A comparison of periphyton community structural and functional responses to heavy metals

Crossey, Michael J.; Point, Thomas W. La

doi:10.1007/bf00014533

Cited by 71 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Lines indicate best-fit model equations from ANCOVA. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene • 2: 000030 • doi: 10.12952/journal.elementa.000030 levels of stress (Crossey and La Point, 1988;Niyogi et al, 2002). However, for the treatment that did show a reduction in biofilm function (i.e., HB in Salmon-Trout), we observed a dose response at concentrations that were comparable to concentrations eliciting a structural response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Response of stream ecosystem function and structure to sediment metal: Context-dependency and variation among endpoints

Costello

Burton

2014

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Physicochemical and ecological attributes of ecosystems (i.e., environmental context) can modify the exposure and effects of metals, which presents a challenge for ecosystem management. Furthermore, the functional and structural attributes of an ecosystem may not respond equally to metals or be uniformly responsive to environmental context. We explored how physicochemical and ecological context modified sediment metal dose-response for a suite of functional and structural measures. Two sediments with high (HB) and low (LB) acid volatile sulfide and organic carbon content (i.e., physicochemical context) were amended with copper and nickel to establish a gradient of treatments from non-toxic to potentially toxic. Sediments were deployed in each of two streams (i.e., ecological context), incubated for four weeks, and measured for sediment microbe, biofilm, and macroinvertebrate dose-response to metal. The dose-response of microbial function was affected by physicochemical context, with cotton decomposition negatively related to sediment metal only on LB sediments. The abundance of invertebrates from the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) responded negatively to sediment metal only on LB sediments; however, this dose-response was only observed in one stream, likely because of greater abundance of sensitive EPT taxa (i.e., Baetidae and Ephemerellidae). Biofilm structure was negatively affected by sediment metal in only one stream and there was no difference in dose-response between the two sediment types. Biofilm function was affected by sediment type and stream; production by biofilms exposed to HB sediment was negatively related to sediment metal in only one stream. In all, the majority of our endpoints exhibited responses that were modified by environmental context; however, each component of the ecosystem exhibited unique context dependency. For management of sediment metals, an understanding of context dependency is useful for informed decision-making, but the application of simple contextual filters are unlikely to protect all elements of an ecosystem.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Response of stream ecosystem function and structure to sediment metal: Context-dependency and variation among endpoints

Costello

Burton

2014

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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“…We froze filters after sampling and analyzed for chlorophyll a and AFDM with standard laboratory methods (APHA 2005). We investigated the heterotrophic nature of the periphyton community by calculating an autotrophic index (Crossey and La Point 1988).…”

Section: Periphyton Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroinvertebrate community dynamics: strong negative response to salmon redd construction and weak response to salmon-derived nutrient uptake

Honea

Gara

2009

Journal of the North American Benthological Society

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“…AFDMs were increased by the proportion of the periphyton removed to determine pigment concentrations. The AI was calculated using the equation of Crossy and LaPoint (1988):…”

Section: Periphyton Sampling and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of algae to assess the trophic state of a stream in Middle Tennessee

Lebkuecher

Tuttle

Johnson

et al. 2014

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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Knowledge of the effects of nutrient concentration on the composition and structure of photoautotrophic periphyton is essential to understand the impact of eutrophication on shallow lotic systems. Reaches of Sulphur Fork Creek upstream and downstream of effluent from Springfield Wastewater Treatment Plant in Middle Tennessee were sampled to assess the effects of trophic state on characteristics of photoautotrophic periphyton, including composition of diatom and soft-algae assemblages. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) for log 10 -transformed concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus (log 10 [SRP]) to percent composition was significant for 4 of 63 soft-algae taxa sampled from cobbles. Five algae trophic indices (ATIs) to assess the effects of trophic state on soft-algae assemblages were developed using different taxon-trophic indicators which included: (1) r values for log 10 [SRP] to percent composition (ATI r ), (2) abundance-weighted averages of [SRP] (ATI A-WA [SRP] ), (3) abundance-weighted averages of log 10 [SRP] (ATI A-WA log [SRP] ), (4) weighted averages of log 10 [SRP] where the taxa occur, and (5) abundance-weighted ranks to phosphorus tolerance listed by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Eutrophication-induced impairment of Sulphur Fork Creek downstream of the effluent from the wastewater treatment plant was indicated by: (1) high concentrations of photoautotrophic periphyton, (2) low values for the pollution tolerance index of diatom assemblages, (3) positive values for the ATI r , and (4) high values for both the ATI A-WA [SRP] and ATI A-WA log [SRP] . Of the indices using soft-algae taxa evaluated, the ATI r exhibits the strongest and significant correlations to [SRP], [NO 2 C NO 3 nitrogen], and the pollution tolerance index of diatom assemblages. The ATI r accurately reflects the trophic state of the sites studied and provides a novel additional tool to evaluate the effects of nutrient concentration on the structure of photoautotrophic-periphyton assemblages.Keywords: periphyton; algae; diatoms; trophic state; nutrient enrichment; stream monitoring; indices of biotic integrity Introduction Nutrient enrichment is a primary basis of biological impairment of aquatic habitats worldwide (Irvine & Murphy 2009). Quantification of the impacts of eutrophication is required to monitor the efficacy of best management practices designed to improve integrity of nutrient-impaired waters (Smucker & Vis 2009). Increased concentration of chlorophyll a is a hallmark of eutrophication (Khan & Ansari 2005). Because chlorophyll a concentration is influenced by many abiotic and biotic characters of a stream reach, measurements of chlorophyll a concentration alone may not be adequate to demonstrate impairment by nutrient enrichment (Kurle & Cardinale 2011 Ecology, 2015 Vol. 30, No. 3, 349À376, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2014.951883 Ó 2014 Diatoms are the focus of most studies characterizing impacts of eutrophication on periphyton composition because more autecological informat...

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A comparison of periphyton community structural and functional responses to heavy metals

Cited by 71 publications

References 16 publications

Response of stream ecosystem function and structure to sediment metal: Context-dependency and variation among endpoints

Response of stream ecosystem function and structure to sediment metal: Context-dependency and variation among endpoints

Macroinvertebrate community dynamics: strong negative response to salmon redd construction and weak response to salmon-derived nutrient uptake

Use of algae to assess the trophic state of a stream in Middle Tennessee

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