Seasonal shifts in the diet of lake zooplankton revealed by phospholipid fatty acid analysis

SUMMARY 1. We analysed the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles of seston and of the dominant zooplankter, Daphnia longispina, through the open water period in a small, dystrophic lake to investigate seasonal variation in the diet of Daphnia. Phytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria, green sulphur bacteria and methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) were all present in the water column of the lake, and previous studies have indicated that vertically migrating Daphnia can exploit all these potential food sources. 2. For adult Daphnia, although there was some correspondence between the PLFA profile of Daphnia and the concurrent seston PLFA profile, strongest correlations were between the Daphnia PLF…

Dangerous relationships : biases in freshwater bioassessment based on observed to expected ratios

Copyright by the Ecological Society of America The ecological assessment of freshwaters is currently primarily based on biological communities and the reference condition approach (RCA). In the RCA, the communities in streams and lakes disturbed by humans are compared with communities in reference conditions with no or minimal anthropogenic influence. The currently favored rationale is using selected community metrics for which the expected values (E) for each site are typically estimated from environmental variables using a predictive model based on the reference data. The proportional differences between the observed values (O) and E are then derived, and the decision rules for status ass…

Inter-annual variation in macroinvertebrate communities in a shallow forest lake in eastern Finland during 1990–2001

As a part of the Integrated Monitoring (IM) Programme of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems, the macroinvertebrate community of a pristine forest lake was monitored from 1990 up to the present. Lake Iso Hietajarvi is a small and shallow, weakly stratified oligotrophic headwater lake situated in Patvinsuo National Park, eastern Finland. Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled annually, once in autumn at depths of 3 - 4 m (sublittoral zone) and at 7 m (profundal zone). The water quality of the lake and meteorological characteristics in the area were monitored during the same period. The inter-annual variation in macroinvertebrate abundance and taxonomic composition in the lake unaffected by …

Are the effects of an invasive crayfish on lake littoral macroinvertebrate communities consistent over time?

Management of invasive species requires assessment of their effects on recipient ecosystems. However, impact assessment of invasive species commonly lacks a long-term perspective which can potentially lead to false conclusions. We examined the effects of the invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus Dana) on the stony littoral macroinvertebrate communities of a large boreal lake and assessed the extent to which the patterns observed in previous short-term studies were stable over time. We used temporal macroinvertebrate data collected in five consecutive years from a site with a well-established crayfish population, a site with no crayfish and a site where crayfish had been recentl…

Use of stable isotope analysis to evaluate the possible impact of fish migration on a lake biomanipulation

1. A lake restoration project involving mass fish removals was started to improve further the water quality of a lake recovering from severe eutrophication. The effectiveness of such biomanipulation as a lake management option could be compromised if removed fish are rapidly replaced by large-scale immigration from a connected lake. 2. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) was used to examine the migrations of perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) and roach (Rutilus rutilus (L.)) between two connected lakes in central Finland, Jyvasjarvi and the larger Paijanne. Baseline δ15N signatures in primary consumers were significantly higher in Jyvasjarvi and this difference was reflected further up the food chain i…

Hyperspectral Imaging of Macroinvertebrates : a Pilot Study for Detecting Metal Contamination in Aquatic Ecosystems

The applicability of spectral analysis in detection of freshwater metal contamination was assessed by developing and testing a novel hyperspectral imaging (HSI) application for aquatic insect larvae (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae). Larvae were first exposed to four different cadmium (Cd) concentrations: 0, 1, 10, and 100 μg L−1 for 96 h. Individual larvae were then preserved in ethanol, inspected with microscopy for the number of anomalies in larval gills, and imaged by hyperspectral camera operating with wavebands between 500 and 850 nm. Three additional larvae from each exposure were analyzed for tissue Cd concentration. Although the larval tissue Cd concentrations correlated positively wit…

Assessing the conservation priority of freshwater lake sites based on taxonomic, functional and environmental uniqueness

