Determinación del Índice de Contaminación por Nutrientes (NPI) en el humedal de la microcuenca del río Atillo, del Parque Nacional Sangay

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to determine the Nutrient Contamination Index in the wetland of Atillo River micro-basin belonging to Sangay National Park; thus, it was necessary to analyze the total nitrogen concentration, orthophosphates, nitrites and nitrates, total phosphorus, ammonium, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity and chlorophyll-a in the pore water samples obtained from November 2020 to January 2021. 15 monitoring points were established from which 20 monthly pore water samples were taken and distributed in 3 study areas (lake, marsh and river). The analysis of the nutrients and chlorophyll-a was carried out in the laboratory with the use of methodologies established in Standard Methods. The existing spatio-temporal variability between the study areas was also established by using SPSS 24 software and it was possible to determine that there are no significant variabilities between the results obtained during the 3-month study carried out; however, there are significant variabilities between the studied areas. The value of the Nutrient Contamination Index was obtained from the individual quality curves for each variable established by De Zwart and Trivedi in 1995, the global results were: 39.65 in the lake area, 68.32 in the river area and 32.17 in the marsh area. It is concluded that the 3 studied areas have an index value of (70), which is under the desirable value and reflects that both, protection and sustainability of the ecosystem are achieved, so it is recommended to strengthen the protection and preservation of the wetlands which are part of Atillo River micro-basin, through a prevention and mitigation plan in order to conserve the quality of the water resource.