Impact of environmental factors on aquatic biodiversity in roadside stormwater ponds

Abstract

Constructed stormwater ponds mitigate runoff volumes and pollution, and provide other ecosystem services, such as supporting biodiversity, but these services attracted relatively less attention. The impacts of the pollution levels in the water column and sediments, the physical characteristics of ponds, and the presence of amphibians on the macroinvertebrate community composition and biodiversity were explored in twelve stormwater ponds in Norway. Also, the similarities between macroinvertebrate, zooplankton and plant communities were explored. Most of the taxa displayed in the ordination diagram were positively correlated with the pond size and the number of neighbouring ponds, and negatively correlated with the pollution levels in the water column and sediments. However, no statistically significant impacts on the number of taxa and Shannon index were observed. There were low similarities between the macroinvertebrate and zooplankton community compositions as well as between the plant and macroinvertebrate community compositions in the stormwater ponds. We observed a significant positive correlation between the number of plant and of zooplankton taxa, and a weak non-significant positive correlation between the number of plant and of macroinvertebrate taxa. Overall, the explanatory variables had a significant impact on the community composition, but not on the number of taxa nor Shannon index.

Road related pollutants induced DNA damage in dragonfly nymphs (Odonata, Anisoptera) living in highway sedimentation ponds

“…The concentrations of PAHs in the sedimentation ponds in the present study are comparable with the highest concentrations found in other Norwegian sedimentation ponds 18,31 . It is also to some extent coherent with a Danish study 11 .…”

“…Sedimentation ponds are built to mimic natural ponds and processes and these artificial ponds can be rapidly colonized by aquatic organisms 12,13 . Several recent studies have indicated that highway sedimentation ponds (and also other stormwater sedimentation ponds) are able to support and promote biodiversity at a local and regional scale 14–18 , even specifically for odonatan diversity 19 . These studies underline the sedimentation ponds’ relevance in an ecological context, as they can act as steppingstones and secure connectivity throughout the surrounding landscape.…”

Spatio-temporal variation of zooplankton community structure in tropical urban waterbodies along trophic and urban gradients

“…High submerged macrophyte cover was qualitatively observed in this waterbody during the field sampling. A strong positive relationship between zooplankton diversity and richness and macrophyte abundance has been shown in a few studies in other temporary and permanent ponds including stormwater detention structures (Mimouni et al 2018;Sun et al 2019). Possible macrophyte effects that could drive zooplankton species richness include ecological gradient such as food availability and low predator visibility (Mimouni et al 2018).…”

“…Furthermore, a sharp decline in the biomass of the cladoceran group with an increase in TP was reported by Pinto-Coelho and Bezerra-Neto (2005). Sun et al (2019) showed that urban ponds that function as urban drainage systems or stormwater detention structures not only act as pollutant trap but also provide suitable habitats for pollution-tolerant taxa.…”

Evaluation of Stormwater System Influence on the River Using Algae

“…Therefore, the notion of water quality does not always coincide with such important parameters as species diversity (number of species) and biodiversity, e.g. under the β-mesosaprobic conditions, the diversity can significantly increase along with the resource base [Sun et al, 2019].…”