Community and Species Responses of Chironomidae (Diptera) to Contamination of Fresh Waters by Crude Oil and Petroleum Products, with Special Reference to the Trail River, Northwest Territories

Abstract

RosrNsEnc, D. M., aNo A. P. Wrrns. 1976. Cornmunity and species responses of Chironomidae (Diptera) to contamination offresh waters by crude oil and petroleum products, rvith special reference to the Trail River, Northwest Territolies. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 33: 1955-1963.On oiled and unoiled arlificial substrates in the Trail River, Norlhwest Territories, communities of Chironomidae were different durinlg open-water periods but were similar over the winter. Greater numbers ofspecies and individuals ofOrthocladiinae occurred on the oiled than on the unoiled artificial substrates. The reverse wils true for Tanypodinae and Chironominae. Ten species ofChironomidae showed a positive response to the presence ofoil,9 species showed a negative response, and 10 species were apparently unaffected. Based on the results ofthis study and a litelature review, I I species of Chilonomidae showing either positive or negative responses to contamination by oil or petroleum products r,vere evaluated fbr their potential to indicate oil contamination of freshwater ecosystems. Three criteria were used: taxonomic soundness, wide zoogeographic distribution, and numbers in the community. We predict that Nilotunyptrs fimbriatns (Walk.), Cricotopus bit:inctus (Mei61.), and C. varipes Coq., individually or as an assemblage, would fulfill this role. RosrNBpnc, D. M.. eNo A. P. WrrNs. 1976. Cornmunity and species responses of Chilonomidae (Diptera) to contamination of flesh wa.ters by crude oil and petroleum products, with special reference to the Trail River, Northwest Territories. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 33: 1955-1963.Sur des substrats artificiels avec oLr sans gr6trole de la rivibre Trail, Territoires du NordOuest, les communaut6s de Chironomidae diffbrent quand I'eau est libre de glace, mais sont semblables en hiver. Les Orthocladiinae sont plus nombreux tant en espdces qu'en individus dans les substrats artificiels avec p6trole que sans p6trole. On observe le contraire pour les Tanypodinae et les Chironominae. Dix espbces de Chironomidae manifestent une r6ponse positive i la presence de petrole, 9 espdces une r6ponse negative et l0 espbces semblent inaffectdes. En nous basant sur les r6sultats de cette dtude et sur une revue de la litt6rature, nous avons 6valud le potentiel, comme indicateur de contamination d'6cosystdmes d'eau douce par le p6trole. de I I espbces de Chironomidae montrant des r6ponses soit positives soit negatives i la contamination par le pdtrole ou parles produits p6troliers. Nous avons utilis6 trois critbres: solidit6 taxonomique, r6partition geographique ritendue, et nombres dans la communaut6. Nous sommes d'avis que Nilotunyptts Jimbr-irrlrrs (Walk.), Cricoloprts bi(in(tus (Meig.) et C. varipe-s (Coq.), individuellement ou en groupe, pourraientjouer ce rdle.

Effects of Crude Oil on Aquatic Insects of Tundra Ponds

“…There are some similarities but also some differences in apparent effects of oil between our study and those of Snow and Rosenberg (1975) and Rosenberg and Wiens (1976). Similarities are that effects seemed to be more severe in shallower habitats, and that Tanytarsini were affected negatively while Orthocladiinae increased following oil treatment.…”

“…McCauley (1966) saw a change in benthic composition, primarily elimination of the predators Agrion (Odonata) and Dugesia (Turbellaria) and the omnivore Gammarus (Amphipoda) from stretches of a stream with oily sediments, whereas deposit-feeding Tubifex (Oligochaeta), Chironomus, Nematoda and predaceous Hirudinea persisted. Rosenberg and Wiens (1976) divided species responses in experimental oil spills into categories of negative, positive and indifferent, and showed that different species of Chironomidae occurred in each category. Similarly, spills in Mackenzie Delta lakes affected certain chironomids more than other chironomids and oligochaetes (Snow and Rosenberg, 1975).…”

Tests of chronic and acute toxicity of crude oil on larvae of Chironomus kiiensis Tokunaga (Diptera: Chironomidae)

“…In fact, insects in the order Diptera are considered to be very tolerant of pollutants and some taxa show a positive correlation with the presence of oil (Rych and Duchrow, 1973;Rosenberg and Wiens, 1976;Woodward and Riley, 1983). Rosenberg and Wiens (1976) investigated the abundance of two species of Cricotopus on artificial substrates in the presence and absence of oil, and both species were more abundant on substrates with oil.…”

“…Rosenberg and Wiens (1976) investigated the abundance of two species of Cricotopus on artificial substrates in the presence and absence of oil, and both species were more abundant on substrates with oil. In one case an intermediate concentration of crude oil was responsible for the greatest increase in the abundance of Chironomidae (Cushman and Goyert, 1984).…”

“…Larvae of species in the family Chironomidae (Diptera) represent one of the most abundant aquatic insects in most ecosystems, and they have demonstrated their importance as test organisms for studies on risk assessment of substances such as pesticides (Taenzler et al, 2007), heavy metals (Watts and Pascoe, 1996;Harrahy and Clements, 1997;Bechard et al, 2008) and oil (Rosenberg and Wiens, 1976;Cushman, 1984;Crunkilton and Duchrow, 1990;Hatch and Burton Junior, 1999). However, toxicity studies using petroleum-derived products on animals have only been conducted for Amazonian fish (Veintemilla, 2006;Duarte et al, 2010), there being no studies assessing effects on aquatic insects.…”