Chironomidae as indicators of water pollution in Pesquería River (México)

Submitted: 25 October 2022
Accepted: 22 March 2023
Published: 3 May 2023
Abstract Views: 1541
PDF: 823
HTML: 33
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Despite their potential as indicators of water quality and their key role in river ecosystems, Chironomidae is still poorly studied in Neotropical rivers. This lack of knowledge is especially relevant for rivers subjected to intense human activities, such as many rivers in Mexico. The aim of this investigation is to contribute to the knowledge of the midges of the Pesquería River (Mexico) along its main courses and relate the composition and abundance to river health. Thirty samples were collected during two different periods (August 2015 and February 2016) using a D-frame and kick sampling. Thirty-five taxa were found in total, with four taxa found in more than 50% of the sites and 19 only found once. Midges accounted for more than 50% of the total macroinvertebrate abundance. Chironomus gr. plumosus, Rheotanytarsus spp. and Cricotopus gr. bicinctus were the most abundant species. Collector-gatherers dominated in August (71% of individuals), whereas collector-filterers dominated in February (43,2%). The major factor explaining the midge distribution and abundance is pollution, while the structure of riparian area does not explain much of the midge richness. This is most likely related to the organic pollution coming from untreated or poorly treated sewage in the city of Monterrey and its surroundings. Three main sectors are distinguished along the river: i) the upper part section with higher biodiversity and presence of intolerant taxa; ii) the middle sewage polluted area with the presence of large red midges very tolerant to pollution (Chironomus, Dicrotendipes); iii) the lower section in the agricultural zone where the community is dominated by red, small midges (Rheotanytarsus). Overall, our study shows that Chironomidae can be useful as better indicators of water quality when genera or species levels are used instead of family or subfamily, as is usually found in most papers on river pollution.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

ANDERSEN T., CRANSTON P., EPLER J.H., 2013 - Chironomidae of Holartic Region. Keys and diagnoses. Larvae. - Insects’ systematics and evolution. Supplement 66, 573 pp.
ARMITAGE P.D., CRANSTON P.S., PINDER L.C.V., 1995 (eds) - The Chironomidae: Biology and Ecology of non-biting midges. - Chapman and Hall, London, 572 pp.
ARRIAGA-CABRERA L., AGUILAR V., ESPINOZA, J.M., 2009 - Regiones prioritarias y planeación para la conservación de la biodiversidad - Capital natural de México, vol. II: Estado de conservación y tendencias de cambio. CONABIO, México, 433-457 pp.
BELLO-GONZÁLEZ O.C., ALONSO-EGUÍA P., MERCADOSILVA, N., 2019 - First record of Xestochironomus Sublette and Wirth, 1972 (Chironomidae:Chironominae) in the Mexican Neartic with notes on their hábitat. - Biodivers. Data J. BERMEJO G., 2003 - Proposición metodológica para la evaluación de la calidad del agua del río Pesquería, mediante el análisis de su ecosistema bentónico, como tributario de la cuenca San Juan, en Nuevo León, México. - Tesis de Maestría de Ciencias. Especialidad de Ingeniería Ambiental. Universidad de Nuevo León. México, 116 pp.
CALEÑO-RUIZ Y., RIVERA-RONDÓN C.A., OVALLE H., 2018 - Hábitos aimentarios de quionómidos (Diptera: Chironomidae) en lagos del Páramo de Chingaza, Colombia. - Revista de Biologia Tropical. 66(1):136-148. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v66i1.28951
CAÑEDO-ARGÜELLES M., BOGAN M.T., LYTLE D.A., PRAT N., 2016 - Are Chironomidae (Diptera) good indicators of water scarcity?. Dryland streams as a case study. – Ecol. Indic. 71:155-162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.07.002
CAÑEDO-ARGÜELLES M., BOERSMA K.S., BOGAN M.T., OLDEN, J.D., PHILLIPSEN I., SCHRIEVER T.A., LYTLE
D.A., 2015 - Dispersal strength determines meta-community structure in a dendritic riverine network. – J. Biogeogr. 42(4),778-790. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12457
