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Habitat quality affects the condition of Luciobarbus sclateri in the Guadiamar River (SW Iberian Peninsula): effects of disturbances by the toxic spill of the Aznalcóllar mine

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Abstract

This study analyzes the somatic condition of southern Iberian barbel Luciobarbus sclateri (Günther, 1868) in the Guadiamar River (SW Iberian Peninsula). This river was seriously affected by a toxic spill of about 4 million cubic meters of acidic water and 2 million cubic meters of mud rich in heavy metals. Once the spill removal works concluded, sites affected and unaffected by the accident were sampled to study its effects on the fish fauna. The ecological variables registered were related to water quality, physical state of reaches, ecological quality, resources exploited by fish, and potential intra-specific interactions. From an initial 15 ecological variables, seasonal water flow and pH explained most of the variation in barbel condition. This study shows that the Guadiamar River, 56 months after the accident, is still undergoing a recovery process where, beyond ecological variables, proximity to the affected area is the most influential factor for fish condition.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Guadiamar Green Corridor Research Program (PICOVER) provided by the Andalusian Regional Government. We thank Teresa Saldaña, Palmira Guarnizo, Diego García-González, Carmen García-Utrilla, Arnolf Fernández-Borlán, Carmen Arribas, Javier Berná, and Rocío Pérez for their help both in the field and laboratory tasks. We also thank three anonymous reviewers and the Associate editor for valuable comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Córdoba, Edificio Charles Darwin, Campus de Rabanales, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    Ramón José De Miguel & Carlos Fernández-Delgado

  2. Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Universidad de Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    Francisco José Oliva-Paterna

  3. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain

    Lucía Gálvez-Bravo

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  1. Ramón José De Miguel
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  2. Francisco José Oliva-Paterna
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  3. Lucía Gálvez-Bravo
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  4. Carlos Fernández-Delgado
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Correspondence to Ramón José De Miguel.

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De Miguel, R.J., Oliva-Paterna, F.J., Gálvez-Bravo, L. et al. Habitat quality affects the condition of Luciobarbus sclateri in the Guadiamar River (SW Iberian Peninsula): effects of disturbances by the toxic spill of the Aznalcóllar mine. Hydrobiologia 700, 85–97 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1211-0

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