Chemical and biological water quality in tropical cloud forest streams under different land-use

摘要

This work was conducted in a tropical montane cloud forest in south Ecuador. For three years, water-chemical, hydrological and biological parameters were measured and compared between land-uses. Pasture streams showed higher concentrations of base cations, probably resulting from deforestation and burning of the forest. Another factor influencing the water chemistry was gravel excavation and the input of road construction material. These results highlight the high susceptibility of cloud forest streams to different kinds of anthropogenic disturbances. The macroinvertebrate fauna also differed considerably between forested and pasture streams. There was a shift in macroinvertebrate species, higher abundances in pasture streams and a loss of some species with deforestation, the most prominent of which was the loss of Odonata species.