CAÑEDO-ARGÜELLES M., GUTIÉRREZ-CÁNOVAS C., ACOSTA, R., CASTRO_LÓPEZ D., CID N., FORTUÑO P.,
MUNNÉ A., MURRIA C., PIMETAO A.R., SERREMEJANE R., SORIA M., TARRATS P., VERKAIK I., PRAT N., BONADA N., 2020 - As time goes by: 20 years of changes in the aquatic macroinvertebrate metacommunity of Mediterranean river networks. - J. Biogeogr. 2020;47:1861-1874. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13913
CARMONA-JIMÉNEZ J., CARO-BORRERO A., 2017 - The last peri-urban rivers of the Mexico Basin: establishment of potential reference conditions through the evaluation of ecological quality and biological indicators. - Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, 88:425-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmb.2017.03.019
CARO-BORRERO A., CARMONA-JIMÉNEZ J., 2018 - Habitat preferences in freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates: Algae as substratum and food resource in high mountain rivers from Mexico. - Limnologica. 69:10-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2017.10.002
CARO-BORRERO A., CARMONA-JIMÉNEZ J., 2019 - The use of macroinvertebrates and algae as indicators of riparian ecosystem services in the Mexican Basin: a morpho-functional approach. - Urban Ecosyst. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-019-00881-7
CASTILLO M.M., BARBA-ALVAREZ R., MAYORGA, A., 2018 - Riqueza y diversidad de insectos acuáticos en la Cuenca del río Usmacinta en México. - Revista Mexicanan de Biodiversidad, 89:45-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2018.0.2177
CASTRO-LÓPEZ D., GUERRA-COBIÁN V., PRAT, N., 2019a - The role of riparian vegetation in the evaluation of ecosystem health: The case of semiarid conditions in Northern-Mexico. - River Res. Applic. 35:48-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3383
CASTRO-LÓPEZ D., RODRIGUEZ LOZANO P., ARIAS-REAL R., GUERRA-COBIAN V., PRAT N., 2019b - The influence of Riparian Corridor Land Use on the Pesquería Rivers’s Macroinvertebrate Community (N.E. Mexico). - Water, 11:18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w11091930
DA SILVA F.B., PINHO L.C., WIEDENBRUG S., DANTAS G.P.S., SIRI A., ANDERSEN T., TRIVINHO-STRIXINO S.,
Chironomidae. In: Hamada, Throp, & Rogers, (eds). - Keys to Neotropical Hexapoda. Thorp’s and Covich Fresheater Invertebrates. Vol III - (Fourth Edition). Academic Press, 661- 700 pp.
EDWARD D.H.D., STOREY A.W., SMITH M.J.B., 2000 - Assessing river health in south-western Australia: comparison of macroinvertebrates at family level with Chironomidae at species DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03680770.1998.11901655
level. - Internationale Vereinigung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie: Verhandlungen, 27:4,2326-2335.
EKREM T., 2019 - A new dawn for chironomids in freshwater biomonitoring? - CHIRONOMUS J Chironomidae Res, 32:2-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5324/cjcr.v0i32.3367
EPLER J.H., 2001 - Identification Manual for the Larval Chironomidae (Diptera) of North and South Carolina. A Guide to the Taxonomy of the Midges of the Southeastern United States, Including Florida. - Special Publication SJ2001-SP13.
NCDENR, Raleigh, NC, and St. Johns River Water Management District, Palatka, Florida, 526 pp.
FAILLA A.J., VASQUEZ A.A., HUDSON P., FUJIMOTO M., RAM J.L., 2015 - Morphological identification and COI barcodes of adult flies help determine species identities of chironomid
larvae (Diptera, Chironomidae). - Bull Entomol Res, Volume 106, Issue 1, February 2016, 34-46 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485315000486
FERRIÑO A.L.F., 2016 - Delimitación de zonas federales y áreas de amortiguamiento en ríos afectados por el crecimiento urbano como estrategia para prevenir inundaciones. - Epistemus, Ciencia Tecnología y Salud, 19:24-33.
FERRINGTON L.C., BERG M.B., COFFMAN W.P. 2008. Chironomidae. In: Merritt RW, Cummins KW, Berg MB (Eds) - An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America. - 4th Edition. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, 847-989 pp.
