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Author | Di Lorenzo, T.; Galassi, D.M.P. | ||||
Title | Agricultural impact on Mediterranean alluvial aquifers: do groundwater communities respond? | Type | Journal Article | ||
Year | 2013 | Publication | Fundamental and Applied Limnology/Archiv für Hydrobiologie | Abbreviated Journal | |
Volume | 182 | Issue | 4 | Pages | 271-282 |
Keywords | alluvial aquifers, groundwater, stygobiont, nitrate, overexploitation | ||||
Abstract | In Mediterranean countries agricultural development heavily depends on groundwater availability due to arid and semi-arid climate and poor surface-water resources. Agriculture represents one of the most relevant pressures which generate impacts in alluvial aquifers by means of fertilizers and pesticides usage and groundwater overexploitation. Until now, very few studies have addressed the ecological response of groundwater fauna to groundwater contamination and overexploitation due to agricultural practices. We investigated a Mediterranean alluvial aquifer heavily affected by nitrates contamination and groundwater abstraction stress due to crop irrigation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of groundwater communities to (a) groundwater nitrate contamination, (b) groundwater abstraction due to irrigation practices, and (c) saltwater intrusion. The present work suggests that nitrate concentration lower than 150 mg l –1 is not an immediate threat to groundwater biodiversity in alluvial aquifers. This conclusion must be carefully considered in the light of the total lack of knowledge of the effects of long-term nitrate pollution on the groundwater biota. Moreover, local extinctions of less tolerant species, prior to monitoring, cannot be ruled out. Conversely, species abundances in ground water are affected by groundwater withdrawal, but species richness may be less sensitive. This result is attributable to the disappearance of saturated microhabitats and to the depletion of fine unconsolidated sediments, reducing the surface available to bacterial biofilm, which represent the trophic resource for several groundwater invertebrates and where the main aquifer self-purification processes, such as denitrification, take place. Saltwater intrusion seems not to affect groundwater species at the values measured in this coastal aquifer. |
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Corporate Author | Thesis | ||||
Publisher | E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung | Place of Publication | Editor | ||
Language | Summary Language | Original Title | |||
Series Editor | Series Title | Abbreviated Series Title | |||
Series Volume | Series Issue | Edition | |||
ISSN | 1863-9135 | ISBN | Medium | ||
Area | Expedition | Conference | |||
Notes | Approved | no | |||
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THL @ luqianxue.zhang @ DiLorenzo2013 | Serial | 43 | ||
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Author | El Mandour, A.; El Yaouti, F.; Fakir, Y.; Zarhloule, Y.; Benavente, J. | ||||
Title | Evolution of groundwater salinity in the unconfined aquifer of Bou-Areg, Northeastern Mediterranean coast, Morocco | Type | Journal Article | ||
Year | 2007 | Publication | Environmental Geology | Abbreviated Journal | |
Volume | 54 | Issue | 3 | Pages | 491-503 |
Keywords | Unconfined aquifer, Groundwater salinity, Seawater intrusion, Nitrate pollution, Lagoon, Morocco Bou-Areg | ||||
Abstract | The Bou-Areg plain in the Mediterranean coast at the North-eastern of Morocco is characterized by a semiarid climate. The aquifer consists of two sedimentary formations of Plio-quaternary age: the upper formation of fine silts and the lower one of coarse silts with sand and gravels. The aquifer is underlain by marly bedrock of Miocene age that dips toward the coastal lagoon of Bou-Areg. The hydrodynamic characteristics vary between 10–4 and 10–3 m/s; and transmissivities range between 10–4 and 10–1 m2 /s. The general direction of flow is SW to NE, toward the lagoon. The aquifer is crossed by the river Selouane, which also ends in the lagoon. The groundwater is characterized by a high salinity that can reach 7.5 g/l. The highest values are observed in the upstream and in the downstream sectors of the aquifer. The temporal evolution of the physicochemical parameters depends on the climatic conditions and piezometric variations. The analysis of the spatio-temporal distribution of the physico-chemical parameters suggests different sources of groundwater salinization: the seawater intrusion, the influence of marly gypsum-bearing terrains, and the influence of anthropogenic products as the agricultural fertilizers, which cause great nitrate concentrations that vary between 80 and 140 mg/l. |
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Publisher | Springer | Place of Publication | Editor | ||
Language | Summary Language | Original Title | |||
Series Editor | Series Title | Abbreviated Series Title | |||
Series Volume | Series Issue | Edition | |||
ISSN | 0943-0105 | ISBN | Medium | ||
Area | Expedition | Conference | |||
Notes | Approved | no | |||
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THL @ luqianxue.zhang @ ElMandour2008 | Serial | 44 | ||
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