Assessing the ecological impact of banana farms on water quality using aquatic macroinvertebrate community composition.

ABSTRACT: In Costa Rica, considerable effort goes to conservation and protection of biodiversity, while at the same time agricultural pesticide use is among the highest in the world. Several protected areas, some being wetlands or marine reserves, are situated downstream large-scale banana farms, with an average of 57 pesticide applications per year. The banana industry is increasingly aware of the need to reduce their negative environmental impact, but few ecological field studies have been made to evaluate the efficiency of proposed mitigation strategies. This study compared the composition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities up- and downstream effluent water from banana farms in order to assess whether benthic invertebrate community structure can be used to detect environmental impact of ban

SUBMITTER: Svensson O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5978817 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature