Abstract
Robinson Impoundment, an acid blackwater system in the South Carolina sandhills, serves as a cooling pond for a 854 MW power plant. It is divided by a causeway into an upper and lower impoundment. The upper impoundment is narrow, shallow, exhibits higher flow, and much more periphytic and rooted aquatic macrophyte vegetation. The lower impoundment is wide and deep with many sandy shoreline areas and little macrophyte vegetation.
The zooplankton and phytoplankton communities of both the lower and upper impoundment were investigated over a three-year period (1980–1982) in an effort to determine power plant discharge effects on the plankton. Primary productivity rates were low, characteristic of an oligotrophic system. The phytoplankton community was dominated by the Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae in cell density and the Chlorophyceae in species richness. The zooplankton community was dominated numerically by copepods, rotifers, and cladocerans, respectively. Principal zooplankton species includedDiaptomus mississippiensis, Bosmina longirostris, Diaphanosoma brachyurum, Keratella americana, K. cochlearis, Pompholyx sulcata, andConochiloides coenobasis. The rotifers were dominant in species richness, while crustacean zooplankton species richness was usually quite low. Statistical analyses performed using phytoplankton and zooplankton population variables indicated that in most cases upper impoundment densities were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than lower impoundment densities which were likely a function of the lotic upper impoundment habitat. No significant differences were found between the discharge area and the rest of the lower impoundment stations suggesting that localized power plant discharge effects did not occur during the study. Peak midsummer thermal discharge (36.0 ° C) may have caused temporary reductions inD. mississippiensis and several rotifers. Thermal stimulation during summer may have caused population increases for the filter-feeding cladocerans,B. longirostris andD. brachyurum.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahlstrom, E. H., 1943. A revision of the Rotatorian genusKeratella with descriptions of three new species and five new varieties. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. His. 80: 411–457.
Anderson, K. B., E. F. Brenfield & A. L. Buikema, 1977. Zooplankton of a swamp water ecosystem. Hydrobiologia 55: 177–185.
Bhajan, W. R. & H. B. N. Hynes, 1972. Experimental study on the ecology ofBosmina longirostris (O. F. Muller) (Cladocera). Crustaceana 23: 133–140.
Bible, J. L., 1972. An analysis of the zooplankton community in an acid polluted reservoir. Proc. W. Va. Acad. Sci. 44: 32–39.
Brooks, J., 1957. Systematics of North American Daphnia. Mem. Conn. Acad. Arts Sci. 13: 1–180.
Brooks, J., 1959. Cladocera. In W. T. Edmondson (ed.), Ward and Whipple's Freshwater Biology, 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, N.Y.: 587–656.
Carolina Power & Light Company, 1982. H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant 1980 environmental monitoring program. New Hill, North Carolina.
Cocke, E. C., 1967. Myxophyceae of North Carolina. Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 206 pp.
Confer, J. L., T. Kaaret & G. E. Likens, 1983. Zooplankton diversity and biomass in recently acidified lakes. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40: 36–42.
deNie, H. W., 1982. Effects of thermal effluents from the Bergum Power Station on the zooplankton in the Bergumermeer. Hydrobiologia 95: 337–349.
Edmondson, W., 1959. Rotifera. In W. T. Edmondson (ed.), Ward and Whipple's Freshwater Biology, 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, N.Y.: 420–494.
Evans, M. S., 1981. Distribution of zooplankton populations within and adjacent to a thermal plume. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 38: 441–448.
Forest, H. S., 1954. Handbook of Algae. University of Tennessee Press. Knoxville, Tennessee.
Hillbricht-Ilkowska, A. & B. Zdanowksi, 1978. Effect of thermal effluents and retention time on lake functioning and ecological efficiencies in plankton communities. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 63: 609–617.
Horkan, J. P. K., D. N. Gallup & J. R. Nursall, 1977. Effects of thermal effluent upon the planktonic Rotifera — survival and egg production. Arch. Hydrobiol., Suppl. 8: 84–87.
Hovath, F. J. & W. D. Hummon, 1980. Influence of mine acid on plankton rotifers. Ohio J. Sci. 80: 104–107.
Lanner, M. & B. Pejler, 1973. The effect of cooling water discharges on zooplankton in a bay of Lake Malaren. Inst. Freshwat. Res. Rep. 53.
MacRae, J. R. & B. Maguire, 1976. Some effects of temperature on the population dynamics of planktonic rotifers. In Before and after studies of the effects of a power plant installation on Lake Lyndon Baines Johnson. Interim Rep. 8 to the Lower Colorado River Authority, Contract LCRA/CRWR Lake LBJ Project, Austin, Texas.
McNaught, D. C. & M. W. Feulon, 1972. The effect of thermal effluents upon secondary production. Verh. int. Ver. Limnol. 18: 204–212.
Nordlie, F. G., 1976. Plankton communities of three central Florida lakes. Hydrobiologia 48: 65–78.
Patalas, K., 1970. Primary and secondary production in a lake heated by thermal power plant. Proc. Inst. envir. Sci.: 267–271.
Pennak, R. W., 1953. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States. Ronald Press. N.Y., 769 pp.
Prescott, G. W., 1973. Algae of the Western Great Lakes Area. 5th ed. Wm. C. Brown Co., Dubuque, Iowa. 977 pp.
Roff, J. C. & R. E. Kwiatkowski, 1977. Zooplankton and zoobenthos communities of selected northern Ontario lakes of different acidities. Can. J. Zool. 55: 899–911.
Smith, G. M., 1950. The Freshwater Algae of the United States. McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 719 pp.
Snedecor, G. W. & W. G. Cochran, 1967. Statistical methods. Iowa State University Press., Ames, Iowa. 593 pp.
Sprules, W. G., 1975. Midsummer crustacean zooplankton communities in acid-stressed lakes. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 32: 398–395.
Stoneburner, D. L. & L. A. Smock, 1980. Plankton communities of an acidic, polymictic, brownwater lake. Hydrobiologia 69: 131–137.
Tiffany, L. H. & M. E. Britton, 1971. The Algae of Illinois. Hafner Publishing Company. N.Y., New York.
USEPA, 1974. Methods of chemical analyses of water and wastes. U.S. Envir. Prot. Ag. Wash., D.C.
USEPA, 1979. Methods for chemical analyses of water and wastes. EPA-600/4–79–020. U.S. Envir. Prot. Ag. Wash., D. C.
Vijverberg, J., 1980. Effect of temperature in laboratory studies on development and growth of Cladocera and Copepoda from Tjeukemeer, The Netherlands. Freshwat. Biol. 10: 317–340.
Voigt, M., 1957. Rotatoria. Die Radertiere Mittleleuropas. 1, 2. Borntraeger, Berlin. 508 pp.
Waite, S. W., 1981. Effects of cooling lake perturbations upon the zooplankton dynamics of Lake Sangchris. In R. W. Larimore & J. A. Tranquilli (eds.), The Lake Sangchris study: Case history of an Illinois cooling lake. Ill. Nat. Hist. Sur. Bull. 32: 342–357.
Wetzel, R. G., 1975. Limnology. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 743 pp.
Whitford, L. A. & G. J. Schumacher, 1969. A manual of freshwater algae in North Carolina. N. Carolina agric. Exp. Stat. Tech. Bull. 188: 313 pp.
Wilson, M. & H. Yeatman, 1959. Free-living Copepoda. In W. T. Edmondson (ed.), Ward and Whipple's Freshwater Biology, 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons. N.Y.: 735–861.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mallin, M.A. The plankton community of an acid blackwater South Carolina power plant impoundment. Hydrobiologia 112, 167–177 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008083
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008083