WATER QUALITY OF THE NAPO RIVER BASIN: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STREAMS IN POLYCULTURES AND OIL PALM MONOCULTURES

Oil palm cultivation has grown rapidly in recent years in Ecuador, resulting in significant economic and environmental changes to the country. In the Northeast Ecuadorian Amazon, a hotspot for both petroleum extraction and oil palm production, poor water quality has been a persistent issue for decades. However, knowledge gaps exist regarding to what extent intensive monocultures, such as oil palm, contribute to poor water quality in this region, and how they compare to other forms of agriculture. This investigation compared water quality in streams of the Napo River watershed running through oil palm monocultures and traditional polycultures. Water quality was measured using macroinvertebrates as bioindicators and evaluated using the BMWP-Col and EPT indices. At least mild contamination was found in all sampling sites, but the majority of streams in oil palm plantations received worse index classifications than polycultures. However, differences between scores were not statistically significant, therefore, additional research is required to validate these preliminary results and assess the influence that agricultural systems have on water quality in this region.