Aim We propose a novel approach that considers taxonomic uniqueness, functional uniqueness and environmental uniqueness and show how it can be used in guiding conservation planning. We illustrate the approach using data for lake biota and environment. Location Lake Puruvesi, Finland. Methods We sampled macrophytes and macroinvertebrates from the same 18 littoral sites. By adapting the original “ecological uniqueness” approach, we used distance-based methods to calculate measures of taxonomic (LCBD–t), functional (LCBD–f) and environmental (LCEH) uniqueness for each site. We also considered the numbers and locations of the sites needed to protect up to 70% of total variation in taxonomic, fu…

SIMILARITIES IN BIOACCUMULATION PATTERNS OF POLYCHLORINATED DIBENZO-p-DIOXINS AND FURANS AND POLYCHLORINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS IN LABORATORY-EXPOSED OLIGOCHAETES AND SEMIPERMEABLE MEMBRANE DEVICES AND IN FIELD-COLLECTED CHIRONOMIDS

Sediment and chironomid samples were collected from a river in the vicinity of and downstream from a closed chlorophenol production plant, and they were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) and polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDE). Bioaccumulation of these compounds from the sediments by the oligochaeta, Lumbriculus variegatus, and semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) was studied in a 28-d bioaccumulation test. The sum concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCDEs in sediments varied spatially, peaking at the site below the production plant, but the congener composition remained fairly constant throughout the river. The sum concentrations of chironomids, oligochaetes…

Macrophytes in boreal streams: Characterizing and predicting native occurrence and abundance to assess human impact

Abstract Macrophytes are a structurally and functionally essential element of stream ecosystems and therefore indispensable in assessment, protection and restoration of streams. Modelling based on continuous environmental gradients offers a potential approach to predict natural variability of communities and thereby improve detection of anthropogenic community change. Using data from minimally disturbed streams, we described natural macrophyte assemblages in pool and riffle habitats separately and in combination, and explored their variation across large scale environmental gradients. Specifically, we developed RIVPACS-type models to predict the presence and abundance of macrophyte taxa at …

Effects of an invasive crayfish on the littoral macroinvertebrates of large boreal lakes are habitat specific

Summary Invasive crayfish are widely acknowledged to have negative effects on benthic food webs in lakes, but few studies have investigated such effects at wider spatial scales and in varying habitats under natural conditions. We examined the effects of introduced signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) on the macroinvertebrate assemblages of different habitats in two large boreal lakes. We evaluated whether the density, taxon richness and species composition are altered by the non-native crayfish and whether the responses are similar for stony and vegetated habitats and across a depth gradient. We also studied the influence of crayfish on periphyton biomass at stony sites, as a potentia…

A Bayesian stable isotope mixing model for coping with multiple isotopes, multiple trophic steps and small sample sizes

We introduce a Bayesian stable isotope mixing model for estimating the relative contributions of different dietary components to the tissues of consumers within food webs. The model is implemented with the probabilistic programming language Stan. The model incorporates isotopes of multiple elements (e.g. C, N, H) for two trophic levels, when the structure of the food web is known. In addition, the model allows inclusion of latent trophic levels (i.e. for which no empirical data are available) intermediate between sources and measured consumers. Running the model in simulations driven by a real dataset from Finnish lakes, we tested the sensitivity of the posterior distributions by altering c…

Can lake restoration by fish removal improve the status of profundal macroinvertebrate assemblages?

