Derivation of a benchmark for freshwater ionic strength

Cormier, Susan M.; Suter, Glenn W.; Zheng, Lei

doi:10.1002/etc.2064

Cited by 121 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Field data sets were obtained for West Virginia and Kentucky, USA [2] in Appalachia including ecoregions 68 (Southwestern Appalachia), 69 (Central Appalachia), and 70 (Western Alleghany Plateau) [14]. The Watershed Assessment Database (WABbase), which was obtained from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, is described by Cormier et al [1] and was used to derive the conductivity benchmark. Additional information sources were used, including (1) toxicity tests from peer-reviewed literature [7]; (2) information on the effects of ionic mixtures on freshwater invertebrates from standard texts and physiological reviews [8][9][10][11][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]; (3) a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Region 3 data set from Gregory J. Pond, which includes the original data found in Pond et al [6] and data collected for a Programmatic Environmental Impact Assessment [24]; (4) data on the composition of Marcellus shale brine from Amy Bergdale, U.S. EPA Region 3, based on analyses by drilling operators; (5) data from the Kentucky Division of Water database [2]; and (6) geographic and related information from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and public sources [1,2].…”

Section: Data Setsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All 163 benthic invertebrate genera appearing in the West Virginia species sensitivity distribution (SSD) list are observed at some sites below 100 mS/cm except Hydroporus (lowest occurrence at 168 mS/cm); therefore, low conductivity is not a limiting factor [1,2]. However, 24.5% of genera are never observed at >1,500 mS/cm (Table 1).…”

Section: Co-occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…An example is the benchmark for conductivity in streams contaminated by leachates of crushed rocks [1,2]. However, because observed relationships between exposure and response are not necessarily causal, a method has been developed for assessing their causality [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, ionic constituents can be quite different when land disturbance increases ionic concentration. In coal mining areas, the leaching of calcareous overburden results in ionic mixtures containing more HCO À 3 /CO 2À 3 plus SO À 4 than Cl À [1,6]. The physiological challenges for organisms are thus quite different [9,11] compared to ionic regulation in Na þ and Cl À -rich waters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The physiological challenges for organisms are thus quite different [9,11] compared to ionic regulation in Na þ and Cl À -rich waters. Furthermore, freshwater streams are naturally very dilute; background conductivities are often less than 100 mS/cm [1], and species have evolved to occupy that niche [9,10], perhaps at the expense of other compensatory mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing causation of the extirpation of stream macroinvertebrates by a mixture of ions

Cormier¹,

Suter²,

Zheng³

et al. 2012

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Abstract-Increased ionic concentrations are associated with the impairment of benthic invertebrate assemblages. However, the causal nature of that relationship must be demonstrated so that it can be used to derive a benchmark for conductivity. The available evidence is organized in terms of six characteristics of causation: co-occurrence, preceding causation, interaction, alteration, sufficiency, and time order. The inferential approach is to weight the lines of evidence using a consistent scoring system, weigh the evidence for each causal characteristic, and then assess the body of evidence. Through this assessment, the authors found that a mixture containing the ions Ca þ , Mg þ , HCO À 3 , and SO À 4 , as measured by conductivity, is a common cause of extirpation of aquatic macroinvertebrates in Appalachia where surface coal mining is prevalent. The mixture of ions is implicated as the cause rather than any individual constituent of the mixture. The authors also expect that ionic concentrations sufficient to cause extirpations would occur with a similar salt mixture containing predominately HCO À 3 , SO 2À 4 , Ca 2þ , and Mg 2þ in other regions with naturally low conductivity. This case demonstrates the utility of the method for determining whether relationships identified in the field are causal. Environ. Toxicol.

