The shortage of water and the increasing salinity are the main limiting environmental factors that directly affect the establishment and the development of crops. In this research, phytodesalination capacity of Sesuvium verrucosum was evaluated alone and in combination with agricultural gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) and Polisul-C, in order to remedy a moderately saline soil at greenhouse level and under nonleaching conditions. The treatments studied were the following: T1 (soil), T2 (soil + S. verrucosum), T3 (soil +S. verrucosum + Polisul-C), T4 (soil + S. verrucosum + CaSO4·2H2O). Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubes filled with 8 kg of clay soil with an electrical conductivity of the saturation paste extract (ECe) of6.21 dS.m-1 were used. Soil samples were analyzed to determine the ECe, and the soluble and interchangeable cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) content. Then, the halophytic plants were divided into root and aerial parts and the content of Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ was determined. In summary, S. verrucosum showed potential to desalinate its rhizosphere. Moreover, S. verrucosum desalination capacity significantly increases when used in combination with either of the tested amendments. This increase occurred mainly in the upper layers of the clay soil (0-30 cm). CaSO4·2H2O was shown to be the most effective amendment, since a greater gain in biomass and a large accumulation of sodium (Na+) in the aerial part of S. verrucosum was observed as a consequence of the soil improved physico-chemical properties caused by this chemical.

The integrity of rivers is affected by anthropogenic activities at different spatial scales, from basin and landscape levels to the direct effects on the river and aquatic life. Our objective was to study these effects on the subtropical La Pasión River, analyzing environmental, geomorphological, habitat and water quality, and macroinvertebrates. We sampled the dry season (March 2022) because the river presented stable conditions. We selected the most influential variables in each spatial scale and determined their relationship with the indexes of quality characteristics and aquatic life in the river using multivariate statistics. Most sites (≈65%) had medium water and suboptimal habitat quality status, meanwhile half the sites had regular biotic integrity status; without finding coincidence in the quality of the different indexes applied, all sites indicated a high gradient of degradation from the origin to the mouth of the river. The presence of some families (e.g., Culicidae, Chironomidae, Lumbriculidae) indicated organic matter contamination. The main variables that significantly classified the river quality and integrity structure were water flow, turbidity, habitat embeddedness, and sulfates (χ2 = 0.1145, p < 0.01). It is concluded that the affected sites received wastewater without prior treatment and presented physical barriers such as irrigation channels.