Inferred effects of lake acidification on Daphnia galeata mendotae

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Environmental Science and Technology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es00078a015· OSTI ID:5457684

Keller, W ^[1]; Yan, N D; Holtze, K E ^[2]; Pitblado, J R ^[3]

---

1. Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Sudbury (Canada)
2. Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Dorset (Canada)
3. Laurentian Univ., Sudbury, Ontario (Canada)

Large numbers of Canadian Shield lakes have been acidified by the atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic sulfur. Biological damage attributable to acidification occurs at all levels of aquatic food webs; however, documentation of this damage has largely been confined to areas near large point sources of air pollutants, to small numbers of study lakes, or to experimentally acidified lakes. Demonstrations of widespread biological effects of acidification have been greatly hampered by the general absence of observations of the occurrence or abundance of important, ubiquitous species in large numbers of lakes ranging widely in acidity, coupled with laboratory determinations of lethal acid thresholds for these species. In consequence, it has been necessary to estimate rather than to document the regional extent of biological damage in North America. In this report the authors couple determination of the lethal acid threshold of Daphnia galeata mendotae Birge, a large, ubiquitous, planktonic crustacean, with results of extensive lake surveys, to examine if the acidification of lakes in Ontario has resulted in widespread losses of this important member of the zooplankton.

• OSTI ID: 5457684
• Journal Information: Environmental Science and Technology; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology; (United States) Vol. 24:8; ISSN ESTHA; ISSN 0013-936X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010900 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACID RAIN
ACIDIFICATION
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CRUSTACEANS
DAMAGE
FOOD CHAINS
INVERTEBRATES
LAKES
PLANKTON
RAIN
SURFACE WATERS
ZOOPLANKTON