Macroinvertebrate-inferred stream-water acidity in north eastern finland along a sulphur deposition gradient

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 104; no. 3-4; pp. 223 - 236
• Main Authors: HÄMÄLÄINEN, H, HUITUNEN, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.06.1998; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acidification; Acidity; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Autumn; Biological and medical sciences; Continental surface waters; Creeks & streams; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on protozoa and invertebrates; Emissions; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Environmental monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Invertebrates; Longitude; Macroinvertebrates; Natural water pollution; pH effects; Pollution; Pollution, environment geology; Snowmelt; Streams; Sulfur; Surface water; Water quality; Water treatment and pollution; Europe; Finland; Finland, Lapland; Atmospheric fallout; Biological indicator; Metallurgical industry; Acidity; Freshwater environment; Acid precipitation; Seasonal variation; Surface water; pH; Air pollution; Stream; Water pollution; Invertebrata; Sulfur
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1004974123457

Recently developed weighted averaging (WA) models and widely used tolerance-limit approaches for inferring stream minimum pH from macroinvertebrates were tested in northeastern Finnish Lapland. Surface waters there are threatened by large sulphur emissions in the Russian Kola Peninsula. The modelled sulphur deposition increases from west to east approximately parallel to longitude. The effect of deposition on stream minimum pH was assessed by relating the macroinvertebrate-inferred stream minimum pH to longitude. In a test set of 17 streams, the minimum pH inferred from pooled invertebrate samples of three seasons by WA models showed a strong correlation (r = 0.67-0.72) with the minimum pH (range 6.3-7.1) observed during the spring snow-melt period. The relationship was slightly weaker (r = 0.59-0.69) using autumn samples only. The tolerance-limit approaches assigned the streams into the correct acidity class, but the inferred pH was not related to the observed minimum pH. This further demonstrates the superiority of the WA approach, especially in detecting early signs of acidification. The minimum pH inferred by WA from autumn assemblages of 37 streams along the deposition gradient showed a significant negative correlation with longitude, suggesting that the emissions from the Kola region contribute to low pH events in streams of northeastern Finnish Lapland. The results demonstrate the potential of bioassessment and monitoring using invertebrates in detecting impacts and changes that could remain unnoticed by conventional water quality-analyses.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]