Influência dos serviços ecossistêmicos no desenvolvimento da aquicultura no semiárido brasileiro

Abstract

Ecosystem services are the benefits that natural ecosystems provide to humans, such as the provision of food, drinking water, timber and fiber; climate regulation, climate control, pollination, pest control and nutrient cycling; or recreation, tourism, scenic beauty and opportunities for education and spiritual development. This thesis consists of 3 chapters and examines how ecosystem services influence the development of Brazilian semi-arid areas, focusing on the Jaguaribe River basin. Chapter I presents a series of scientific studies on the Brazilian semi-arid region in relation to the Jaguaribe River basin, the ecotoxicological impacts of environmental degradation on aquatic ecosystems and the economic valuation of natural resources utilized by aquaculture. Chapter II provides an assessment of toxicological risks using ecotoxicological bioassays with aquatic and terrestrial organisms and Chapter III analyzes the marginal productivity of the contribution of natural capital of forests, mangroves, rivers and lakes to aquaculture production of shrimp and tilapia in the Jaguaribe River basin. Ecotoxicological risk analyzes were conducted at six collection sites along the Jaguaribe River and revealed detections of 38 anthropogenic contaminants in sediments and 7 in tissue samples. The bioassays showed that the sediment samples had lethal and sublethal effects on the four tested indicators of the different trophic levels. The analysis of marginal productivity with longitudinal data was used to investigate the annual variation of the area of these ecosystems as a factor of aquaculture production between the years 2013 and 2021.The results of this environmental assessment study show that a 1% reduction in forest and mangrove areas in the previous year reduces shrimp production by 0.375 in the following year, and the same percentage of degradation in river and sea areas reduces tilapia production by 0.802%. This study is based exclusively on public data and is the first to use marginal productivity with longitudinal data on Brazilian aquaculture production and to perform an ecotoxicological analysis along the Jaguaribe River. Considering the economic, social and health risks to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems caused by anthropogenic pollutant inputs and environmental degradation, it is recommended that an ecotoxicological assessment of sediments be included in the water quality monitoring and control program in the Brazilian semi-arid region.