Diana C.L. Wong

Multivariate analyses of invertebrate community responses to a C12–15AE-3S anionic surfactant in stream mesocosms

The ecological effects of a C(12-15)AE-3S linear alkylethoxysulfate anionic surfactant on aquatic organisms were studied in stream mesocosms. Analyses of the experimental data have yielded multiple population-level no-observed effect concentrations (NOECs) but did not provide a measure of community-level response to surfactant exposure. In the present study, the invertebrate data from the mesocosm study were further examined for community-level effects using multivariate techniques. Two multivariate statistical methods were selected as representative of recommended methods and used to analyze invertebrate abundance. One method was similarity analysis using the Bray-Curtis index, and the second method was the canonical ordination technique principal response curves recently developed for analysis of mesocosm data. Both sets of techniques detected statistically significant changes in invertebrate community structure following surfactant exposure. Ordinations constructed from Bray-Curtis similarity matrices provided clearer two-dimensional representations of these changes than ordinations from redundancy analysis. Re-displaying treatment and temporal effects on community structure on separate axes as response curves provided a clearer method for interpreting community response to surfactant exposure. Both approaches detected treatment effects in low and high abundance taxa. The highest rank abundance taxa in the pretreatment streams contributed very little to the differences observed between the control and treated streams. The same set of taxa was identified as the dominant drivers for structural differences between control and treated communities despite underlying mathematical differences in these two methods. Invertebrate community-level NOECs estimated from these different multivariate methods (2.5-5.0 mg/l) were comparable and these NOECs were similar to invertebrate population NOECs determined for this surfactant.

Assessment of the Ecological Effects of Arsenic on a Southern Ohio, USA Stream

Abstract Davis Creek is a southern Ohio, USA stream that receives a permitted discharge from the Belpre Elastomers Plant (BEP). A sediment quality triad investigation of Davis Creek was conducted over a 2-y period that included sediment and surface water chemistry measurements, toxicity tests of whole sediment, interstitial and surface water, and benthic and artificial substrate community assessments. The concentration of arsenic in surface and interstitial water was below United States Environmental Protection Agency ambient water quality criteria and was not toxic in laboratory tests (Ceriodaphnia dubia, Pimephales promelas). Similarly, sediments did not significantly affect survival and growth of Hyalella azteca and Chironomus tentans at most sampling locations despite sediments exceeding arsenic sediment screening values in nearly all samples collected. Differences in benthic community structure, determined by rapid bioassessment and Hester–Dendy sampling methods, were related primarily by variations in sediment moisture, particle size, and ammonia and not to arsenic concentrations. The Invertebrate Community Index (ICI) for Davis Creek was lower than values established for other warm-water ecoregional reference streams in Ohio. However, this ICI comparison may have been invalid because, unlike the reference streams, the Davis Creek watershed is small with intermittent headwater flow that limits macroinvertebrate recruitment and energy input. The sediment quality triad investigation indicated that Davis Creek was not significantly affected by arsenic associated with the BEP discharge despite having measured arsenic concentrations that exceeded sediment screening values.