An integrated study of the plankton community after four years of Fundão dam disaster

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 806; no. Pt 4; p. 150613
• Main Authors: Bonecker, Ana Cristina Teixeira, Menezes, Bárbara Santos, Dias Junior, Camilo, Silva, Cesar Alexandro da, Ancona, Cintia Maria, Dias, Cristina de Oliveira, Longhini, Cybelle Menolli, Costa, Eduardo Schettini, Sá, Fabian, Lázaro, Georgette Cristina Salvador, Mill, Guilherme Nogueira, Rocha, Gustavo Martins, Lemos, Kassia do Nascimento, da Conceição, Laura Rodrigues, Demoner, Lilian Elisa, Fernandes, Luiz Fernando Loureiro, Castro, Márcia Salustiano de, Alves, Mariana Magnago, Laino, Pedro de Souza, Auer, Pollyanna Pereira Borgo, Cagnin, Renata Caiado, Ghisolfi, Renato David, Neto, Renato Rodrigues, Bonecker, Sérgio Luiz Costa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-02-2022
• Subjects: Brazil; Disasters; Doce River; Environmental Monitoring; Metal contamination; Plankton; Rivers; Seasonal structure; Tailings dam failure; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Brazil; Brazil; Doce River; Metal contamination; Plankton; Tailings dam failure; Seasonal structure
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150613

Mining activities can affect the environment either by the tailings releasing or dams failures. The impact of the tailings can last decades and cause chronic effects due to their toxicity. The Fundão dam collapse, a relevant environmental disaster, occurred in November 2015 in Southeastern Brazil. Tailing rich in metals reached the Doce River and arrived in the Atlantic Ocean. Previous studies revealed the acute impact of the tailings in the marine planktonic community near the Doce River mouth. The current study aims to characterize the structure of planktonic assemblages in the impacted area after four years of the disaster. Sampling occurred in November 2018, January, April, and July 2019 at 32 stations located at the marine coastal area near the Doce River mouth. Our study detected high metal concentrations in the surface waters during January 2019, when the lowest diversity and abundance of phytoplankton, lowest zooplankton diversity, and low ichthyoplankton abundance were recorded. The zooplanktonic community was structured by environmental parameters and ichthyoplankton assemblages in November 2018, January and April 2019. Nutrients and metals, mainly iron from the tailing carried by the Doce River waters to the marine environment changed the plankton community, confirming the impact of the Fundão Dam collapse in the coastal area near the Doce River mouth. The phytoplankton community, influenced by the nutrients and to a lesser extent metals concentrations, was not decisive in the zooplankton community structure. The environmental variability was driven by the meteoceanographic conditions and the Doce River flow. There was a high correlation between the zooplanktonic community and ichthyoplanktonic assemblage and the environmental factors and metals. These relations indicate the impact of the tailings from the collapse of the Fundão Dam on these communities, even after four years of the Mariana disaster.
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•Planktonic community was influenced by changes in the meteoceanographic conditions.•Phytoplankton was affected by nutrients and to a lesser extent metals concentration.•Metal contamination decreased the phyto- and zooplankton diversity.•Zoo- and ichthyoplankton were structured by metals and to a lesser extent by nutrients.•Physicochemical variables and ichthyoplankton structured the zooplankton community.