Abstract
Two sets of samples from Lake Päijänne and one from Lake Ladoga were used to examine the relations between the meiofauna and environmental variables. The most obvious indicators of an unpolluted environment were, in order of importance, the true meiofauna/total meiofauna ratio, the proportion of Aeolosomatidae, the proportion of Harpacticoida (excluding C. staphylinus), the meiofauna/macrofauna biomass ratio, the proportion of Naididae and the A. crassa + P. schmeili/true meiofauna ratio. Conversely, the clearest indicators of a polluted environment were the proportion of resting stages of Cyclopinae, the Nematoda/non-resting Copepoda ratio, and the proportions of Tubificidae, Oligochaeta, Cladocera, C. staphylinus and benthic Eucyclopinae. Oxygen saturation exercised a highly significant effect on the meiofauna variables, and the next in order of importance were sedimentation, sediment chlorophenols originating from the chlorobleaching of pulp, total phosphorus, COD and phytoplankton biomass. The dependence of the meiofauna on environmental variables was somewhat more pronounced in the deepest areas of Lake Päijänne than in the epiprofundal zone, and largely similar in the two lakes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brinkhurst, R. O.: 1993, ‘Future Directions in Freshwater Biomonitoring Using Benthic Macroinvertebrates’, in: D. M. Rosenberg and V. H. Resh (eds), Freshwater Biomonitoring and Benthic Macroinvertebrates, Chapman and Hall, New York, London, p. 442–460.
Elgmork, K.: 1958, ‘On the Phenology of Mesocyclops oithonoides (G.O. Sars)’, Verh. internat. Ver. Limnol. 13, 778–784.
Ferraro, S. P. and Cole, F. A.: 1990, ‘Taxonomic Level and Sample Size Sufficient for Assessing Pollution Impacts on the Southern California Bight Macrobenthos’, Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 67, 251–262.
Goodnight, C. J. and Whitley, L. S.: 1960, ‘Oligochaetes as Indicators of Pollution’, 15th Ind. Waste Conf. Purdue Univ. 139–142.
Huys, R., Herman, P. M. J., Heip, C. H. R. and Soetaert, K.: 1992, ‘The Meiobenthos of the North Sea: Density, Biomass Trends and Distribution of Copepod Communities’, ICES J. mar. Sci. 49, 23–44.
Koistinen, J., Paasivirta, J. and Särkkä, J.: 1990, ‘Organic Chlorine Compounds in Lake Sediments. IV. Dioxins, Furans and Related Chloroaromatic Compounds’, Chemosphere 21, 1371–1379.
Kurashov, E. A. and Belyakov, V. P.: 1987, ‘Role of Meiofauna in Benthic Communities of Lakes of Various Types in the Lattgalian Hills’, Hydrobiol. J. 23, 46–50.
Kurashov, E. A. and Gorichensky, A. Y.: 1992, ‘The Use of Meiobenthic Community for Indication of Ecological State of Lakes Ladoga and Onega. A Comparative Analysis of some Methods and Approaches’, Russian J. Aquatic Ecol. 1, 125–136.
Maatela, P., Paasivirta, J., Särkkä, J. and Paukku, R.: 1990, ‘Organic Chlorine Compounds in Lake Sediments. II. Organically Bound Chlorine’, Chemosphere 21, 1343–1354.
Paasivirta, J.: 1991, Chemical Ecotoxicology. Lewis Publishers, Chelsea.
Paasivirta, J., Hakala, H., Knuutinen, J., Otollinen, T., Särkkä, J., Welling, L., Paukku, R. and Lammi, R.: 1990, ‘Organic Chlorine Compounds in Lake Sediments. III. Chlorohydrocarbons, Free and Chemically Bound Chlorophenols’, Chemosphere 121, 1355–1370.
Pantle, R. and Buck, R.: 1955, Die Biologische Überwachung der Gewässer und die Darstellung der Ergebnisse’, Gas- und Wasserfach 96, 604.
Raffaelli, D. G. and Mason, C. F.: 1981, ‘Pollution Monitoring with Meiofauna, Using the Ratio of Nematodes to Copepods’, Mar. Pollut. Bull. 12, 158–163.
Rosenberg, D. M. and Resh, V. H. (eds): 1993, Freshwater Biomonitoring and Benthic Macroinvertebrates. Chapman and Hall, New York, London.
Särkkä, J.: 1975, ‘Effects of Pollution on the Profundal Meiofauna of Lake Päijänne, Finland’, Aqua Fennica 1975, 3–11.
Särkkä, J.: 1979, ‘The Zoobenthos of Lake Päijänne and Its Relations to Some Environmental Factors’, Acta Zool. Fennica 160, 1–46.
Särkkä, J.: 1987a, ‘Meiobenthos of a Lake Chain Affected by Pulp Mill Effluent’, Aqua Fennica 17, 35–41.
Särkkä, J.: 1987b, ‘Meiobenthos of the Profundal Depths of Lake Päijänne’, Biol. Res. Rep. Univ. Jyväskylä 10, 95–104.
Särkkä, J.: 1989, ‘Meiobenthic Naidid and Aeolosomatid Oligochaetes from the Profundal Zone, and Relations of Species to Eutrophication’, Hydrobiologia 180/Dev. Hydrobiol. 51, 185–190.
Särkkä, J.: 1992a, ‘Effects of Eutrophication and Organic Loading on the Occurrence of Profundal Harpacticoids in a Lake in Southern Finland’, Environm. Monit. Assessment 21, 211–223.
Särkkä, J.: 1992b, ‘Lacustrine Profundal Meiobenthos as an Environmental Indicator’, Hydrobiologia 243/244/Dev. Hydrobiol. 79, 233–340.
Särkkä, J.: 1994, ‘Lacustrine Profundal Meiobenthic Oligochaetes as Indicators of Trophic State and Organic Loading’, Hydrobiologia 278/Dev. Hydrobiol. 95, 231–241.
Särkkä, J.: 1995, ‘Profundal Meiofauna in two Large Lakes: Influence of Pollution and Bathymetric Differences’, Arch. Hydrobiol. 132, 453–493.
Särkkä, J.: 1996, ‘Meiofauna of the Profundal Zone of the Northern Part of Lake Ladoga as an Indicator of Pollution’, Hydrobiologia/Dev. Hydrobiol., in print.
Sarvala, J.: 1986, ‘Patterns of Benthic Copepod Assemblages in a Oligotrophic Lake’, Ann. Zool. Fennici 23, 101–130.
Thiel, H.: 1966, ‘Quantitative Untersuchungen über die Meiofauna des Tiefseebodens’, Veröffentl. Inst. Meeresforsch. Bremerhaven, Sonderband 2, 131–147.
Warwick, R. M.: 1981, ‘The Nematode/Copepod Ratio and its Use in Pollution Ecology’, Marine Pollut. Bull. 12, 329–333.
Washington, H. G.: 1984, ‘Diversity, Biotic and Similarity Indices’, Water Res. 18, 653–694.
Wiederholm, T.: 1980, ‘Use of Benthos in Lake Monitoring’, J. Wat. Pollut. Cont. Fed. 52, 537–547.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Särkkä, J. Meiofauna ratios as environmental indicators in the profundal depths of large lakes. Environ Monit Assess 42, 229–240 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00414370
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00414370