Comparison of benthic invertebrate assemblages at Spartina alterniflora marshes reestablished after an oil spill and existing marshes in the Arthur Kill (NY/NJ)

In January 1990, an oil spill damaged salt marshes along the banks of the Arthur Kill (New York and New Jersey, USA). In the years following the spill, Spartina alterniflora seedlings were planted at a number of the oil damaged sites and successfully reestablished at these sites. In 1996, the National Marine Fisheries Service began a study to compare the benthic invertebrate assemblages at the reestablished S. alterniflora marshes to those at nearby existing marshes in the Arthur Kill. Oligochaetes, nematodes, and the small tube-building polychaete, Manayunkia aestuarina were the dominant taxa in the study. Significant differences were found in the abundances of all invertebrate individuals, oligochaetes, and nematodes between the September and May sampling times but not between reestablished and existing marshes. Although benthic invertebrate community structure was similar at reestablished and existing marshes three to four years after planting, the functional similarity of these marshes was not assessed in this study.     

Small-scale spatial variation of benthic algal assemblages in a peat bog

Spatial patterns on a very small scale (10 cm), and the effect of artificial barriers on the composition of phytobenthic algal assemblages along two transects within different microhabitat types were investigated. Samples were taken in a peat bog along linear transects on a scale of 10 cm, and water chemistry was examined. The distribution of algae along both transects was influenced by both spatial distance and environmental conditions in similar proportions. Differences in species composition in various parts of the transects were observed, but this pattern was primarily related to the abundance of species, rather than to their presence/absence in samples. Similarity in species composition correlated with spatial distance and environmental parameters in both microhabitat types. I concluded that, given a homogenous environment on a small scale, spatial distribution of algae is affected by both the environmental conditions of the microhabitats and their dispersal limitations. Moreover, an artificial barrier constituted an obstruction for water and nutrient flow, as well as algal migration, and had an impact on species composition.     

Assessing streams in Germany with benthic invertebrates: Development of a multimetric invertebrate based assessment system

The main aim of the study was to develop a multimetric assessment system for macroinvertebrate communities of small and mid-sized streams in Germany in accordance with the Water Framework Directive of the European Union. The system should be applicable by water authorities, capable of distinguishing between different impacts, and specifically adapted to all types of small and mid-sized rivers in Germany. An assessment system has been developed consisting of two modules based on the established indices for saprobic degradation and acidity, and a third module covering general degradation. For the third module a new multimetric index (MMI) was developed and tested using preclassifications for stream hydromorphological degradation, land use and general impairment as impact measures. More information on sampling method, season and the type of dominating human impairment allowed to further analyse the index' capabilities and sensitivity. It performed well in all seasons and detected all types of impairment except acidity. The usefulness of the impact measures used in this study is discussed with regard to the development of a multimetric index. The comparison of the new index with other indices showed that it is especially sensitive in detecting macroinvertebrate community responses to hydromorphological degradation and pollution such as the German AQEM index, while IBI 12 and Renkonen's similarity more reflect general community shifts caused by any type of disturbance. The new assessment system will be proposed for future use by state agencies for nationwide monitoring in the context of the Water Framework Directive implementation.     

Ecology of benthic invertebrate communities in cooling reservoirs of thermal power stations in Siberia

Literary data analysis and the author’s studies were used to characterize the benthic zoocenoses in the cooling reservoirs of eight thermal power stations in Siberia. The examined water bodies demonstrated a strong domination of individual species in the profundal, maximal taxonomic diversity in the coastal zone, and the high significance of the soil type as a factor of spatial distribution of benthic invertebrates. By those characteristics, as well as by the complex of dominating species and the character of long-term variations in zoobenthos biomass, the examined cooling reservoirs in Siberia are similar to not only heated water bodies in other regions but also to reservoirs in general.     

