Institut d'Ecologia Aquàtica: Recent submissions
Now showing items 6-25 of 54
At the edge of aquatic systems: intermittent streambed microbial communities’ responses to hydrological alterations
Hydrological drought is a process of natural desiccation mainly due to large shortage of rainfall events. Reduced precipitations and prolonged droughts are spreading worldwide and threaten the integrity of aquatic ...
Metacommunities and biodiversity patterns in Mediterranean temporary ponds: the role of pond size, network connectivity and dispersal mode
We sampled the macrofaunal metacommunities in four networks of Mediterranean temporary ponds covering a wide range of pond sizes and different spatial extents. 1) In the smallest pond network, pond size was not related to ...
Towards the implementation of a biotechnology for biogas upgrading: role of bacteria in siloxane removal
Biogas is a highly recognized alternative to fossil fuels towards a sustainable energy production. Massive use of biogas depends on the removal of contaminants that may affect performance of processing equipment and energy ...
Resilience of aquatic metacommunities: implications for disturbance recovery
During the last years, there has been an increase in the number and intensity of disturbances, and their consequences related with global change, which have corroborated the already forecasted scenarios. One example are ...
Origin and fate of nitrite in model ecosystems: case studies in groundwater and constructed wetlands
Nitrogen pollution in water is common in our environment, especially in places affected by agriculture and livestock, industry or wastewater discharge areas. Ammonium and nitrate are the most common pollutants and can be ...
Reproductive and condition status of “cold water” marine fish: new insights from a changing environment
Exploited marine fish species with an affinity for cold waters inhabiting close to the warmer edge of their distribution area are exposed to stress caused by fishing and climate change. Three case studies of “cold water ...
Transport, distribution and fate of emerging contaminants in wastewater-receiving rivers under multiple stress conditions
The main aim of this thesis was to establish a link between the urban origin of chemical contamination (e.g. PhACs) and other stressors, particularly associated to water scarcity (Chapter 1, 2, and 3). Research has been ...
Estudio de la red trófica microbiana en lagunas someras: autotrofia versus heterotrofia
Autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms are two essential functional units in the microbial food web of aquatic ecosystems. They play a key role in nutrient cycling and carbon flow and influence the structure, composition ...
Arsenic and fluvial biofilms: biogeochemistry, toxicity and biotic interactions
Based on the current knowledge about biofilm ecotoxicology and arsenic biogeochemistry in freshwater ecosystems, this thesis studied, under realistic environmental concentrations, i) the role of benthic biofilms in the ...
Insights into the distribution and ecological role of members of the archaeal Phylum Bathyarchaeota. From the global to the local scale
The Phylum Bathyarchaeota is currently one of the most studied uncultured archaeal phyla. Bathyarchaeota are phylogenetically diverse, globally ubiquitous and especially abundant in marine subsurface sediments. Despite ...
Effects of global change on fish assemblages in Mediterranean streams
L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és de'explorar alguns aspectes de l'impacte humà sobre les poblacions de peixos i altres components dels ecosistemes fluvials Mediterranis de Catalunya. Es va mostrar com els peixos del Riu Llobregat ...
Diversity, dynamics and activity of Epsilonproteobacteria in a stratified karstic lake. Implications in carbon and sulfur cycles
This doctoral thesis studies the abundance, diversity, seasonal dynamics and activity of Epsilonproteobacteria in a meromictic basin of Lake Banyoles during three year cycles. We applied a complementary array of molecular ...
Influences of toxicants on freshwater biofilms and fish: from experimental approaches to statistical models
The main aims of this thesis are: i) to evaluate arsenic toxicity in two major, interacting components of the freshwater ecosystem, biofilm and fish, to provide information on environmentally realistic exposures and on ...
Where nitrite respiration meets electrotrophy: diversity studies and functional characterization of autotrophic bacterial isolates from bioelectrochemical system
Denitrifying biocathodes are used to treat nitrogen contaminated water resources. The present PhD dissertation have been characterized different bacterial families with a relevant role in denitrification process. Different ...
Function and structure of river sediment biofilms and their role in dissolved organic matter utilization
The objective of this thesis was to study how sediment microbial communities in Mediterranean rivers used dissolved organic matter at different spatial and temporal scales. Results from the two field studies, showed that ...
Linking river sediment physical properties to biofilm biomass and activity
River sediments are composed by a variety of grain sizes which determine their permeability and biogeochemistry. The aim of this thesis was to test whether differences in river sediment physical characteristics generate ...
Factors regulating the invasion of two Mediterranean anurans. The role of niche conservatism, species interaction and habitat selection
Amphibians are a group in worldwide decline. The factors that are causing this decline are not well known, but could be multifactorial, related to the recent expansion of pathogens and habitat disturbance. One of these ...
Understanding the ecological success of two worldwide fish invaders (Gambusia holbrooki and Gambusia affinis)
This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the invasive success of two invasive fishes (Gambusia affinis and G. holbrooki). We reviewed four Internet databases and the literature to clarify their introduction ...
Effects of land uses and climate variability on the water quality of Mediterranean rivers: towards a regional vision of global change
This work investigated the effect of global change phenomena, particularly land use and climatic changes, on water quality patterns in Mediterranean rivers. A hybrid process-based and statistical model (SPARROW) was applied ...
Leaf litter decomposition in Mediterranean streams: microbial processes and responses to drought under current global change scenario
This thesis studied the principal environmental controlling factors and microbial mechanisms involved in leaf litter decomposition in Mediterranean intermittent streams. Additionally, drought disturbance in both Mediterranean ...
