Abstract
Winter deicing operations occur extensively in mid- to high-latitude metropolitan regions around the world and result in a significant reduction in road accidents. Deicing salts can, however, pose a major threat to water quality and aquatic organisms. In this paper, we examine the utility of Arcellacea (testate amoebae) for monitoring lakes that have become contaminated by winter deicing salts, particularly sodium chloride. We analysed 50 sediment samples and salt-related water property variables (chloride concentrations; conductivity) from 15 lakes in the Greater Toronto Area and adjacent areas of southern Ontario, Canada. The sampled lakes included lakes in proximity to major highways and suburban roads and control lakes in forested settings away from road influences. Samples from the most contaminated lakes, with chloride concentrations in excess of 400 mg/l and conductivities of >800 μS/cm, were dominated by species typically found in brackish and/or inhospitable lake environments and by lower faunal diversities (lowest Shannon diversity index values) than samples with lower readings. Q-R-mode cluster analysis and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) resulted in the recognition of four assemblage groupings. These reflect varying levels of salt contamination in the study lakes, along with other local influences, including nutrient loading. The response to nutrients can, however, be isolated if the planktic eutrophic indicator species Cucurbitella tricuspis is removed from the counts. The findings show that the group has considerable potential for biomonitoring in salt-contaminated lakes, and their presence in lake sediment cores may provide significant insights into long-term benthic community health, which is integral for remedial efforts.
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Acknowledgement
This research was funded by a grant to HMR from the The Foundation for Canadian Studies in the United Kingdom and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Sustained Studies in Contemporary Canadian Issues Program) as well as a Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant and funding from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to RTP. We thank Miriam Diamond (University of Toronto), Stephen Maude (Ontario Ministry of the Environment), Don Ford (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority) and Ted Lamoureux, Maura Pringle and Libby Mulqueeny for technical support. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.
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Roe, H.M., Patterson, R.T. Arcellacea (Testate Amoebae) as Bio-indicators of Road Salt Contamination in Lakes. Microb Ecol 68, 299–313 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0408-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0408-3