Congruence between functional and taxonomic patterns of benthic and planktonic assemblages in flatland ponds

Using data from 31 ponds, we investigated the importance of environmental (e.g. habitat complexity, nutrient content, pH) and biotic factors (i.e. fish predation) on the spatial patterns of planktonic (phytoplankton and zooplankton) and benthic (macroinvertebrates) assemblages. We also evaluated the degree of concordance among assemblages and between the functional and taxonomic composition of assemblages, and test the hypothesis that surrogates of biodiversity (e.g. taxonomic or functional groups) can be used in pond conservation and biomonitoring studies. We found that the spatial patterns of benthic and pelagic assemblages were determined by macrophyte coverage, water quality and, to a lesser extent, fish. However, shifts in the taxonomic and functional composition were not congruent. Moreover, local environmental variation was slightly more important for the taxonomic than the functional composition of assemblages, except for phytoplankton. The degree of concordance among assemblages was also weak, which may be partly due to the fact that species respond individualistically to environmental variation. These findings also suggest that the coupling between benthic and pelagic habitats in flatland ponds is weak, and that the use of surrogate measures or indicator groups in pond conservation studies may not be appropriate.     

Estimating benthic invertebrate production in lakes: a comparison of methods and scaling from individual taxa to the whole-lake level

Studies of aquatic invertebrate production have been primarily conducted at the level of individual taxa or populations. Advancing our understanding of the functioning and energy flow in aquatic ecosystems necessitates scaling-up to community and whole-lake levels, as well as integrating across benthic and pelagic habitats and across multiple trophic levels. In this paper, we compare a suite of non-cohort based methods for estimating benthic invertebrate production at subpopulation, habitat, and whole-lake levels for Sparkling Lake, WI, USA. Estimates of the overall mean benthic invertebrate production (i.e. whole-lake level) ranged from 1.9 to 5.0 g DM m⁻² y⁻¹, depending on the method. Production estimates varied widely among depths and habitats, and there was general qualitative agreement among methods with regards to differences in production among habitats. However, there were also consistent and systematic differences among methods. The size-frequency method gave the highest, while the regression model of Banse and Mosher (Ecol Monogr 50:355–379, 1980) gave the lowest production estimates. The regression model of Plante and Downing (Can J Fish Aquat Sci 46:1489–1498, 1989) had the lowest average coefficients of variation at habitat (CV = 0.17) and whole-lake (CV = 0.08) levels. At the habitat level, variance in production estimates decreased with sampling effort, with little improvement after 10–15 samples. Our study shows how different production estimates can be generated from the same field data, though aggregating estimates up to the whole-lake level does produce an averaging effect that tends to reduce variance.     

Relative importance of multiple environmental variables in structuring benthic macroinfaunal assemblages in chronically metal-polluted salt marshes

In this study, we assessed importance of sediment-associated trace metals in structuring benthic macroinfaunal assemblages along multiple environmental gradients in chronically polluted salt marshes of the Arthur Kill - AK (New York, USA). More than 90% of benthic macroinfaunal communities at the northern AK sites consisted of a considerably large number of only a few polychaete and oligochaete species. Approximately 70% of among-site variances in abundance and biomass of benthic macroinfaunal communities was strongly associated with a few environmental variables; only sediment-associated mercury consistently contributed to a significant proportion of the explained variances in species composition along natural environmental gradients (e.g., salinity). Although sediment-associated copper, lead, and zinc were substantially elevated at some of the AK sites, their ecological impacts on benthic macroinfaunal communities appeared to be negligible. These findings suggest that cumulative metal-specific impacts may have played an important role in structuring benthic macroinfaunal communities in chronically polluted AK ecosystems.     