GONZÁLEZ-TRUJILLO J.D., PETSH D.K., CÓRDOBA-ARIZA G., RINCÓN-PALAU K., DOATO-RONDÓN J.C., CASTROREBOLLEDO M.I., SABATER S., 2019 - Upstream refugia and dispersal ability may override benthic-community responses to high-Andean streams deforestation. - Biodivers Conserv, 28:1513-1531. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01739-2
MOLINERI C., TEJERINA E.G., TORREJÓN S.E., PERO E.J.I., HANKEL G.H., 2020 - Indicative value of different taxonomic levels of Chironomidae for assessing the water quality. - Ecol Indic, 108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105703
MUNNÉ A., PRAT N., SOLÀ C., BONADA N., RIERADEVALL M., 2003 - A simple field method for assessing the ecological quality of riparian habitat in rivers and streams: QBR index. - Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw. Ecosyst. 13(2):147-163. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.529
MURRIA C., VAISANEN L.O.S., SOMMA S., WANGENSTEEEN O. W., ARENDO M.A., PRAT N., 2020 - Towards and Iberian DNA barcode reference library of freshwater macroinvertebrates and fishes. - Limnetica, 39(1):73-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23818/limn.39.06
NICACIO G., JUEN L., 2015 - Chironomids as indicators in freshwater ecosystems: an assessment of the literature. - Insect Conserv. Diver. 8:393-403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12123
NICACIO G., JUEN L., 2018 - Relative roles of Environmental and spatial constraints in assemblages of Chironomidae (Diptera) in Amazonian floodplain streams. – Hydrobiologia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3657-1
PÉREZ L., LORESNCHAR J., MASSAFERRO J., PAILLE C.. SYLVESTRE F. HOLLWEDE W. GERD-BRANDON G.O.,
BRENNER M., ISLEBE G., LOZANO MD., SHARF B., SCHWALB A., 2013 - Bioindicators of climate and trophic state in lowland and highland aquatic ecosystems of the Northern Neotropics. - Rev. Biol. Trop. 61(2):603-644. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v61i2.11164
PÉREZ-MUNGUIA R.M., PINEDA-LÓPEZ R., 2005 - Diseño de un Índice de Integridad Biótica, para ríos y arroyos del Centro de México, usando las asociaciones de Macroinvertebrados. - Entomología Mexicana. 4: 241-245.
PRAT N., ACOSTA R., VILLAMARÍN C, RIERADEVALL M., 2012 - Guía para el reconocimiento de las larvas de
Chironomidae (Diptera) de los ríos Altoandinos de Ecuador y Perú. Clave para la determinación de losprincipales morfotipos larvarios. - Grupo de Investigación F.E.M. (Freshwater Ecology and Management), Departament d’Ecologia. Universitat de Barcelona. Available from: http://https://www.ub.edu/fem/docs/guies/Macrolarvas_Quir_v4.pdf
PRAT N., GARCIA-ROGER E., 2018 - Are there so many congeneric species of chironomid larvae in a small stream? - J. Limnol. 77:65-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2018.1757
PUNTÍ T., RIERADEVALL M., PRAT N., 2009 - Environmental factors, spatial variation, and specific requirements of Chironomidae in Mediterranean reference streams. J. North Am. Benthol. Soc. 28:247-265. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1899/07-172.1
RODRIGUEZ-LOZANO P., VERKAIK I., RIERADEVALL M., PRAT N., 2015 - Small but Powerful: top predator local extinction affects Ecosystems structure and function in an intermittent stream. - PLOSone. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117630
ROSSARO B., MARZIALI L., MONTAGNA M., MAGOGA J., ZAUPA S., BOGGERO A., 2022a - Factors Controlling
Morphotaxa Distributions of Diptera Chironomidae in Freshwaters. - Water, 14:1-23.
ROSSARO B., MARZIALI L., BOGGERO A. 2022b - Response of chironomids to key environmental factors: perspective for biomonitoring. - Insects [Basle] 13(10, paper 911):1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13100911
SERRA S.R.Q., COBO F., GRAÇA M.A.S., DOLÉDEC S., 2015 - Synthesising the trait information of European Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera): Towards a new database. – Ecol. Indic. 61:282-292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.09.028
SOININEN J., BARTELS P.I.A., HEINO J., LUOTO M., HILLEBRAND H., 2015 - Toward more integrated ecosystem research in aquatic and terrestrial environments. - BioScience, 65(2):174-182. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu216
SPIES M., REISS F., 1996 - Catalog and bibliography of Neotropical and Mexican Chironomidae (Insecta, Diptera). - Spixiana (Supplement) 22:61-119.
TORRES-MUÑIZ A.E., 2013 - Monitoreo de la comunidad de insectos para evaluar la calidad del agua de río Pesquería desde el municipio de Garcia hasta Pesquería, Nueva León, México. - Tesis de Maestria en Ciencias. Especialidad Ingeniero Ambiental. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. 198 pp.
TORRES-OLMERA M., DURÁN-RODRÍGUEZ O.Y., TORRESGARCÍA U., PINEDA-LÓPEZ R., RAMIREZ-HERREJÓN
J.P., 2018 - Validation of an index of biological integrity based on macroinvertebrates assemblages in two subtropical basins of central Mexico. - Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res. 46(5):945-960. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3856/vol46-issue5-fulltext-8
VIANA D. S., CHASE J. M., 2019 - Spatial scale modulates the inference of metacommunity assembly processes. - Ecology, 100(2),e02576. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2576

How to Cite

Prat, N., & Castro-López, D. (2023). Chironomidae as indicators of water pollution in Pesquería River (México). Journal of Entomological and Acarological Research, 55(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jear.2023.10861