Individual and combined effects of climate change and sugarcane cultivation on aquatic insect drift and emergence
Tropical streams have suffered from ecological changes and global warming, in addition to increasing pressure for agricultural expansion. The present study aimed to study the impacts exerted on the aquatic community of tropical streams by multiple stressors, especially how such stressors and impacts affect the emergence and drift of macroinvertebrates, essential processes for the functioning of the ecosystem. For this, the ExStream project was executed for the first time in Brazil, where 128 artificial streams were built through the mesocosmos system and manipulated the entry of sediments, nutrients and flow. Using emergence and drift of macroinvertebrates as indicators, the aim is to verify which stressors and combinations are most harmful to aquatic biodiversity. Preliminary results point to negative effects, even more pronounced in treatments with reduced flow and treatments with 90% addition of nitrate.