特大洪水对浮游植物群落及其演替的影响——以广东高州水库为例

洪水事件能够在短时间内对生态系统的物理与生物过程产生重大影响,从而导致浮游植物群落结构的快速演替.2010年9月,广东省大型水库——高州水库发生特大洪水.为了解洪水的生态效应,于2010年1月-2011年12月对高州水库湖沼学变量和浮游植物进行了调查研究.特大洪水期间,高州水库流域内大量泥沙等颗粒物进入水体,将原有有机物相对较多的沉积物覆盖,有助于减少营养盐的底泥释放,洪水后次年春季枯水期水体营养盐浓度明显降低(尤其是磷,总磷浓度低于0.01 mg/L).洪水过后水体中悬浮物的组成改变,在接下来的水体混合期间无机颗粒物的再悬浮导致水体透明度显著降低,但次年水库整体的透明度升高,浮游植物生物量降低.洪水事件导致的水体理化环境的改变使水库浮游植物群落结构改变,由洪水前以群体蓝藻和大个体绿藻(H1和N A功能类群)为优势类群的群落转变为洪水后以中心纲浮游硅藻和甲藻(A、B和LO功能类群)为优势类群的群落,而以往枯水期常有发生的粘质鱼腥藻等蓝藻水华在洪水后春季枯水期没有出现.     

The influence of biotope on invertebrate assemblages in lentic environments: A study of two perennial alkaline wetlands in the Western Cape,South Africa

As a step towards the biological assessment of wetlands in South Africa, this study investigates the influence of biotope characteristics on the spatial distribution of aquatic invertebrates. The aim was to assess whether different wetland biotopes support significantly different invertebrate assemblages in terms of the composition and abundance of microcrustaceans and macroinvertebrate taxa. During October 2006, three different biotopes were sampled within Verlorenvlei and Wave's Edge wetlands (Western Cape, South Africa) using a long-handled sweep net. Composition and abundance of invertebrate assemblages were compared between and within sites for each of the wetlands. Assemblage composition generally differed among biotopes within each wetland, as revealed by cluster analysis and MDS plots. At Verlorenvlei, biotopes formed distinctive clusters with low site-specific variability. Assemblage composition at Wave's Edge revealed coarser groupings with clusters distinguishing between vegetated and non-vegetated biotopes only. Biotopes within each wetland differed significantly in terms of taxon richness, Shannon diversity and mean total invertebrate biomass (g m⁻³), whilst mean total density (ind m⁻³) differed only between biotopes in Verlorenvlei. Considerable shifts in invertebrate assemblage structure corresponded to differences in electrical conductivity among sites at Verlorenvlei. For large physico-chemically heterogeneous wetlands such as Verlorenvlei, it is suggested that smaller physico-chemically homogenous zones should be identified a priori and within these areas vegetated biotopes should be sampled over the broadest possible spatial scale, whilst open-water biotopes can be sampled more narrowly. For small, reasonably homogenous wetlands such as Wave's Edge, we suggest a less broad spatial representation of biotopes and instead one should concentrate on increasing the number of sample repetitions per site.     

Changes in benthic fish assemblages as a consequence of coastal works in a coastal lagoon: The Mar Menor (Spain, Western Mediterranean)

The benthic fish assemblage of the Mar Menor consisted of 37 species. Dominant species are: Gobius cobitis, Lipophrys pavo and Tripterygion tripteronotus on infralittoral rocks; Pomatoschistus marmoratus, Callionymus pussillus, Callionymus risso and Solea vulgaris on sandy bottoms and Gobius niger, Syngnathus abaster, Hippocampus ramulosus and Symphodus cinereus on Cymodocea nodosa-Caulerpa prolifera mixed beds. From 1985 to 1989 tourist development has led to the creation of new beaches and the installation of artificial rocky structures for retaining sediments. Dredging for the extraction of sand and subsequent pumping altered sediment characteristics causing a real stress leading to the substitution of typical sandy bottoms communities with Cymodocea nodosa by Caulerpa prolifera communities on mud. Soft bottom fish assemblages responded to changes in vegetation cover and substratum characteristics mainly changing the species composition, while artificial hard substrata contain a similar fish community than natural ones, harbouring even richer and more diverse assemblages. This positive effect of breakwaters should not obscure their likely negative effects on hydrodynamics and the subsequent changes of sediment quality and vegetation cover on the breakwaters' area of influence.     