Summary Removal of fish to restore lake pelagic food webs and water quality has been shown to increase the abundance of benthic invertebrates in shallow areas due to decreased predation pressure, while responses of profundal macroinvertebrate assemblages are less well documented. We used multivariate analyses and a Before-After-Control-Impact design to assess the impacts of fish removal (in total 101 000 kg of percid and cyprinid fish) on profundal macroinvertebrate species composition and abundance and ecological status in two basins of a eutrophic boreal lake. In the deeper main basin, macroinvertebrate community composition and classification of ecological status were not affected by fis…

Alterations in visual and auditory processing in hemispatial neglect: An evoked potential follow-up study

Hemispatial neglect is common after cerebrovascular stroke in the right hemisphere. Cortical electrophysiological studies, especially investigations of both visual and auditory processing in subjects with neglect are sparse. Our purpose was to assess whether and to which extent subjects with neglect may show impairments in both visual and auditory processing. Thereby, we assessed the evolution of changes in sensory processing and neglect symptoms over a 6 month follow-up period. Twenty-one stroke subjects with hemispatial neglect were studied at baseline, 3 weeks later and at 6 months follow-up. At enrollment, 12 patients were in Acute/subacute and 9 were in the chronic stage of stroke. Vis…

The relevance of ecological status to ecosystem functions and services in a large boreal lake

Summary Environmental conventions aim to protect ecosystem structures and functions to provide goods and services for mankind. The degree of aquatic ecosystem naturalness, or ecological status as it is defined in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union, is notionally linked to supplies of ecosystem services. In practice, these links have rarely been documented or even investigated, and to justify conservation and management objectives based on the status indicators, it is essential to demonstrate their relationships to ecosystem functions and services. The WFD requires member states to classify their surface waters aiming to achieve good ecological status of water bodies. …

Natural variation of profundal macroinvertebrate communities in boreal lakes is related to lake morphometry: implications for bioassessment

Modern biological assessment of aquatic systems is often based on the reference condition approach, which requires characterization of biota in undisturbed conditions. For this approach, it is essential to recognize the origins and degree of natural variation in communities. We used data from 55 minimally disturbed Finnish lake basins to investigate the natural variation of profundal macroinvertebrate community composition in relation to environmental factors. Partial canonical correspondence analysis showed that most (68% combined, 39% uniquely) of the total explained compositional variation (29%) was correlated with environmental variables insensitive to human activities, especially lake …

Indirect effects of invasive crayfish on native fish parasites

Interactions between invasive and native species are often modified by parasites. One little-studied scenario is that invasive species affect parasite transmission to native hosts by altering the relative abundance of hosts needed in parasite life cycles, for example by predation on these hosts. Here we show that presence of an invasive crayfish species, Pacifastacus leniusculus, decreases the mean abundance of native parasites transmitted from snails and aquatic isopods to perch, Perca fluviatilis, in two large boreal lakes in Finland. In contrast, parasites transmitted to the fish from planktonic copepods or mussels, hosts not readily preyed on by crayfish, were not affected by crayfish p…

Predicting the stream macroinvertebrate fauna across regional scales: influence of geographical extent on model performance

AbstractPredictive modeling is used increasingly often in freshwater bioassessment. These models are routinely applied across broad geographical areas, yet the influence of spatial extent on model performance has not been assessed directly. We examined the influence of changing geographical extent on the performance of River InVertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS)–type predictive models of benthic macroinvertebrates in boreal headwater streams representative of reference conditions. Separate models were constructed for 2 hierarchical extents: within ecoregions (middle boreal and north boreal) and across ecoregions. We assessed the accuracy and precision of the models usi…

Hemispatial neglect reflected on visual memory

PURPOSE Recent studies of hemispatial neglect have revealed both lateralized and nonlateralized attention mechanisms contributing to the syndrome. In addition, neglect patients show impaired spatial working memory and diminished working memory capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate, how neglect would be reflected in their performances in commonly used clinical visual memory tests. METHODS Twelve patients with right hemisphere lesions and left neglect and twelve matched controls were assessed with the Behavioural Inattention Test, the visual reproduction of the WMS-R, the object memory test, the Rey figure test and the list learning test. Visuo-spatial span was explored with the …

Spatial and temporal variability of diatom and macroinvertebrate communities: How representative are ecological classifications within a river system?

