Briófitos reófilos como indicadores de la contaminación del agua del Río Zamora de la ciudad de Loja

Abstract

The rheophilic bryophytes are considered bioindicators organisms, because they adapt to aquatic environments responding to environmental gradients and absorb nutrients across the surface; what makes them model organisms for assessing water contamination by organic waste and heavy metals. Despite its great importance in the country they have only been conducted to measure the quality of water by benthic organisms and based on physico-chemical testing methodologies being great economic cost. The study was conducted in the Zamora River in the city of Loja and the objective was to determine changes in wealth, composition and structure of bryophytes reófilos communities along the river. The results showed that the species richness and diversity decreased as the river water enters the city; and species composition was significantly different in the south compared to the central and northern areas of the city; related to the process of urbanization in central locations in the city involving greater organic pollution and sewage effluents.