The Gusum case: a brass mill and the distribution of soil Collembola

Abstract

BENGTSSON, G., and RUNDGREN, S. 1988. The Gusum case: a brass mill and the distribution of soil Collembola. Can. J. Zool. 66: [1518][1519][1520][1521][1522][1523][1524][1525][1526]. The sensitivity towards metal pollution of some population and community characteristics in Collembola was demonstmted based on observations at eight field sites along a transect from a brass mill. Samples were collected in coniferous forest soils at Gusum, southeastern Sweden, where a local brass mill has created a metal gradient in the surrounding area, with Cu and Zn concentmtions in the mor (Oa + Oe) layer close to the mill at levels 50 times above background. Cu concentmtions in whole animals increased exponentially in the vicinity of the smelter, but accumulation in body tissues was only observed at background sites. Neither species number, density, nor species diversity were linearly correlated with metal concentrations but instead showed a bell-shaped distribution. The vertical distribution of Collembola was clearly dependent on soil metal concentrations, and their densities at 2 -10 cm depth were positively correlated with metal concentrations at 0 -2 cm depth. The most pertinent information was gained from observations on the species composition. Tullbergia spp. and Onychiurus armatus (Tullberg) became more abundant in the polluted soils, whereas Folsomia quadrioculata (Tullberg) and Frisea mirabilis (Tullberg) generally disappeared. Folsomia jmetarioides (Axelson) became the dominant species in the polluted soil and seemed to have a distribution that was inversely related to that of Isotorniellu minor (Schaffer). The geneml persistence of a high abundance of Collembola in the polluted soils and the more specific changes in species abundances may be due to quantitative and qualitative changes in food supply, low bioavailability of the metals, and efficient avoidance and detoxification capabilities in the animals. BENGTSSON, G., et RUNDGREN, S. 1988. The Gusum case: a brass mill and the distribution of soil Collembola. Can. J. Zool.66 : 1518-1526. Des observations en huit stations situkes le long d'un transect a partir d'une manufacture de laiton dkmontrent que certaines caract6ristiques des populations et des communaut6s de collemboles sont sensibles a la pollution par le metal. Des 6chantillons ont kt6 recueillis dans des sols d'une forst de conifkres a Gusum, dans le sud-est de la Sukde, oh la presence d'une manufacture de laiton cr6e un gmdient de metal dans le sol : les concentrations de Cu et de Zn de la couche mor (Oa + Oe) sont 50 fois plus Clev6es prks de la manufacture que dans les sols 6loign6s. Les concentrations de Cu des animaux augmentent de faqon exponentielle dans le voisinage de la fonderie, mais I'accumulation dans les tissus n'a it6 observke qu'aux stations 6loignees. Ni l'abondance, ni la densite, ni la diversite des espkces ne sont en corriilations linkaires avec les concentrations de metal, mais suivent plut6t une distribution en cloche. La repartition verticale des collemboles est fortement reliie aux...

Effect of copper smelting air pollution on the mites (ACARI) associated with young scots pine forests polluted by a copper smelting works at Głogów, Poland. II. Soil mites

“…In the region polluted by the copper smelting works at Gtog6w, a high concentration of heavy metals reduced the density and species number of mites. This is consistent with the results that Bengtsson and Rundgren (1988) obtained in coniferous forests polluted by a brass mill at Gusum (Sweden), and H~gvar and Abrahamsen (1990) observed in Norwegian forests naturally polluted by lead.…”

Continuous Monitoring of Folsomia candida (Insecta: Collembola) in a Metal Exposure Test

“…et al, 1997;Smit, 1997;Van Straalen et al, 1989). This was re#ected in the "eld where Collembola collected from around a brass mill in SE Sweden were found to have much greater IBCs closer to the source of contamination (Bengtsson and Rundgren, 1988). The concentration factor (Table 4) of metal (except Pb) in the animals decreased as exposure concentrations increased.…”

“…Consequently there is concern regarding the e!ects of toxicants including metals on soil fauna (Bruce et al, 1997(Bruce et al, , 1999. In metal-contaminated soils a decrease in the density and sometimes diversity of Collembola is known to occur, concomitant with a decrease in the rate of decomposition of the litter layer Bengtsson and Rundgren, 1988;Hopkin, 1994). While some authors have reported changes in species assemblages as the main e!ect of metals on Collembola in soil (Bruce et al, 1997;Filser and HoK lscher 1997;Ha s gvar and Abrahamsen, 1990;LuK bben, 1989;NuK ss, 1994;Williamson and Evans, 1973), other workers have found di!erences in the abundances of Collembola at metal-contaminated sites, with fewer springtails occurring closer to the source of pollution (Haimi and Siirapietikainen, 1996;Kuznetsova and Potapov, 1997;Strojan, 1978).…”

Trace Metal Exposure and Effects on Soil‐Dwelling Species and Their Communities

“…These include studies undertaken to quantify community change in major invertebrate groups along metal contamination gradients [7,56], as well as studies with specific soil taxa like earthworms [57][58][59], springtails [8,60], mites [61], ground beetles [62] and spiders [63]. Changes observed in these studies included reduced overall abundance (including the presence of deserts for some groups), lower diversity as assessed using traditional metrics, altered community composition and changes in species dominance structure [64].…”