Will improving wastewater treatment impact shorebirds? Effects of sewage discharges on estuarine invertebrates and birds
Will improving wastewater treatment impact shorebirds? Effects of sewage discharges on estuarine invertebrates and birds
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1469-1795.2011.00485.x
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发表时间：
2012-02-01
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Gill, J. A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Alves, J. A.;Sutherland, W. J.;Gill, J. A.
人类社区经常将废水排入河口，影响其有机和污染物负荷、底栖生物群落和营养结构。《水框架指令》的实施鼓励了欧洲河口废水排放的处理，但对无脊椎动物和水鸟群落的影响知之甚少。我们探讨了未经处理的污水排放的分布和丰富的觅食黑尾godwits Limosa limosa和他们的主要底栖猎物（双壳类和多毛类）在葡萄牙的特茹河口，一个主要的欧洲特别保护区，正在进行的废水改善的影响。靠近污水流（70米）的泥滩斑块，以及在这些地区觅食的godwits可以达到河口记录的最高摄入率。然而，高摄入率也可以达到双壳类猎物，双壳类生物量和密度略有增加，距离污水流。由于污水排放口的有机输入影响无脊椎动物的丰度和godwit觅食率在相对较小的地区，正在进行的实施污水处理网络的特茹河口似乎只有有限的影响越冬godwit人口。未经处理的污水排放对底栖生物群落的局部影响表明，在有替代猎物的地方，对捕食性鸟类的影响相对较小，但在以多毛类动物为主的无脊椎动物群落较为分散的地方，影响可能更为严重。
Human communities often discharge wastewaters into estuaries, influencing their organic and pollutant loading, benthic community and trophic structure. The implementation of the Water Framework Directive has encouraged the treatment of wastewater discharges across European estuaries, but the implications for invertebrate and waterbird communities are poorly understood. We explore the effects of untreated sewage discharges on the distribution and abundance of foraging black-tailed godwits Limosa limosa and their main benthic prey (bivalves and polychaetes) on the Tejo estuary in Portugal, a major European Special Protection Area with ongoing wastewater improvements. Patches of mudflat in close proximity to sewage streams (70 m), and godwits foraging in these areas can attain the highest intake rates recorded for the estuary. However, high intake rates can also be attained on bivalve prey, and bivalve biomass and density increase slightly with distance from sewage streams. As the organic input from sewage outfalls influences invertebrate abundance and godwit foraging rates over relatively small areas, the ongoing implementation of a sewage treatment network on the Tejo estuary seems likely to have only a limited impact on the wintering godwit population. The localized effect of untreated sewage discharges on benthic communities suggests that the implications for predatory birds are relatively minor where alternative prey are available, but may be more severe in locations with more depauperate, polychaete-dominated invertebrate communities.