Effects of pollution on benthic invertebrate communities of the St. Marys River, 1985

Burt, Alan J.; McKee, P. M.; Hart, D. R.; Kauss, P. B.

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-3144-5_3

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Macroinvertebrate communities occurring in the most contaminated areas of the Montreal harbour and some stations of the Lake Saint-Louis and Lake SaintPierre (Cluster A) were characterized by tolerant taxa such as the Oligochaeta Tubificidae (IIyodrilus and Quistadrilus). Some species of the genera Quistadrilus and IIyodrilus are often associated with degraded conditions (Hynes, 1959;Goodnight, 1973;Milbrink, 1973), found in areas where the oxygen supply is reduced (Lang, 1984) and where organic enrichment is important (Brinkhurst & Cook, 1974;Burt et al, 1991). Most stations of Lake Saint-François and some stations of Lake Saint-Louis, located in waters Fig.…”

Section: Macroinvertebrate Assemblages and Indicator Taxamentioning

confidence: 96%

Relating macroinvertebrate community structure to environmental characteristics and sediment contamination at the scale of the St. Lawrence River

et al. 2009

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There is still no assessment of the impact of sediment chemicals and environmental conditions on macroinvertebrates at the scale of the St. Lawrence River. In order to assess these impacts in the fluvial section of the St. Lawrence River including the Montreal harbour, the community structure of macroinvertebrates using different taxonomic aggregations (genus and family) and taxa attributes (abundance, presence-absence, indicator taxa) was assessed. The goal of the study was to determine the indicator taxa of macroinvertebrates along the fluvial continuum and relate changes in macroinvertebrate community to sediment chemical conditions and environmental characteristics of habitats using variance partitioning. This study also evaluated which taxonomic level and taxa attributes of macroinvertebrates were the most suitable for bioassessment of quality of sediments and habitat environment in the St. Lawrence River. Four different macroinvertebrate assemblages were found distributed along the fluvial continuum using either abundance or presence-absence data and genus or family levels. Indicator taxa characteristic of the different macroinvertebrate communities were associated with the sediment contamination gradient. However, habitat environmental characteristics (water masses, sulphur and DOC in sediments) had more influence on macroinvertebrate assemblages than sediment contamination. Our study confirms that family level analysis can give information comparable to the genus level analysis using presence-absence or abundance of macroinvertebrates, yet a higher number of indicator taxa were detected at the genus level.

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Section: Macroinvertebrate Assemblages and Indicator Taxamentioning

confidence: 96%

Relating macroinvertebrate community structure to environmental characteristics and sediment contamination at the scale of the St. Lawrence River

et al. 2009

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“…Comparing the larval habitat (Eshenroder et al 1987) with the degraded zone mapped by Kauss (1991) and Burt et al (1991) demonstrates that the degraded area represents only 6% of the larval habitat and 17% of the river's lamprey productive capacity. It is unlikely that full recovery of this zone could account for the magnitude of increase in sea lamprey abundance in northern Lake Huron and the North Channel.…”

Section: Changes In Sea Lamprey Larval Habitat In the St Marysmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Subsequent controls have resulted in a substantial decline in sediment contamination (Kauss 1991). Kauss (1991) and Burt et al (1991) mapped zones of impairment in the St Marys River based on sediment concentrations of oil and grease and zinc, as well as benthic community structure. These analyses indicate that the areas of impairment are concentrated along the Canadian shore from the Algoma Steel Corp. ship dock (slag pile) to the head of Little Lake George.…”

Section: Changes In Sea Lamprey Larval Habitat In the St Marysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of habitat change in the St. Marys River and northern Lake Huron on sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) populations

Young¹,

Christie²,

McDonald³

et al. 1996

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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The abundance of parasitic and spawning-phase sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in northern Lake Huron increased by more than fourfold from 1978 to 1985, remaining high through 1993. We determined whether (i) instream rehabilitation in the St. Marys River, (ii) improvements in larval habitat quality in the St. Marys River, or (iii) increased forage fish biomass and salmonid stocking in northern Lake Huron could account for this population increase. We found no significant changes in larval sea lamprey abundance in the St. Marys River from 1971 to 1992. Furthermore, habitat rehabilitation in the St. Marys River occurred 3-5 yr following the increases in adult sea lamprey. Therefore, improvements in spawning and larval habitat quality and quantity could not explain the increase in parasitic-phase sea lamprey. However, bloater chub (Coregonus hoyi), one of the initial targets for recently transformed sea lamprey, increased in biomass between 1978 and 1982. We observed significant, positive correlations between parasitic-phase sea lamprey abundance and bloater chub biomass and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) stocking rates. We conclude that the increase in parasitic-phase sea lamprey can be attributed to improved survival of recently transformed sea lamprey resulting from greater prey availability.

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“…The effects on benthos also have been documented through biological assessments (Burt et al, 1991;Hiltunen and Schloesser, 1983;Kauss and Nettleton, 2000) Severe impairment to benthos due to industrial pollution has occurred from the Algoma Slip along the Canadian shoreline to Little Lake George. Benthic impairment is characterized by dominance of pollution-tolerant tubificids, chironomids, and low numbers of taxa.…”

Section: Environmental Impacts Of Industrial Dischargesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Environmental history of the St. Marys River

Ripley¹,

Arbic

Zimmerman

2011

Journal of Great Lakes Research

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Effects of pollution on benthic invertebrate communities of the St. Marys River, 1985

Cited by 8 publications

References 8 publications

Relating macroinvertebrate community structure to environmental characteristics and sediment contamination at the scale of the St. Lawrence River

Relating macroinvertebrate community structure to environmental characteristics and sediment contamination at the scale of the St. Lawrence River

Effects of habitat change in the St. Marys River and northern Lake Huron on sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) populations

Environmental history of the St. Marys River

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