Consistency in Diatom Response to Metal-Contaminated Environments

Morin, Soizic; Cordonier, Arielle; Lavoie, Isabelle; Arini, Adeline; Blanco, Saúl; Duong, Thi Thuy; Tornés, Elisabet; Bonet, Berta; Corcoll, Natàlia; Faggiano, Leslie; Laviale, Martin; Pérès, Florence; Bécares, Eloy; Coste, Michel; Feurtet‐Mazel, Agnès; Fortin, Claude; Guasch, Helena; Sabater, Sergi

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-25722-3_5

Cited by 77 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 136 publications

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“…It is, therefore, not surprising to observe low IDEC values at sites located downstream of small municipalities or in the Greater Sudbury area where nutrient levels are higher (IDEC scores correlated with TP; r = −0.6, p ≤ 0.05). Most species from group 2 are indicators of baseline or low metal concentrations (low CCU), as suggested by Morin et al [15], although certain taxa from the A. minutissimum and F. capucina complexes were frequently observed in metal-contaminated conditions. However, the presence of metal-tolerant taxa does not necessarily suggest contamination, especially in the case of the two above-mentioned taxa, which are ubiquitous.…”

Section: Speciesmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Group 1 sites were characterized by elevated metal concentrations, and their above-mentioned dominant diatom taxa are often reported in metal-contaminated sites [11,15,[51][52][53][54][55][56]. While these assemblages suggest metal contamination, they are also positioned at the lower end of the nutrient enrichment gradient on the CCA (and clustered at the higher end of the IDEC gradient), which suggests excellent water quality in terms of nutrient and ion enrichment.…”

Section: Speciesmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Only the criterion for aluminum was based on the US EPA recent guidelines because it accounts for pH, DOC, and hardness [43], rather than pH only. Four categories of CCU were used following the thresholds proposed for biofilms [44], and later modified for diatoms [15] …”

Section: Toxicity Criteria and Ccu Calculationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to their sensitivity to fluctuations in water quality, their ubiquity, ease of sampling, and low analytical costs, this algal group is widely used as indicators of biological integrity and numerous diatom-based indices have been developed for routine assessment of overall ecosystem health (e.g., [12][13][14]). Diatoms have also been used to specifically reflect metal contamination, and metal-tolerant species are promising indicators of contamination (see Morin et al [15] and references therein). Moreover, deformities in diatom frustules (silica shells) are used as a biomarker in response to environmental perturbations such as contamination by metals and organic compounds (e.g., [16][17][18]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Freshwater Diatoms as Indicators of Combined Long-Term Mining and Urban Stressors in Junction Creek (Ontario, Canada)

et al. 2018

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Sudbury (Ontario, Canada) has a long mining history that has left the region with a distinctive legacy of environmental impacts. Several actions have been undertaken since the 1970s to rehabilitate this deteriorated environment, in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Despite a marked increase in environmental health, we show that the Junction Creek system remains under multiple stressors from present and past mining operations, and from urban-related pressures such as municipal wastewater treatment plants, golf courses and stormwater runoff. Water samples have elevated metal concentrations, with values reaching up to 1 mg·L −1 Ni, 40 µg·L −1 Zn, and 0.5 µg·L −1 Cd. The responses of diatoms to stressors were observed at the assemblage level (metal tolerant species, nutrient-loving species), and at the individual level through the presence of teratologies (abnormal diatom frustules). The cumulative criterion unit (CCU) approach was used as a proxy for metal toxicity to aquatic life and suggested elevated potential for toxicity at certain sites. Diatom teratologies were significantly less frequent at sites with CCU values <1, suggesting "background" metal concentrations as compared to sites with higher CCU values. The highest percentages of teratologies were observed at sites presenting multiple types of environmental pressures.

