Dynamics of Cadmium-Stressed Plankton Communities

Marshall, J.S.; Mellinger, D. L.

doi:10.1139/f80-054

Cited by 64 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Community comparisons based on taxonomic similarity, which consider the identities of species present as well their relative abundances, often provide a more powerful means of detecting patterns of community change than do measures of species diversity (Marshall & Mellinger, 1980;Pontasch etal., 1989). Because the identity of species is ignored in the calculation of diversity indices, these measures are not sensitive to compensatory changes in the community, such as the replacement of one dominant species by another, which alter the taxonomic composition of the community but have little effect on community diversity.…”

Section: Measurements On Individuals and Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

1993

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Considerations involved in developing a suite of indicators to monitor regional environmental health, similar in conception to management use of 'leading economic indicators', are described. Linkages between human activities and well being and the state of the environment are considered essential to the evaluation of general environmental health. Biogeochemical and socioeconomic indicators are mutually affected by environmental degradation and examples of both categories of indicators are described. Desirable properties in indicators of environmental health vary with their specific management use. Different indicators are called for when collecting data to assess the adequacy of the environment, monitor trends over time, provide early warning of environmental degradation, or diagnose the cause of an existing problem. Tradeoffs between desirable characteristics, costs, and quality of information are inevitable when choosing indicators for management use. Decisions about what information to collect for which purpose can be made more rationally when available indicators are characterized and matched to management goals.

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Section: Measurements On Individuals and Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

1993

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“…The existence of secondary effects of toxic chemicals has been shown for pesticides (Newsom 1967, Pimentel 1971, Hurlbert 1975, heavy metals (Marshall and Mellinger 1980), acid from acid rain (Ericksson et al 1980, Schindler 1980, and other substances (Cairns et al 1972). In order to incorporate various levels of a community response to a potentially widely spread toxic chemical, we chose to study the effects of atra-' Manuscript received 2 March 1981; revised 2 December 1981; accepted 23 December 1981. zine in experimental ponds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Responses of Plankton Communities in Experimental Ponds to Atrazine, the Most Heavily Used Pesticide in the United States

deNoyelles¹,

Kettle²,

Sinn³

1982

Ecology

272

117

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Abstract. Experimental ponds received single additions of the herbicide atrazine in concentrations of 20 and 500 gg/L, and were compared to control ponds for 136 d. Atrazine is an inhibitor of photosynthesis, and both concentrations depressed phytoplankton growth in the ponds within a few days. This was followed by successional changes leading to the establishment of species of phytoplankton more resistant to inhibition by atrazine. Laboratory studies verified this resistance and verified effects on other species at concentrations of atrazine as low as 1-5 Jig/L. When and to what extent resistant species appeared in the phytoplankton communities differed with treatment. At the atrazine concentration of 500 gg/L, there was a delayed appearance but eventually a greater biomass and persistence of these species. The grazing zooplankton influenced these differences and were in turn affected by them. Natural interactions such as competition and predation among the species of the communities greatly affected their responses to the toxic chemical. The importance of atrazine as an environmental pollutant is suggested by these responses to concentrations of 1-5 gg/L, which are common downstream in many agricultural watersheds, 20 /Ig/L, which is the high level found in these waters, and 500 gg/L, which is the high level found in waters directly adjacent to treated fields.

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“…In contrast, others have found significant ecological responses to low levels of cadmium (5 and 10 ppb Cd, Giesy and others 1979) and copper (10 ppb Cu, Evans 1977) in ecologically more realistic outdoor microcosms. Further, Marshall and Mellinger (1980) observed significant effects of 1 and 3 ppb Cd in field enclosures in a Canadian Shield lake. These results suggest a direct relationship between the' ecological realism of test systems and their sensitivity to cadmium.…”

Section: Discussion and Conclusion Ecological Toxicity Testingmentioning

confidence: 88%

Cadmium in aquatic microcosms: Implications for screening the ecological effects of toxic substances

Hendrix

Langner

Odum

1982

Environmental Management

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/ A two-phase set of experiments was conducted to address some of the problems inherent in ecological screening of toxic substances in aquatic microcosms. Phase I was a 4 x 4 factorial experiment dealing with the interactive effects of cadmium and nutrients in static microcosms. Phase II was a2 x 4 factorial experiment using flowthrough microcosms to study temporal aspects of system behavior in response to nutrient loading and chronic versus acute cadmium perturbations. Nutrient enrichment resulted in increased biomass and metabolic activity in both static and flowthrough microcosms.Cadmium treatments generally resulted in a decrease in abundance of grazing crustaceans and a subsequent increase in community respiration, suggesting a change in community structure from a grazing to a detritus food chain. Of the variables measured, community metabolism, community composition, and output/input ratios of nitrate-nitrogen were the most useful indicators of system response to cadmium. Nutrient enrichment significantly influenced cadmium effects with respect to most of the variables measured; high levels of enrichment reduced the effects of cadmium. For screening the ecological effects of toxic chemicals, a series of experiments is proposed, including 1 ) relatively simple static microcosms, 2) flow through microcosms, and 3) more detailed but selective studies in microcosms derived from specific ecosystems. Each step yields increasingly more information and serves as a guide for subsequent experiments; in addition, each step more closely approximates natural ecosystems.

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Dynamics of Cadmium-Stressed Plankton Communities

Cited by 64 publications

References 0 publications

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

The Responses of Plankton Communities in Experimental Ponds to Atrazine, the Most Heavily Used Pesticide in the United States

Cadmium in aquatic microcosms: Implications for screening the ecological effects of toxic substances

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