Evaluating effects of environmental stress on fish communities using multiresponse indicators

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:7244690

Adams, S M; Cada, G F; Greeley, Jr, M S; Shugart, L R

Most traditional approaches for assessing the effects of environmental stress on fish involve the generation of species lists, the estimation of densities of organisms, the use of acute of chronic laboratory tests, or the measurement of single or a few stress responses. Most of these approaches provide limited information needed to address fundamental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) issues such as the consideration of alternative actions and cumulative impacts. Use of multiresponse indicators of stress at several levels of biological organization permits identification of biologically and ecologically relevant effect, possible early detection of environmental problems, evaluation of the effectiveness of environmental restoration actions, and possible insights into casual mechanisms between stress and effects that may be ultimately manifested at the population and community level. Responses at the biochemical, physiological, histopathological, bioenergetic, and population levels were used to assess the effects of chronic contamination loading on fish communities in some East Tennessee streams. Various biochemical/biomolecular responses provided direct evidence of toxicant exposure, while bioenergetic and histopathological indicators reflected impaired population growth and reproductive potential. Within the NEPA process, use of multiresponse indicators can be an effective approach for addressing remedial actions and cumulative impacts of multiple stressors on fish communities. 11 refs., 4 figs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 7244690
• Report Number(s): CONF-891098-6; ON: DE90008563
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540350* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL STRESS
COMMUNITIES
CONTAMINATION
DETECTION
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FEDERAL REGION IV
FISHES
IMPLEMENTATION
LAWS
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
NORTH AMERICA
POPULATION DYNAMICS
POPULATIONS
REMEDIAL ACTION
TENNESSEE
TOXICITY
USA
VERTEBRATES