Evaluation of river condition is complicated by dynamic relationships between river assemblages and their environment. We assessed variation of ecological status classifications of stream diatom and macroinvertebrate communities within a boreal river system. We specifically examined whether results of ecological classifications are concordant across taxonomic groups and among main channel and headwater side tributaries of this river system. We further assessed whether ecological classifications are stable from year to year and whether classifications show predictable relationships to major stressor gradients. The estimated ecological condition varied considerably among and between reaches o…

Comparing the effects of introduced signal crayfish and native noble crayfish on the littoral invertebrate assemblages of boreal lakes

The introduced North American signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana) has replaced the native noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) in many European freshwaters and can be considered a new component of these ecosystems. The 2 species are apparently similar in many respects, but their ecological equivalence is uncertain and has been little investigated, especially at the whole-lake scale. We compared the effects of the 2 species on the abundance, species richness, and composition of littoral macroinvertebrate assemblages in a set of small- and mediumsized boreal lakes, which included 8 lakes with noble crayfish, 8 lakes with signal crayfish, and 8 lakes without crayfish. We collected semi…

Comparison of the Behavioural Inattention Test and the Catherine Bergego Scale in assessment of hemispatial neglect.

The objective of the study was to correlate visual and behavioural assessments of hemispatial neglect caused by cerebrovascular accident. We assessed 17 consecutive right-hemisphere stroke patients with hemispatial neglect: the Catherine Bergego Scale (CBS) was used to evaluate neglect in spontaneous behaviour and the conventional subtests of the Behavioural Inattention Test (BIT C) were used to assess visual neglect. The proportional severity of both visual and behavioural neglect was calculated in each individual patient. Dissociations were found between mild neglect in visual screening tasks and moderate or severe neglect in behaviour, although in most patients, neglect was equally evide…

Risk assessment of gypsum amendment on agricultural fields: Effects of sulfate on riverine biota

Gypsum (CaSO4 ∙ 2H2 O) amendment is a promising way of decreasing the phosphorus loading of arable lands, and of thus preventing aquatic eutrophication. However, in freshwaters with low sulfate concentrations, gypsum-released sulfate may pose a threat to the biota. To assess such risks, we performed a series of sulfate toxicity tests in the laboratory and conducted field surveys. These field surveys were associated with a large-scale pilot exercise involving spreading gypsum on agricultural fields covering 18% of the Savijoki River catchment area. The gypsum amendment in such fields resulted in about fourfold increase in the mean sulfate concentration for a 2-month period, and a transient, …

The introduced signal crayfish and native noble crayfish have different effects on sublittoral macroinvertebrate assemblages in boreal lakes

Influence of geographical extent on typology- and model-based assessments of taxonomic completeness of river macroinvertebrates

Summary 1. River InVertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS)-type predictive models are increasingly used to assess the biological condition of freshwaters, but management schemes may also be based on a priori groupings of similar water bodies (typologies) to control for natural variation in biota. The two approaches may lead to disagreements of the biological status of a site, depending on, for example, the spatial scale at which assessments are conducted. 2. We used data from 96 reference and 134 potentially impacted sites from Western and Central Finland to compare RIVPACS-type models and a simple size-based typology of rivers for the assessment of taxonomic completeness …

Invasion of Finnish inland waters by the alien moss animal Pectinatella magnifica Leidy, 1851 and associated potential risks

Introduced alien species bring potential adverse impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. International shipping is an important vector for such unintentional introductions in aquatic environments. Therefore, in addition to climate change and eutrophication, increasing international shipping may enhance the spread of alien species into areas which have not previously been considered prone to alien invasions. One example of such development might be the recent invasion of the moss animal Pectinatella magnifica into Finnish inland waters, which are generally considered to be hostile to alien species. We took advantage of observations made by the general public and recorded by environm…

A comparison of two methods for surveying aquatic macrophyte communities in boreal lakes: Implications for bioassessment

To compare the performance of two common methods for surveying boreal lake aquatic macrophyte communities (the transect survey and the phytolittoral inventory) in lake bioassessment, we studied five small humic lakes with both methods. In addition to this pairwise comparison, we contrasted available independent sets of reference lake data of either methodological origin. Specifically, we compared the observed species richness and a number of ecological quality (community) metrics and their variability both between the methods and within them in relation to sampling effort and operator. With the phytolittoral inventory, more taxa (mean 38.8 ± s.d. 12.1) were observed than with transect surve…

Do the ecological drivers of lake littoral communities match and lead to congruence between organism groups?

