Effects of road-salt application on Cladocera assemblages in shallow Precambrian Shield lakes in south-central Ontario, Canada

Valleau, Robin E.; Paterson, Andrew M.; Smol, John P.

doi:10.1086/711666

Cited by 27 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…We also leveraged a regression-style design, to better reflect responses of lake food webs to salinization and identify response thresholds. Based on our spatial coverage and environmentally relevant Cl − concentrations, our results suggest that many salt-contaminated lakes with Cl − concentrations near or above thresholds established throughout North America and Europe might have already experienced food web shifts ( 30 , 39 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Current water quality guidelines across North America and Europe do not protect lakes from salinization

Hintz

Arnott

Symons

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Human-induced salinization caused by the use of road deicing salts, agricultural practices, mining operations, and climate change is a major threat to the biodiversity and functioning of freshwater ecosystems. Yet, it is unclear if freshwater ecosystems are protected from salinization by current water quality guidelines. Leveraging an experimental network of land-based and in-lake mesocosms across North America and Europe, we tested how salinization—indicated as elevated chloride (Cl−) concentration—will affect lake food webs and if two of the lowest Cl− thresholds found globally are sufficient to protect these food webs. Our results indicated that salinization will cause substantial zooplankton mortality at the lowest Cl− thresholds established in Canada (120 mg Cl−/L) and the United States (230 mg Cl−/L) and throughout Europe where Cl− thresholds are generally higher. For instance, at 73% of our study sites, Cl− concentrations that caused a ≥50% reduction in cladoceran abundance were at or below Cl− thresholds in Canada, in the United States, and throughout Europe. Similar trends occurred for copepod and rotifer zooplankton. The loss of zooplankton triggered a cascading effect causing an increase in phytoplankton biomass at 47% of study sites. Such changes in lake food webs could alter nutrient cycling and water clarity and trigger declines in fish production. Current Cl− thresholds across North America and Europe clearly do not adequately protect lake food webs. Water quality guidelines should be developed where they do not exist, and there is an urgent need to reassess existing guidelines to protect lake ecosystems from human-induced salinization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Current water quality guidelines across North America and Europe do not protect lakes from salinization

Hintz

Arnott

Symons

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Species diversity lakes around Cobalt are also likely impacted by emerging limnological stressors such as run-off from road-salt applications (Valleau et al, 2020). For example, the Na + and Cl -1 concentrations at 4 study lakes were relatively higher than most other lakes in the region (Supplementary Material 1), likely due to road-salt inputs from the Trans-Canada Highway 11b (Green, Clear, Cobalt) and Ontario Highway 567 (Maidens).…”

Section: Species Richnessmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, C. brevilabris also co-dominated the assemblages at shallow and uncontaminated Nicol Lake where arsenic concentrations were low (0.7 µg L -1 ). Since these two taxa are known to tolerate a variety of environmental pollutants (e.g., metals and road salt; Manca and Comoli, 1995;Labaj et al, 2015;Valleau et al 2020) and have been observed in a broad spectrum of lakes (Griffiths et al, 2019), it is likely that the presence of these taxa in some of the contaminated lakes around Cobalt are influenced by a combination of limnological variables (e.g., depth, concentrations of ions) and mining legacies.…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Cladocerans Around Cobaltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential environmental factors affecting cladoceran assemblage composition in arsenic-contaminated lakes near abandoned silver mines

2021

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Silver mining has a long history in Cobalt (Ontario, Canada), and it has left a complex environmental legacy where many lakes are contaminated with arsenic-rich mine tailings. In this exploratory survey, we examined subfossil Cladocera remains in the surface sediments of 22 lakes in the abandoned mining region to assess which environmental variables may be influencing the recent assemblage structure. Further, using a “top-bottom” paleolimnological approach, we compared the recent (top) and older (bottom) assemblages from a subset of 16 lakes to determine how cladoceran composition has changed in these lakes. Our regional survey suggests that the cladoceran assemblages in the Cobalt area are primarily structured by differences in lake depth, while site-specific limnological characteristics, including those related to past mining activities, may have limited roles in shaping the recent cladoceran compositions. The top-bottom paleolimnological analysis suggests that the cladoceran assemblages have changed in most lakes around Cobalt, however the magnitude and nature of changes varied across the study sites. As with most regional biological surveys, the responses to historical mining activities were not uniform across all sites, which further emphasizes the importance of considering site-specific limnological characteristics and multiple environmental stressors when assessing the impacts of mining pollution.

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“…The lack of long-term datasets should not preclude anticipating the long-term consequences of salinisation. Alternative approaches using combined analysis of time-series data, paleolimnology [133], and experimentation (i.e., short-term trajectories) could help to elucidate such trends [134]. Furthermore, high-frequency monitoring can aid in capturing small-scale ecological responses to FS that are otherwise missed in standard monitoring programmes [134].…”

Section: Temporal Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater salinisation: a research agenda for a saltier world

Cunillera‐Montcusí

Beklioğlu

Cañedo‐Argüelles

et al. 2022

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

126

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Effects of road-salt application on Cladocera assemblages in shallow Precambrian Shield lakes in south-central Ontario, Canada

Cited by 27 publications

References 66 publications

Current water quality guidelines across North America and Europe do not protect lakes from salinization

Current water quality guidelines across North America and Europe do not protect lakes from salinization

Assessing the potential environmental factors affecting cladoceran assemblage composition in arsenic-contaminated lakes near abandoned silver mines

Freshwater salinisation: a research agenda for a saltier world

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