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Section: Data Setsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Co-occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Assessing causation of the extirpation of stream macroinvertebrates by a mixture of ions

Cormier¹,

Suter²,

Zheng³

et al. 2012

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Evaluation of physicochemical and physical habitat associations forCambarus callainus(Big Sandy crayfish), an imperilled crayfish endemic to the Central Appalachians

Loughman

Welsh

Sadecky

et al. 2017

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Crayfish represent one of the most imperilled animal groups on the planet. Habitat degradation, destruction and fragmentation, introduction of invasive crayfishes, and a lack of applied biological information have all been identified as agents thwarting crayfish conservation. Cambarus callainus was warranted federal protection by the United States Fish and WildlifeService (USFWS) in April, 2016. As part of the USFWS listing procedure, a survey for C. callainus in the Big Sandy River catchment was conducted to determine points of occurrence with a secondary objective of determining reach level physical habitat and physicochemical correlates of C. callainus presence and absence. 3. At each site, physicochemical and physical habitat data were collected to determine the influence of abiotic covariates on the presence of C. callainus. Cambarus callainus presence or absence and associated site covariates were modelled using logistic regression. 4. Survey results recorded C. callainus at 39 sites in the Upper Levisa Fork (ULF) and Tug Fork (TF) drainages of the Big Sandy River; no C. callainus were collected in the Lower Levisa Fork (LLF). An additive effects model of physical habitat quality (Basin + Boulder presence/embeddedness) was the only model selected, supporting an association of C. callainus with slab boulders, open interstitial spaces, and moderate to no sedimentation. All sites lacking C. callainus were experiencing some degree of sedimentation. Physicochemical covariates were not supported by the data.5. Results indicated that good quality habitat was lacking in the LLF, but was present in the ULF and TF catchments, with ULF supporting the most robust populations and most suitable habitat.Effective conservation for C. callainus should focus on efforts that limit sedimentation as well as restore good quality instream habitat in the greater Big Sandy catchment.

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Consistent declines in aquatic biodiversity across diverse domains of life in rivers impacted by surface coal mining

Simonin

Rocca

Gerson

et al. 2021

Ecological Applications

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The rivers of Appalachia (United States) are among the most biologically diverse freshwater ecosystems in the temperate zone and are home to numerous endemic aquatic organisms. Throughout the Central Appalachian ecoregion, extensive surface coal mines generate alkaline mine drainage that raises the pH, salinity, and trace element concentrations in downstream waters. Previous regional assessments have found significant declines in stream macroinvertebrate and fish communities after draining these mined areas. Here, we expand these assessments with a more comprehensive evaluation across a broad range of organisms (bacteria, algae, macroinvertebrates, all eukaryotes, and fish) using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of environmental DNA (eDNA). We collected water samples from 93 streams in Central Appalachia (West Virginia, United States) spanning a gradient of mountaintop coal mining intensity and legacy to assess how this land use alters downstream water chemistry and affects aquatic biodiversity. For each group of organisms, we identified the sensitive and tolerant taxa along the gradient and calculated stream specific conductivity thresholds in which large synchronous declines in diversity were observed. Streams below mining operations had steep declines in diversity (À18 to À41%) and substantial shifts in community composition that were consistent across multiple taxonomic groups. Overall, large synchronous declines in bacterial, algal, and macroinvertebrate communities occurred even at low levels of mining impact at stream specific conductivity thresholds of 150-200 µS/cm that are substantially below the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aquatic life benchmark of 300 µS/cm for Central Appalachian streams. We show that extensive coal surface mining activities led to the extirpation of 40% of biodiversity from impacted rivers throughout the region and that current water quality criteria are likely not protective for many groups of aquatic organisms.

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Derivation of a benchmark for freshwater ionic strength

Cited by 121 publications

References 17 publications

Assessing causation of the extirpation of stream macroinvertebrates by a mixture of ions

Assessing causation of the extirpation of stream macroinvertebrates by a mixture of ions

Evaluation of physicochemical and physical habitat associations forCambarus callainus(Big Sandy crayfish), an imperilled crayfish endemic to the Central Appalachians

Consistent declines in aquatic biodiversity across diverse domains of life in rivers impacted by surface coal mining

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