AbstractLake littoral environments are heterogeneous, and different organisms typically show specific responses to this environmental variation. We examined local environmental and spatial factors affecting lake littoral biodiversity and the structuring of assemblages of phytoplankton, zooplankton and macroinvertebrates within and among three basins of a large lake system. We explored congruence of species composition and species richness among the studied organism groups to evaluate their general indicator potential to represent spatial variation in other groups. We expected that effects of water chemistry on plankton assemblages were stronger than effects of habitat characteristics. In co…

Assessment of ecosystem integrity and service gradients across Europe using the LTER Europe network

Better integration of knowledge from ecological, social and economic science is necessary to advance the understanding and modelling of socio-ecological systems. To model ecosystem integrity (EI) and ecosystem services (ES) at the landscape scale, assessment matrices are commonly used. These matrices assign capacities to provide different services to different land cover types. We revised such an existing matrix and examined the regional heterogeneity in EI and ES provision in Europe and searched for spatial gradients in their provision to elucidate their suitability for large-scale EI and ES mapping in Europe. Overall, 28 sites belonging to the Long-Term Ecological Research network in Euro…

Evaluation of approaches for measuring taxonomic completeness of lake profundal macroinvertebrate assemblages

Summary 1. Benthic macroinvertebrates (MI) are commonly used to assess freshwater ecosystems with the reference condition approach. Such assessments necessitate control for natural community variation, either by categorical typologies or by predictive models that have been widely and successfully developed for running water biota but not previously for lake profundal invertebrates. 2. We evaluated four modelling techniques [multivariate regression tree (MRT), limiting environmental differences, nonparametric multiplicative regression (NPMR) and River Invertebrate Prediction And Classification System (RIVPACS) and the operative Finnish lake typology for assessing taxonomic completeness (obse…

The importance of sedimenting organic matter, relative to oxygen and temperature, in structuring lake profundal macroinvertebrate assemblages

We quantified the role of a main food resource, sedimenting organic matter (SOM), relative to oxygen (DO) and temperature (TEMP) in structuring profundal macroinvertebrate assemblages in boreal lakes. SOM from 26 basins of 11 Finnish lakes was analysed for quantity (sedimentation rates), quality (C:N:P stoichiometry) and origin (carbon stable isotopes, δ13C). Hypolimnetic oxygen and temperature were measured from each site during summer stratification. Partial canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and partial regression analyses were used to quantify contributions of SOM, DO and TEMP to community composition and three macroinvertebrate metrics. The results suggested a major contribution o…

Responses of taxonomic distinctness and species diversity indices to anthropogenic impacts and natural environmental gradients in stream macroinvertebrates

SUMMARY 1. Many studies have shown traditional species diversity indices to perform poorly in discriminating anthropogenic influences on biodiversity. By contrast, in marine systems, taxonomic distinctness indices that take into account the taxonomic relatedness of species have been shown to discriminate anthropogenic effects. However, few studies have examined the performance of taxonomic distinctness indices in freshwater systems. 2. We studied the performance of four species diversity indices and four taxonomic distinctness indices for detecting anthropogenic effects on stream macroinvertebrate assemblages. Further, we examined the effects of catchment type and area, as well as two varia…

Biological responses of midge (Chironomus riparius) and lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) larvae in ecotoxicity assessment of PCDD/F-, PCB- and Hg-contaminated river sediments

