freshwater ecology and the effects of water chemistry, land use, and temperature on aquatic invertebrate diversity, with no specific focus on microplastic contamination.
Response of Freshwater Macroinvertebrate Communities to Various Anthropogenic Stressors in Lolab Streams- A Lotic System of the Indian Himalayan Region
Researchers evaluated how multiple anthropogenic stressors including pollution and altered water chemistry affect freshwater macroinvertebrate communities in Himalayan streams, finding that community composition served as an effective bioindicator of human-induced environmental degradation in this temperate lotic system.
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.
Road crossings change functional diversity and trait composition of stream-dwelling macroinvertebrate assemblages
This study found that road crossings at stream intersections alter the functional diversity and trait composition of stream macroinvertebrate communities, with functional changes reflecting the habitat degradation caused by road-related runoff and connectivity disruption.
Fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages reveal extensive degradation of the world's rivers
Researchers assessed the biological health of rivers worldwide using fish and macroinvertebrate data from over 100,000 sites across 45 countries, including the most comprehensive coverage of the Global South to date. They found that roughly one-third of assessed river sites showed signs of significant biological degradation. The study highlights that freshwater biodiversity loss is a global crisis, with pollution and habitat alteration affecting rivers on every inhabited continent.
Impacts of Anthropogenic Activities on the Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages During the Wet Season in Kipsinende River, Kenya
A study of River Kipsinende in Kenya found that anthropogenic activities including farming and urban discharge negatively impacted benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages across three river sections, reducing biodiversity and altering community composition during the wet season.
Microplastics accumulation in functional feeding guilds and functional habit groups of freshwater macrobenthic invertebrates: Novel insights in a riverine ecosystem
Microplastics were found across functional feeding groups and habitat types of freshwater macroinvertebrates in an Italian river, with collector-gatherers and sediment-dwelling species showing higher contamination, confirming that dietary and behavioral ecology shapes microplastic exposure patterns in invertebrate communities.
Do Urban Rivers Provide Sanctuaryto Macroinvertebrates? A Case Study of an UrbanStretch of the Apies River in Pretoria, South Africa
Researchers assessed macroinvertebrate community health along an urban stretch of the Apies River in Pretoria, South Africa, evaluating whether urban rivers can provide refuge to macroinvertebrates amid impoundment, channel modification, and pollution from agriculture, mining, and wastewater discharges.
Microplastics and riverine macroinvertebrate communities in a multiple-stressor context: A mesocosm approach
Researchers conducted a seven-week experiment using streamside channels to study how microplastics of different sizes and concentrations affect freshwater invertebrate communities, both alone and combined with fine sediment. They found that microplastic effects on invertebrate abundance and community composition were generally modest compared to the well-known impacts of sediment pollution. The study suggests that in real-world streams facing multiple stressors, microplastics may not be the dominant threat to bottom-dwelling organisms.
Response of Odonata assemblages to disturbance in urban freshwater habitats
This paper is not about microplastics — it investigates how Odonata (dragonfly and damselfly) assemblages respond to different levels of habitat disturbance caused by urbanization in freshwater habitats in Ghana.
Macroinvertebrates reveal environmental gradients: methods and method development in the Ob River basin
Researchers analyzed macroinvertebrate community composition along a 3,363-km section of the Ob River in Russia, the world's seventh longest river, examining how species richness, abundance, and biomass varied across sandy, silty, and rocky substrates. They found that longitudinal change patterns differed significantly by substrate type and that environmental gradients, particularly human pressures from agriculture, industry, and urbanization, strongly shaped community structure.
Microplastic Contamination and Ecological Status of Freshwater Ecosystems: A Case Study in Two Northern Portuguese Rivers
Microplastic contamination was assessed in sediments and Oligochaeta gut contents across two rivers with different ecological status scores, finding that urbanization rather than ecological status was the primary driver of sediment microplastic abundance. The results indicate that ecological quality indices alone are insufficient for tracking microplastic pollution in freshwater systems.
