@conference{
author = "Mayombo, Serge and Kloster, Michael and Vidaković, Danijela and Burfeid Castellanos, Andrea and Beszteri, Bank",
year = "2023",
abstract = "The Ruhr area in western Germany is characterised by high industrialisation and population density. Located in an alluvial plain, some natural rivers have historically been coerced to carry wastewater through concrete channels, as technology has only recently allowed the use of separate sewage systems. Since the 1990s, the morphological and compositional restoration of these channelized rivers has begun and impacted their ecosystems. Our knowledge of how the restoration affects the ecosystems in general and diatoms, in particular, is still limited. Using molecular and digital light microscopy on samples collected in spring 2021 and 2022 from river sites along the Boye catchment, following a time-since-restoration-gradient, we aimed to analyse the effect of restoration on diatom diversity and community composition. Diatom species richness was not significantly higher in samples from natural urban rivers that never contained sewage or were constrained by concrete channelling than in renatured localities. However, using an 18S-V9 marker to characterise the protist biofilm composition, some differences were highlighted. Diatom communities were similar, with a predominance of Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki, independent of local differences in hydrology and water composition. The natural sites tended to have a greater predominance of Planothidium frequentissimum (Lange-Bertalot in Krammer and Lange-Bertalot) Lange-Bertalot and other taxa. As all sites, from natural to recently restored, are urban rivers and as such are affected by anthropogenic pressures, both microscopy and molecular methods showed some degree of degradation in their ecosystems. The overall water quality of the streams ranged from moderate to very good, indicating the positive impacts of the restoration works conducted in these former sewage channels. In this first study reporting on the recovery of the diatom community in the Boye catchment after restoration following a severe anthropogenic impact, we see that the diatom community is recovering relatively quickly, but only to a stage that indicates that some chemical pollution is likely still present.",
publisher = "University of Antwerp",
journal = "Book of Abstracts - 14th European Diatom Meeting, 09-11 May 2023, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium",
title = "Restoration matters: Diatom community response to the time since the restoration of sewage channels of the Boye catchment (Germany)",
pages = "37-37",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_cer_6197"
}
