Changes in littoral benthic macroinvertebrate communities in relation to water chemistry in 17 Precambrian Shield lakes

Abstract

Few studies of biological recovery from acidification have dealt with community responses to changes in water chemistry, despite the importance of environmental tolerance and biological interactions that may only be visible by examining the community as a whole. In this study, we examined the ability of pH and several water chemistry covariables to explain temporal changes in the littoral benthic macroinvertebrate communities of lakes recovering from acidification. Data from 17 lakes sampled from 1988 to 2002 were summarized using correspondence analysis and compared using Procrustes analysis. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to examine the relationship between chemical variables and community structure. Benthic community composition changed over the sampling period, with significant year-to-year changes from 1993 to 1998. Community composition and water chemistry were highly correlated throughout the study period, although the strongest correlations were found from 1993 to 1997, coinciding with the period of greatest change in the benthic community. These results suggest that benthic macroinvertebrate communities in these lakes have changed in response to changes in water chemistry that are consistent with recovery from acidification.

Freshwater Diatoms as Indicators of Combined Long-Term Mining and Urban Stressors in Junction Creek (Ontario, Canada)

“…Biological recovery has been observed in fish, zooplankton, phytoplankton and zoobenthos, but remained at an early stage in many lakes lying in close proximity to Sudbury in studies conducted in the late 1990s and early 2000s (see review in Keller et al [24], and references therein). On the other hand, analysis of long-term monitoring data (1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)) from 17 acidified lakes located about 200 km south-east of Sudbury suggests that benthic macroinvertebrate communities have recovered from acidification due to long-range transport of air pollutants [30]. Despite rehabilitation actions and improved physico-chemical properties, Junction Creek shows similar responses to what was observed in surrounding lakes where signs of biological perturbations are still present.…”

Temporal and spatial concordance in community composition of phytoplankton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrate, crayfish, and fish on the Precambrian Shield

“…Similarly, Bowman et al (2006) documented strong concordance in Dorset-area macroinvertebrate communities in streams following drought events in 1998 and 2001. Conversely, Lento et al (2008) showed that littoral macroinvertebrate communities in Dorset-area lakes did not respond coherently to these climatic fluctuations. Although species distributions are generally under strong climatic control, all groups of freshwater organisms are unlikely to show concordant shifts in response to changes in climate (Heino 2002).…”

Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure in Lake Taihu, China: Effects of trophic status, wind-induced disturbance and habitat complexity

“…Water and sediment chemistry variables correlated to trophic status have often been cited as important factors influencing macroinvertebrate communities and standing crop in freshwater ecosystems (Kilgour et al, 2008;Lento et al, 2008;Nicola et al, 2010). According to the fixed boundary classification system for lake trophic status accepted by OECD (1982), many stations of Lake Taihu are eutrophic-hypertrophic (73% when assessed by mean Chl a and 67% when assessed by peak Chl a).…”