Microplastic loads within riverine fishes and macroinvertebrates are not predictable from ecological or morphological characteristics
Researchers measured microplastic loads in riverine fish and macroinvertebrates and found that particle counts were not reliably predicted by species ecology or morphology, suggesting that individual variation and local environmental factors play a larger role in microplastic ingestion than feeding guild or habitat alone.
A mechanistic and trait-based approach to investigating macroinvertebrates distribution and exposure to microplastics in riverine systems
This study took a mechanistic and trait-based approach to understand how macroinvertebrates are distributed across riverine hydraulic biotopes and how their biological traits relate to microplastic exposure. Organism traits tied to specific flow environments influence both microplastic encounter rates and ingestion risk, offering a framework for ecological microplastic risk assessment in rivers.
Microplastic pollution in riverine ecosystems: threats posed on macroinvertebrates
This review examined microplastic abundance, distribution, and impacts on macroinvertebrates across riverine ecosystems globally, finding that ingestion of microplastics can physically harm and inhibit growth, reproduction, and feeding in riverine invertebrates, with fibres and fragments being the most common forms.
High macroplastic pollution in a subtropical urban lake affects macroinvertebrate community structure
Researchers examined the effects of high macroplastic pollution in a subtropical urban lake on macroinvertebrate communities, finding that plastic debris significantly altered benthic assemblages and reduced biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems that have received less ecological attention than marine environments.
Microplastics in water, sediments and macroinvertebrates in a small river of NW Spain
Researchers found microplastics in water, sediment, and aquatic invertebrate species throughout a small urban river in northwest Spain, including inside the body cases of caddisfly larvae. The study confirms that microplastic contamination reaches even the headwaters of urban rivers and enters freshwater invertebrates, with potential to move up the food chain.
Pertubation of Road Construction and Inorganic Sedimentation on the Macroinvetebrate Fauna in the Midstream Segment of Qua Iboe River, Nigeria
Researchers investigated the effects of road construction and inorganic sedimentation on macroinvertebrate communities in the Qua Iboe River in Nigeria, finding that elevated physico-chemical pollution parameters in perturbed river segments significantly disrupted benthic fauna. The study demonstrated that construction-driven sedimentation poses a measurable ecological threat to freshwater invertebrate biodiversity.
Multispecies assemblages and multiple stressors: Synthesizing the state of experimental research in freshwaters
This synthesis of experimental freshwater research on multispecies assemblages under multiple stressors found that most studies used only two species and two stressors, revealing important knowledge gaps about how real-world complexity of biodiversity loss and combined pollution affects freshwater ecosystem function.
Microplastic ingestion by riverine macroinvertebrates
Aquatic insect larvae (Baetidae, Heptageniidae, Hydropsychidae) were collected upstream and downstream of five UK wastewater treatment works and analyzed for microplastics, with MPs found in approximately 50% of samples at all sites and concentrations up to 0.14 MPs/mg tissue. The study finds no consistent increase in microplastic ingestion downstream of WWTPs, suggesting widespread baseline contamination rather than WWTP-specific hotspots.
The effects of land‐use change on semi‐aquatic bugs (Gerromorpha, Hemiptera) in rainforest streams in Sabah, Malaysia
Not relevant to microplastics — this ecological study investigates how logging and conversion to oil palm plantation affects the abundance and diversity of semi-aquatic insects in streams in Sabah, Malaysia.
Water and Sediment Chemistry as Drivers of Macroinvertebrates and Fish Assemblages in Littoral Zones of Subtropical Reservoirs
This paper is not about microplastic pollution. It examines how water chemistry and sediment metal concentrations drive macroinvertebrate and fish communities in the littoral zones of three subtropical reservoirs in South Africa, finding that anthropogenic activities like car washing and wastewater treatment contribute metals to the sediments.