We evaluated the utility of chironomid and lamprey larval responses in ecotoxicity assessment of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/F)-, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)- and mercury (Hg)-contaminated river sediments. Sediment samples were collected from the River Kymijoki with a known industrial pollution gradient. Sediment for the controls and lamprey larvae were obtained from an uncontaminated river nearby. Contamination levels were verified with sediment and tissue PCDD/F, PCB and Hg analyses. Behaviour of sediment-exposed chironomid and lamprey larvae were measured with Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor© utilizing quadrupole impedance conversion technique. In additi…

Strong temporal variation of consumer δ13C value in an oligotrophic reservoir is related to water level fluctuation

Using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) to assess trophic interactions in freshwater ecosystems is a well established method, providing insight into ecosystem functioning. However, the spatial and temporal variability of isotope values, driven by environmental fluctuation is poorly understood and can complicate interpretations. We investigated how the temporal variation of stable isotopes in consumers (fish, crayfish and macrozoobenthos) of a canyon-shaped oligotrophic reservoir is associated with environmental factors such as water temperature, transparency, flooded area, and water quality measures. Consumers and their putative food sources were sampled and an…

Environmental and spatial correlates of community composition, richness and status of boreal lake macrophytes

Abstract We assessed the relative roles of natural covariates, human disturbance (water quality and catchment land use) together with geography in driving variation in aquatic macrophyte community composition, richness and status among 101 lakes in southern and central Finland. In addition to all species together, we studied different growth forms (i.e. emergent and submerged macrophytes and aquatic bryophytes) separately. Partial redundancy analysis (taxonomic composition) and partial least-squares regression (species richness and status index) were employed to display the share of variability in macrophyte assemblages that was attributable to the environmental factors (both natural and hu…

The value of perfect and imperfect information in lake monitoring and management.

Highlights • Knowledge on the value of monitoring can assist decision-making in lake management. • We calculate value of perfect information theoretically. • We estimate value of imperfect information with Monte Carlo type of approach. • Generally, monitoring is profitable to invest in if VOI exceeds the cost. • Additional monitoring is profitable even if the lake is in good condition a priori. Uncertainty in the information obtained through monitoring complicates decision making about aquatic ecosystems management actions. We suggest the value of information (VOI) to assess the profitability of paying for additional monitoring information, when taking into account the costs and benefits of…

Within-lake variability in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures

SUMMARY 1. We assessed spatial and temporal variation in carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures in different compartments of a single lake ecosystem. Stable isotope analyses were made on samples of particulate organic matter (POM), zooplankton, periphyton, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates and fish collected from several locations throughout the ice-free period. 2. No spatial variation in d 13 Co rd 15 N values was found for pelagic samples of POM and zooplankton. However, pelagic d 15 N signatures increased steadily through the summer resulting in an almost 6& average increase in POM and zooplankton. A concurrent decrease in epilimnetic nitrate concentrations suggested that the increase in …

Invasive crayfish increase habitat connectivity

Several studies have shown that distinct compartments of lake ecosystems are coupled via transportation of organic matter, nutrients and energy across habitat boundaries. Here we evaluate the potential of the invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana)) to modify energy pathways in large boreal lakes. Using a stable isotope mixing model and calculation of the isotopic niches we estimated the contribution of different food sources to the diets of crayfish captured from different habitats, and from that inferred their potential to transport energy across the littoral-profundal gradient. The crayfish caught from the littoral area utilized mainly littoral food sources, whereas the…

DEFINING MACROINVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGE TYPES OF HEADWATER STREAMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOASSESSMENT AND CONSERVATION

We used data from 235 boreal headwater streams in Finland to examine whether macroinvertebrate assemblages constitute clearly definable types, and how well biologically defined assemblage types can be predicted using environmental variables. Two- way indicator species analysis produced 10 assemblage types, which differed significantly from each other (multiresponse permutation procedure, MRPP). However, based on MRPP and nonmetric multidimensional scaling, there was wide variation among sites within each assemblage type, and high degrees of overlap among assemblage types. Such continuous variation was also evidenced by the low number of effective indicator taxa (indicator value method) for …

