Effects of Rotenone Treatment on Mayfly Drift and Standing Stocks in Two Norwegian Rivers

  • J. V. Arnekleiv
  • D. Dolmen
  • L. Rønning
Chapter

Abstract

In Norway, the salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salars, has spread to 40 rivers and caused a drastic reduction in the stocks of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). In order to eradicate the parasite, a total of 24 rivers has so far been treated with rotenone (0.5-1.0 ppm roten-one solution). Drift and standing stocks of Ephemeroptera from stretches treated with rotenone were compared with untreated stretches and with the faunal composition before rotenone treatment.

Rotenone treatment induced an immediate catastrophic drift and caused high mortalities. The different species varied with respect to the degree and timing of their response to rotenone. Baetis species were rapidly affected: A great number of dead individuals appeared in the drift samples at the start of the treatment, but then subsequently declined. The response was more slow in the genus Heptagenia, and a few larvae of Ephemerella occurred in the drift samples.

A significant reduction in standing stocks of most mayflies: Ameletus inopinatus, Baetis rhodani, B. subalpinus, B. fuscatus/scambus, Metretopus borealis and Heptagenia spp. was found in newly rotenone-treated stretches. However, Ephemerella aurivillii and Cloeon simile survived the treatment in high numbers. Thus, the species composition was altered during the first few months, but a fast recolonization of the mayfly fauna took place on the rotenone-treated stretches. Within one year, all the abundant species registered before the treatment occurred again in high numbers.

Keywords

Atlantic Salmon Pearl Mussel Rotenone Treatment Freshwater Pearl Mussel Drift Density 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2001

Authors and Affiliations

  • J. V. Arnekleiv
    • 1
  • D. Dolmen
    • 1
  • L. Rønning
    • 1
  1. 1.Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyMuseum of Natural History and ArchaeologyTrondheimNorway

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