Impacto generado por la protección y recuperación de la vegetación sobre la calidad de agua en fuentes de importancia hídrica de la parroquia Cumbe

Abstract

Water sources supply water to the whole world, for this reason it is of the utmost importance to protect them, guaranteeing suitable conditions of quality and quantity. The objective of this research was to determine the impact generated by the protection and recovery of vegetation on the quality of water in sources of water importance in the Cumbe Parish. In this work, the natural regeneration of the species, the quality and the quantity of water were evaluated. Two research streams (Q1 and Q2) were taken into account. To evaluate natural regeneration, 6 years of vegetation recovery were considered after the protections had been established. The inventory of the vegetation was carried out, evaluating the diversity based on the richness, the Shannon index, Simpson and density. To determine the quality of water, samples were taken in the Q1 and Q2 streams, and for the quantity, gauging was carried out by means of the volumetric method. Species composition was statistically different between the research scenarios. The averages in richness, diversity and density were higher in Q1, which indicates a positive influence of the protections. The data obtained for amount of water did not show significant differences. The water quality parameters are within acceptable ranges. The protected stream Q1 showed similar values to the unprotected stream. It is recommended to consider or specify other evaluation spaces such as the practice of agriculture, livestock or even mining near water sources, to be certain of the results to be obtained in the future on water quality.