Longitudinal impacts of anthropogenic pressures on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in a large transboundary Mediterranean river during the low flow period

Changes in lotic benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages along the transboundary Axios‐Vardar River (Greece – Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia) were examined in order to identify major anthropogenic impacts correlated to the benthic community composition during the low flow season. Macrozoobenthos and water samples were collected from 21 sites during summer 2000 and beginning of autumn 2001. Parallel to sampling, the recording of the physical structure of the sites took place using the River Habitat Survey (RHS) method. The multivariate techniques of FUZZY and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), as well as the Hellenic biotic score (HES) and the habitat quality scores (HMS, HQA) were applied to the data. Total dissolved solids and total suspended solids were found to be the primary factors affecting the structure of the observed communities. Additionally, species composition responded to anthropogenic activities, e. g. untreated sewage effluents, industrial discharges, agricultural runoff, intense water abstraction and impoundment. As expected, macrozoobenthos community composition shifted from sensitive to tolerant taxa where human impacts were most evident.     

Subtidal assemblages on rocky reefs at a cliff-face sewage outfall (North Head, Sydney, Australia): What happened when the outfall was turned off?

For many years, sewage was continuously discharged via inshore outfalls into shallow subtidal habitats around Sydney (New South Wales). In 1990, deepwater ocean outfalls were commissioned and inshore discharge ceased. This study examined the assemblage of organisms found on subtidal cliffs at one inshore outfall to examine differences in, or recovery by, the biota when sewage was no longer discharged. This assemblage was primarily composed of filter-feeding animals (sponges, ascidians, bryozoans, anthozoans) and encrusting algae. Differences and changes in the assemblages at a number of different spatial scales, relative to the assemblages at two reference locations, were examined four times over a 20 month period. Although most taxa showed significant changes over the study period, most of these were unpredictable and varied interactively according to the taxon, plot, depth and location. For most measures, however, the location where sewage had been released lay within the natural variability shown by the reference locations. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to other studies on the effects of sewage on intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats.     

The effect of thermal pollution on benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the Mediterranean shoreface adjacent to Hadera power plant (Israel)

The thermal pollution patch of Hadera power plant was used as a natural laboratory to evaluate the potential long-term effects of rise in Eastern Mediterranean SST on living benthic foraminifera. Their sensitivity to environmental changes makes foraminifera ideal for this study. Ten monthly sampling campaigns were performed in four stations located along a temperature gradient up to 10 °C from the discharge site of heated seawater to a control station. The SST along this transect varied between 25/18 °C in winter and 36/31 °C in summer. A significant negative correlation was found between SST in all stations and benthic foraminiferal abundance, species richness and diversity. The total foraminiferal abundance and species richness was particularly low at the thermally polluted stations especially during summer when SST exceeded 30 °C, but also throughout the entire year. This indicates that thermal pollution has a detrimental effect on benthic foraminifera, irrelevant to the natural seasonal changes in SST.     

The generation and mineral associations of rock assemblages at mud volcanoes: Southeastern Siberia

We consider the main features in the formation of rock assemblages in the southern Siberian Mesozoic–Cenozoic mud volcanism area that the present writers identified. The related mineral associations and mechanism of generation were found. We identified fluid dynamic regimes of mud volcanoes with different mechanisms of mineral generation, viz., root (chamber) structures of fluid generation, as well as the channels for the transmission of the fluid–rock substratum and of hydrothermal fluids.     

Influence of seasonal variability in benthic invertebrate community structure on the use of biotic indices to assess the ecological status of a Portuguese estuary

The present study focused on the use of benthic invertebrate communities to assess the ecological quality of a Portuguese estuary characterized by strong seasonal changes and with eutrophication problems. Seasonal benthic samples were collected during a flood year and the methodology proposed by the WFD Portuguese group was used to classify benthic assemblages into five different quality classes. Factor analysis was applied to classify stations based on their physical-chemical status. Different classifications were obtained with different indices and among seasons and there was low agreement between indices and index-season interactions. Diversity indices were better correlated to eutrophication related variables than AMBI and ABC method. Predictable responses of benthic indices to anthropogenic stress symptoms were stronger during the dry period.     