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Section: Speciesmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Speciesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Toxicity Criteria and Ccu Calculationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Freshwater Diatoms as Indicators of Combined Long-Term Mining and Urban Stressors in Junction Creek (Ontario, Canada)

et al. 2018

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“…Furthermore, they play a key role in nutrient and heavy metal absorption. [7][8][9][10] But outside water bodies, diatom colonies develop in a large variety of substrates, provided that they fulfill certain environmental criteria-among which moisture and light play a prominent role. Soils, rocks, lichen, litter, vegetation, or bark are all offering potential habitats for so-called aerial diatomsor what we term here as terrestrial diatoms.…”

Section: Box 1 Diatom Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial diatoms as tracers in catchment hydrology: a review

et al. 2017

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Diatoms are remarkable organisms. They are present in almost all habitats containing water (e.g., lakes, streams, soils, bark) and rank among the most common algal groups in both freshwaters and marine ecosystems. The ubiquitous character of aquatic diatoms has triggered countless applications as environmental tracers for studies in water quality, paleoclimate reconstruction and sediment tracing. However, diatoms also occur in the terrestrial environment. It is this plethora of diatom life-forms that has recently triggered interest in their use as tracers of hydrological processes. The use of diatoms in catchment hydrology has been very limited. Part of the reason is that until recently, the taxonomy and ecology of terrestrial diatom assemblages were largely unknown. However, in the past decade, much work has been done to quantify terrestrial diatom reservoir size, dynamics, and potential depletion following precipitation events. Therefore, such terrestrial diatoms now hold promise for use in catchment hydrology-for tracing runoff flow sources and pathways across a wide range of spatial scales. Here we review the literature on terrestrial diatoms and describe the various sampling protocols that have been designed and tested for specific applications in hydrological processes research. We review and summarize the work on terrestrial diatom reservoir characterization, transport mechanisms and pathways to show how such diatom-based tracer work might be possible at the catchment scale for rainfall-runoff studies. Finally, we present a vision for future work that might take advantage of terrestrial diatoms in catchment hydrology and discuss the main challenges going forward. © 2017 The Authors. WIREs Water published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. How to cite this article:WIREs Water 2017Water , 4:e1241. doi: 10.1002Water /wat2.1241 INTRODUCTION D iatoms (Bacillariophyta) are present in almost all habitats containing water (e.g., lakes, streams, soils, litter, bark). They count among the most common algal groups in both freshwaters and marine ecosystems. 1 Despite their microscopic size (10-200 microns), 2 diatoms generate an impressive amount of carbon through photosynthesis: almost as much as all rainforests combined. 3 Identification of diatoms date back to the early 1700s as noted by Round et al. 1 Decades later, Otto Friedrich Müller published the first description of a diatom in 1783 (Vibrio paxillifer ≡ Bacillaria paradoxa). Since then, This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. more than 64,000 diatom species have been described-and new species are added to that list almost daily with the number of extant species extrapolated to ca 100,000. 4,5 The identification of diatoms (from the Greek 'diatomos' or 'cut in half') commonly relies on the highly differentiated cell wall (or frustule) that is mostly co...

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Using biofilms for monitoring metal contamination in lotic ecosystems: The protective effects of hardness and pH on metal bioaccumulation

Leguay¹,

Lavoie²,

Levy³

et al. 2016

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Biofilms can make good bioindicators and biomarkers, offering a convenient tool to monitor metal contamination in streams that results from mine tailing sites. Biofilm metal content (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) as well as diatom diversity and the presence of teratologies (diatom abnormalities) were determined for biofilms from rivers with a variety of physicochemical properties across a metal contamination gradient. The results of metal accumulation were highly consistent from year to year, with significant relationships between calculated free metal ion concentrations and biofilm metal contents for samples from different rivers. This indicates the "universal nature" of the metal accumulation process in biofilms. The authors observed that protons and major cations protected against metal accumulation. A very low number of diatom taxa were found at the most contaminated sites, and the highest proportions of deformities were observed at these sites. However, it was difficult to distinguish the effect of metal contamination from the effect of other parameters, especially pH. The results suggest that the development of biofilm-based proxies for metal bioavailability is useful and that incorporation of the effects of hardness and pH in this metal contamination monitoring tool is important. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1489-1501. © 2015 SETAC.

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Consistency in Diatom Response to Metal-Contaminated Environments

Cited by 77 publications

References 136 publications

Freshwater Diatoms as Indicators of Combined Long-Term Mining and Urban Stressors in Junction Creek (Ontario, Canada)

Freshwater Diatoms as Indicators of Combined Long-Term Mining and Urban Stressors in Junction Creek (Ontario, Canada)

Terrestrial diatoms as tracers in catchment hydrology: a review

Using biofilms for monitoring metal contamination in lotic ecosystems: The protective effects of hardness and pH on metal bioaccumulation

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