Correspondence between regional delineations and spatial patterns in macroinvertebrate assemblages of boreal headwater streams

AbstractGeographical stratification may provide a useful framework for stream management programs, yet most studies testing the utility of such stratifications have been conducted in temperate regions. We studied the correspondence between regional delineations (5 ecoregions, 11 subecoregions), environmental characteristics, and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in 156 boreal headwater streams in Finland, using a combination of principal components analysis, nonmetric multidimensional scaling, and discriminant function analysis (DFA). Both stream characteristics and macroinvertebrate assemblage structure showed a closer correspondence to ecoregions than to subecoregions, a pattern partl…

Assessing ecotoxicity of biomining effluents in stream ecosystems by in situ invertebrate bioassays : A case study in Talvivaara, Finland

Mining of sulfide-rich pyritic ores produces acid mine drainage waters and has induced major ecological problems in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Biomining utilizes microbes to extract metals from the ore, and it has been suggested as a new sustainable way to produce metals. However, little is known of the potential ecotoxicological effects of biomining. In the present study, biomining impacts were assessed using survival and behavioral responses of aquatic macroinvertebrates at in situ exposures in streams. The authors used an impedance conversion technique to measure quantitatively in situ behavioral responses of larvae of the regionally common mayfly, Heptagenia dalecarlica, to discharge…

An extended Benthic Quality Index for assessment of lake profundal macroinvertebrates: addition of indicator taxa by multivariate ordination and weighted averaging

AbstractThe chironomid Benthic Quality Index (BQI) is a widely used metric in assessments of lake status. The BQI is based on 7 indicator taxa, which like most profundal fauna, often occur sporadically in low densities. Hence, a major weakness of the index is that it cannot be calculated when indicator taxa are not captured. Thus, an extension of the BQI that incorporates more macroinvertebrate taxa is desirable. We used 2 statistical approaches (Detrended Correspondence Analysis and Weighted Averaging) to estimate new benthic quality indicator scores for profundal macroinvertebrate taxa and to construct modified BQIs called Profundal Invertebrate Community Metrics (PICMs). We calibrated th…

Invasive crayfish increase habitat connectivity: a case study in a large boreal lake

Several studies have shown that distinct compartments of lake ecosystems are coupled via transportation of organic matter, nutrients and energy across habitat boundaries. Here we evaluate the potential of the invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana)) to modify energy pathways in large boreal lakes. Using a stable isotope mixing model and calculation of the isotopic niches we estimated the contribution of different food sources to the diets of crayfish captured from different habitats, and from that inferred their potential to transport energy across the littoral-profundal gradient. The crayfish caught from the littoral area utilized mainly littoral food sources, whereas the…

An extended Benthic Quality Index for assessment of lake profundal macroinvertebrates: addition of indicator taxa by multivariate ordination and weighted averaging

The chironomid Benthic Quality Index (BQI) is a widely used metric in assessments of lake status. The BQI is based on 7 indicator taxa, which like most profundal fauna, often occur sporadically in low densities. Hence, a major weakness of the index is that it cannot be calculated when indicator taxa are not captured. Thus, an extension of the BQI that incorporates more macroinvertebrate taxa is desirable. We used 2 statistical approaches (Detrended Correspondence Analysis and Weighted Averaging) to estimate new benthic quality indicator scores for profundal macroinvertebrate taxa and to construct modified BQIs called Profundal Invertebrate Community Metrics (PICMs). We calibrated the PICMs …

River bioassessment and the preservation of threatened species: Towards acceptable biological quality criteria

Abstract A central objective of environmental management is to maintain biodiversity, including populations of threatened species. Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly assessed by their biotic properties, but whether the resulting classifications of biotic condition are sufficient to protect species with conservation status has received very little consideration. We used data from 225 reference and impacted river sites from Finland to examine whether the occurrence and abundance of threatened macroinvertebrate species (TS) are associated with a commonly used estimate of biological condition (Observed-to-Expected number of predicted taxa of macroinvertebrates or O/E-ratio of taxonomic comp…