黄河三角洲平原型水库大型底栖动物对磷的积累效应

2003年春、夏、秋季对黄河三角洲7座平原型水库进行了4次调查,发现:1)由摇蚊科幼虫和水蚯蚓构成的大型底栖动物,体内磷含量随底泥沉积磷的增加而增加(P<0．000),底柄动物对沉积磷的积累系数亦随沉积磷含量的增加而增加(p<0．000);2)4、5月份摇蚊幼虫在底栖动物体所占不同比例(20％-100％),没有显示与底柄动物体内磷含量任何关系;3)底栖动物含磷量与水层总磷无显著相关关系;4)底柄动物生物量与沉积总磷仅4月份有相关(p<0．10),其中摇蚊幼虫生物量与沉积磷量相关显著(P<0．05),总体上,水库底柄动物最高生物量随沉积磷增加而增加;5)底栖动物生物量与水层总磷无相关关系,但去掉底层鱼产量高的水库后,8月份二者有显著相关关系(p<0．03),且总体底栖动物最高生物量也随水层总磷增加而增加．认为:1)由摇蚊科幼虫和水蚯蚓构成的大型底柄动物对磷的积累以及摇蚊幼虫的生物量均与水体磷负荷有密切关系;2)摇蚊幼虫和水蚯蚓含磷量(干重)差异不明显;3)以摇蚊幼虫为主的底栖动物对磷的积累主要来自沉积磷的影响,受季节的影响相对较弱;4)底栖动物生物量主要受水层总磷的控制,也受鱼类摄食以及摇蚊幼虫个体羽化时间不一致的影响．     

Temporal evolution of scour at bridge abutments in compound channels

Bridge abutment-induced sediment scour in compound river channels is time-sensitive during floods, and, thus, estimating the scour rate has significance in design. In the current study, large-scale laboratory experiments were done to examine the influence of multiple factors on scour evolution, including channel geometry, bed mobility (clear-water or live-bed), and lateral (embankment intrusion) and vertical (deck submergence) flow contractions. A new method is applied for scour measurement and determination of characteristic scour trends. Results show that the non-dimensional time scale is related to flow intensity and may peak before reaching the clear-water scour threshold; the corresponding equations also are derived. It is found that the use of scour countermeasures has a significant impact on the scour rate, and the existing equations for unprotected abutments have limitations. Under clear-water conditions, the scour rate is closely related to the overall flow contraction, which can be better reflected by the ratio of the approaching unit discharge to that at the bridge section. Specifically, the effect of vertical flow contraction on scour rate is more dominant than other factors. Two scour rate curves are derived to suit different structural and flow contraction types for clear-water scour. In contrast, the live-bed scour rate data are generally consistent and fall in a narrow band, showing less dependence on other factors. Finally, a new design approach is established to estimate the time scale and scour rate using the new equations proposed in this paper.     

Effects of bark accumulation on benthic infauna at a log transfer facility in southeast Alaska

Effects of bark accumulation are examined by comparing macro-infauna (numbers and biomass) at a log transfer facility with those of an adjacent unaffected region. The quantities of some infaunal species (and groups of species) are significantly different in ‘shallow’ vs ‘deep’ water zones, arbitrarily defined as 3–6 and 7–10 m below mean lower low water (MLLW), respectively. Bivalves and polychaetes dominate the fauna of both areas, but are significantly diminished under bark deposits. Results indicate that a complete covering of bark debris can have drastic effects on the structure of benthic communities. In extreme conditions macro-infauna can be virtually eliminated, in less severe instances, deposit feeders replace suspension feeders.