Differentiating responses to contaminants from responses to other environmental factors for benthic biota in freshwater ecosystems
- Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario (Canada). National Water Research Inst.
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada)
Many ecological risk assessments (ERAS) of lakes, rivers and streams compare measurements of benthic community structure in specific areas of contamination to similar measurements in reference or ``clean`` areas as a basis for determining impact. However, despite numerous studies documenting alterations of benthic communities as a result of stress, the success of correctly assessing the ``health`` or degradation of these communities depends on how well responses to contamination can be discriminated from responses to other environmental factors. It is important in the ERA process to adequately describe benthic communities and to determine how natural environmental factors (e.g., substrate particle size and texture, organic content, water quality, pH, seston, etc.) may be driving benthic community structure. This knowledge is particularly important when reference areas are distant from stressed areas. This presentation will provide an overview of the environmental factors that are important in structuring natural benthic communities in rivers and lakes and discuss approaches that may be useful in differentiating between natural variability and anthropogenic stress in ERA. Several case studies from the Laurentian Great Lakes and the Fraser River watershed in British Columbia will be discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 211943
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9617%%259
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
ECOFATE: A user-friendly environmental fate, bioaccumulation and ecological risk assessment model for contaminants in marine and freshwater aquatic ecosystems -- Applications and validation
Aquatic ecosystem condition: The Fraser River Action Plan approach