Allochthony, fatty acid and mercury trends in muscle of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) along boreal environmental gradients

Environmental change, including joint effects of increasing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total phosphorus (TP) in boreal northern lakes could potentially affects food web energy sources and the biochemical composition of organisms. These environmental stressors are enhanced by anthropogenic land-use and can decrease the quality of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in seston and zooplankton, and therefore, possibly cascading up to fish. In contrast, the content of mercury in fish increases with lake browning potentially amplified by intensive forestry practises. However, there is little evidence on how these environmental stressors simultaneously impact beneficial omega-3 fatty acid …

Comparing stressor-specific indices and general measures of taxonomic composition for assessing the status of boreal lacustrine macrophyte communities

Abstract Biotic communities are increasingly used to assess and monitor aquatic ecosystems with two fundamentally contrasting approaches: (i) responses sensitive to, and indicative of specific stressors; and (ii) general measures of community change. For assessment of lacustrine macrophyte communities, we compared three trophy-related and one water level fluctuation-related stressor-specific indices (SSIs) with three general measures of taxonomic composition (MTC), using data from 48 reference, 33 eutrophicated and 24 water level regulated boreal lakes. Our hypothesis was that MTCs would yield robust ecological quality estimates across these differing stress-gradients, while the SSIs would …

Comparison of sampling methods and habitat types for detecting impacts on lake littoral macroinvertebrate assemblages along a gradient of human disturbance

We explored environmental variables structuring littoral macroinvertebrate communities in a large lake basin along a gradient of nutrient enrichment. Furthermore, we evaluated sensitivity and cost-effi ciency of different sampling schemes (i.e. combinations of three habitat types and a number of standard sampling methods) to detect changes in macroinvertebrate communities along this anthropogenic disturbance gradient. Partial canonical ordination analysis showed that habitat characteristics accounted for a major part (56 % uniquely) of the explained variation in the species composition of invertebrate communities. When different mesohabitats were examined separately, assemblage variation of…

No effects of mobile phone use on cortical auditory change-detection in children: an ERP study

We investigated the effect of mobile phone use on the auditory sensory memory in children. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs), P1, N2, mismatch negativity (MMN), and P3a, were recorded from 17 children, aged 11–12 years, in the recently developed multi-feature paradigm. This paradigm allows one to determine the neural change-detection profile consisting of several different types of acoustic changes. During the recording, an ordinary GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile phone emitting 902 MHz (pulsed at 217 Hz) electromagnetic field (EMF) was placed on the ear, over the left or right temporal area (SAR1g = 1.14 W/kg, SAR10g = 0.82 W/kg, peak value = 1.21 W/kg). The EMF…

Data from: The relevance of ecological status to ecosystem functions and services in a large boreal lake

1. Environmental conventions aim to protect ecosystem structures and functions to provide goods and services for mankind. The degree of aquatic ecosystem naturalness, or ecological status as it is defined in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union, is notionally linked to supplies of ecosystem services. In practice these links have rarely been documented or even investigated and, to justify conservation and management objectives based on the status indicators, it is essential to demonstrate their relationships to ecosystem functions and services. 2. The WFD requires member states to classify their surface waters aiming to achieve good ecological status of water bodies. How…

Research data of article: "Dangerous relationships: Biases in freshwater bioassessment based on observed to expected ratios"

Using GIS tools to identify conservation hot spots in large boreal lakes

Balancing the growing demands of human population and sustainable use of natural resources is a great challenge for humankind and the target of several international environmental conventions. Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union aims at perceiving ecosystem services provided by aquatic ecosystems, while EU Habitats Directive (HD) along with the Natura 2000 network is to ensure the long-term survival of valuable habitats in aquatic as well as terrestrial environments. Both WFD and HD treat boreal lakes as large entities. In large lake systems, the assessment of lake bodies’ ecological and conservation status is determined over tens or even hundreds of square kilometres and …