Recovery of acidified surface waters from acidification in the United Kingdom after twenty years of chemical and biological monitoring (1988–2008)

Battarbee, Richard W.; Shilland, Ewan M.; Kernan, Martin; Monteith, Donald T.; Curtis, Chris

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.10.011

Cited by 38 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…x 10 4 -7.4 x 10 6 m 3 and in residence time from around 2 weeks to 6 months) and streams (first or second order) from many regions of the UK uplands (Battarbee et al 2014). The UWMN is an expansion of the former UK Acid Waters Monitoring Network, which was established to assess the efficacy of regional reductions in acid pollutants (see for example, Monteith and Evans (2005)).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial controls on dissolved organic carbon in upland waters inferred from a simple statistical model

et al. 2015

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Because of the implications for drinking water treatment and supply there is increasing interest in the potential for mitigation through local land management, and for forecasting the likely impact of environmental change.However, the dominant controls on DOC production remain unresolved, hindering the establishment of appropriate reference levels for specific locations. Here we demonstrate that spatial variation in long-term average DOC levels draining upland UK catchments is highly predictable using a simple multiple logistic regression model comprising variables representing wetland soil cover, rainfall, altitude, catchment sensitivity to acidification, and current acid deposition. A negative relationship was observed between DOC concentration and altitude that, fro catchments dominated by organo-mineral soils, is plausibly explained by the combined effects of changing net primary production and temperature-dependent decomposition.However, the magnitude of the altitude effect was considerably greater for catchments with a high proportion of wetland cover, suggesting that additional controls influence these sites such as impeded respiratory loss of carbon in wet soils and/or an increased susceptibility to water level drawdown at lower altitudes. The model suggests 1) that continuing reductions in sulphur deposition on acid sensitive organo-mineral soils, will drive further significant increases in DOC and, 2) given the differences in the magnitude of the observed altitude-DOC relationships, that DOC production from catchments with peat-dominated soils may be more sensitive to climate change than those dominated by mineral soils. However, given that mechanisms remain unclear, the latter warrants further investigation.

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Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial controls on dissolved organic carbon in upland waters inferred from a simple statistical model

et al. 2015

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“…This dataset contains annual epilithic diatom samples from 11 stream sites beginning in 1988, and spanning a range of sites from sensitive unimpacted streams in NW Scotland to chronically acidified sites in Southern England. Full associated chemical and other biological data were also available and the sites have been the subject of several detailed investigation into their chemical and biological status and trajectories (Battarbee et al, 2014a). Three years of data from 1990-1992, the most acidic phase for the UWMN and prior to the onset of later significant chemical recovery, were selected for use.…”

Section: Validation Of the Dam Toolmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Water Framework Directive-compatible metric for assessing acidification in UK and Irish rivers using diatoms

Juggins

Kelly²,

Allott

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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Freshwater acidification continues to be a major problem affecting large areas of Europe, and while there is evidence for chemical recovery, similar evidence for biological recovery of freshwaters is sparse. The need for a methodology to identify waterbodies impacted acidification and to assess the extent of biological recovery is relevant to the EU Water Framework Directive, which requires methods to quantify differences in biology between impacted and unimpacted or reference sites. This study presents a new WFD-compliant metric based on diatoms (Diatom Acidification Metric: DAM) for assessing the acidification status of rivers. A database of 558 benthic diatom samples and associated water chemistry data was assembled. Diatom taxa were assigned to one of 5 indicator classes on the basis of their pH optimum, assessed using Gaussian logistic regression, and these indicator values used to calculate a DAM score for each site using weighted averaging. Reference sites were selected on the basis of their acid neutralising capacity (ANC) and calcium concentration, and a regression model developed to predict expected DAM for each site using pH and total organic carbon (TOC) concentration. Site-specific DAM scores were used to calculate ecological quality ratios ranging from ≥1, where the diatom assemblage showed no impact, to (theoretically) 0, when the diatom assemblage was indicative of major anthropogenic activities. The boundary between 'high' and 'good' status was defined as the 25th percentile of Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs) of all reference sites. The boundary between 'good' and 'moderate' status was set at the point at which nutrient-sensitive and nutrient-tolerant taxa were present in equal relative abundance. The methodology was evaluated using 2 long-term data from 11 sites from the UK Uplands Waters Monitoring Network and is shown to perform well in discriminating naturally acid from acidified sites.

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“…In some areas, mitigation programmes have attempted to restore water quality by applying calcium carbonate to catchments or river channels through 'liming' (McKie et al, 2006), yet despite continuing de-acidification in many river systems, there has been only partial biological recovery (e.g. Ormerod & Durance, 2009;Battarbee et al, 2014). Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the failure of acid-sensitive species to recolonise watercourses that are apparently recovering chemically .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Declining acid deposition across the northern hemisphere over recent decades has led to widespread improvements in the water quality of formerly acidified surface waters (Battarbee et al, 2014;Monteith et al, 2014). In some areas, mitigation programmes have attempted to restore water quality by applying calcium carbonate to catchments or river channels through 'liming' (McKie et al, 2006), yet despite continuing de-acidification in many river systems, there has been only partial biological recovery (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological barriers to restoration: testing the biotic resistance hypothesis in an upland stream recovering from acidification

et al. 2016

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The biotic resistance hypothesis provides one of several explanations for the limited biological recovery of streams recovering chemically from acidification. The hypothesis proposes that acidification has changed the presence, abundance and interactions among species in acidified streams to the extent that acid-sensitive colonists cannot re-invade even where acidity has ameliorated. As a first step in testing for biotic resistance in streams, we conducted a field experiment to determine whether the success (growth rate) of acid-sensitive recolonists (mayfly nymphs, Baetis rhodani) is reduced by competition with abundant acid-tolerant residents (stonefly nymphs, Leuctra inermis) in a chemically recovering Welsh stream (UK). Gut contents analysis revealed a marked overlap in resource use between the two species. However, when Baetis was exposed to several (0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 times ambient) densities of its putative competitor, Leuctra, growth rates of the colonist were not affected by the residents at any of the densities tested. These results do not support the hypothesis that resident species constrain colonist populations by affecting growth rates through competition for limited resources or interference. Further work is required to assess whether independent and/or interactive ecological effects of other common residents might affect colonists in ecosystems recovering from past stressors.

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Recovery of acidified surface waters from acidification in the United Kingdom after twenty years of chemical and biological monitoring (1988–2008)

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Cited by 38 publications

References 34 publications

Spatial controls on dissolved organic carbon in upland waters inferred from a simple statistical model

Spatial controls on dissolved organic carbon in upland waters inferred from a simple statistical model

A Water Framework Directive-compatible metric for assessing acidification in UK and Irish rivers using diatoms

Biological barriers to restoration: testing the biotic resistance hypothesis in an upland stream recovering from acidification

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