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Detection of ecological impact of fine sediment inputs
Overview of studies & key findings
Elizabeth Conroy & Mary Kelly-Quinn
SILTFLUX Biological Studies
(Focus largely on deposited sediment) Experimental work
Observational field
Study 1 Detection and quantification of a pollutant
Study 3: Linking localised sediment inputs with ecological conditions
Study 2: Relationship between macroinvertebrate metrics and sediment metrics
Study 4: Linking land use (catchment scale) with ecology
Study 5 : Mechanistic study
Study 1: Detection and quantification of a pollutant
A key consideration was how well various methods of measuring deposited sediment represented the quantities present
Methods evaluated: Visual estimation of % sediment surface cover
Measurement of suspended sediment concentration
Resuspension of sediment and measurement of turbidity Point suction method using Turner-Hills deposited sediment sampler (DSS)
Added known amounts of sediment
% sediment surface cover gives good estimate of the level of deposited sediment Turbidity and re-suspendable sediment methods warranted further investigation
under field conditions Further carried these three methods through field studies
See: International Journal of Sediment Research An Evaluation of Visual and Measurement-Based Methods for Estimating Deposited
Fine Sediment
Conroy, E.a, Turner, J.N.b, Rymszewicz, A.c, Bruen, M.c, O’Sullivan, J.c, Kelly-Quinn, M.a
a School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin b School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin c UCD Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, UCD Earth Institute,
University College Dublin
Study 1: Detection and quantification of a pollutant - Key Findings
Multiple pressures may be present in river systems including the SILTFLUX sites
Need to firstly understand the response to sediment (then consider combined effects of sediment and other stressors)
Experimental work - Controlled conditions
Opportunity to test a range of biological metrics
Further evaluated in field study
Detecting macroinvertebrate response to sediment
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Study 2: Response to sediment & relationship
between macroinvertebrate metrics and sediment metrics
Experimental study
Indoor channels
Gravel substrate, water and seeded with macroinvertebrates
Fine sediment added to channels
Eight treatment levels (0, 5, 10, 30 50, 70, 90, 100% sediment surface cover)
Four replicates
Seven days
Measured drift (response) & taxa remaining in
channels 6
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Study 2: Drift response to sediment
Study 2: Metrics Tested: Correlations %EPT and % E abundance with %
sediment surface cover
Experimental study
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Study 2: Relationship between macroinvertebrate metrics and sediment metrics
Field study % EPT abundance and % EPT richness metrics were most strongly correlated with
sediment surface cover % sediment surface cover was better correlated with the biological metrics than
either turbidity or resuspended sediment methods
Study 3: Linking localised sediment inputs with ecological conditions
Cattle access drinking points
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Eight sites • four high/good water quality status • four moderate water quality status
Two habitats sampled
• mid-channel and • margins
Study 3: Cattle Access – Key findings Some evidence of site specific impacts downstream of cattle access points
Impacts were generally more evident in autumn samples, particularly in
high/good status rivers – due to higher use of access points during summer
Community structure was altered downstream of cattle access points in 3 out of the 4 good status rivers and downstream changes in univariate metrics were observed for all four high/good status rivers
Two of the four moderate status streams showed downstream changes in community structure, abundance and richness metrics
These two moderate status rivers had high or prolonged livestock activity
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Study 4: Linking land use with ecological conditions
Instrumented and intermediate sites
Quantitative and semi-quantitative macroinvertebrate sampling
Hydrochemistry and environmental data
Pasture: Clodiagh and Slaney catchments
• low % pasture < 30% and high % pasture > 30%
Tillage: Urrin and Glyde catchments
• Low % tillage < 15% and high % tillage > 15%
U/S Control Site: Reference conditions
Q-value ≥ 4
D/S Site: Defined by land-use gradient
Intermediate sites
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Study 4: Land use effects –Key findings
Pasture land use (Clodiagh and Slaney catchments)
Spring reach-scale samples indicated no significant differences in community
structure between sites with low percentage pasture and those with a high percentage of pasture in either catchment
Autumn patch and reach-scale differences in community structure were
reported in both catchments mainly due to increases in tolerant taxa Low % pasture sites had very lower abundances of tolerant taxa
The high % pasture sites pasture had greater abundances of tolerant taxa e.g.
Chironomidae
Study 4: Land use effects –Key findings
Tillage land use (Glyde and Urrin catchments)
Only River Urrin showed significant changes in macroinvertebrate communities between high and low percentage tillage sites
Autumn patch and reach-scale indicated increases in tolerant taxa e.g. Glossosoma
spp., Chironomidae and Oligochaeta in the high % tillage sites in the Urrin
Spring reach-scale samples indicated downstream increase in a number of EPT taxa together with substantial reductions in abundances of Chironomidae
This spring increase in EPT was partially due to higher abundances of Seretella ignita, which is considered to be a pollution-tolerant taxon in the Irish Q-value metric (Mc Garrigle, 2002)
The limited or complete lack of differences between sites in the Glyde may be related to hydromorphological conditions
Glyde channelised and has low slope
Mechanisms involved
Schematic showing the direct and indirect effects of suspended, saltating, and deposited fine sediment on stream properties (green boxes), their in-stream physical effects (purple boxes) and aquatic biota impacted (orange boxes)
Study 5: Macroinvertebrate responses to burial by sediment
• Three Ephemeroptera Baetis rhodani, Ecdyonurus insignis Rhithrogena semicolorata
• Two Trichoptera Hydropsyche siltalai, Rhyacophila dorsalis
• Amphipoda Gammarus duebeni
• Five different sediment particle sizes • Two burial depths • Upland and lowland species • Body size
MEASURED EMERGENCE TIMES FOR HEAD & WHOLE BODY
Video clips
Study 5: Macroinvertebrate responses to burial by sediment burial
Responses were variable across the species tested burial depth > sediment particle class > taxa source No detectable effect linked to body size
Variable responses of taxa from upland and lowland locations. Some upland taxa taking longer or failing to emerge from burial e.g. Ecdyonurus insignis
Upland taxa may be more sensitive to sediment effects than lowland taxa (Matthaei et al., 2006; Connolly and Pearson, 2007; Larsen et al., 2009)
This may have implications for the development and applicability of proposed
sediment-sensitive biological metrics across large geographical areas
Further analysis of the SILTFLUX data will test the relationship between
the macroinvertebrate metrics and sediment fluxes
Further mechanistic studies, based on EPT taxa at family and species level, are required to enhance our understanding of how, and at what level, pressures such as sediment impact taxa – essential for identification of indicators and metrics of sediment impact
Sediment impact remain to be disentangled from other stressor impacts
At present, EPT metrics fulfil a useful role as general indicators of
ecological degradation in agricultural catchments It would also be useful to test the new metric developed by Murphy et al.
(2015) in an Irish context. This will require the collection of data on the amount of organic sediment in erosional zones (oFSIsp) and the total fines in depositional zones (ToFSIsp)
Conclusions
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Thank you