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Responses of Stream Biofilm Phospholipid Fatty Acid Profiles to Acid Mine Drainage Impairment and Remediation

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Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) impairs many streams throughout the historical and current coal mining regions. Abandoned mines often have sulfur-rich coal that produces sulfuric acid after exposure to water and oxygen. These streams are characterized by lowered pH, increased metal load, and decreased biotic assemblage complexity in comparison to unimpaired streams. Remediation efforts using alkaline addition have been successful in reducing the impacts of AMD by improving the chemical environment and reestablishing biotic assemblages that more closely resemble unimpacted streams. We used phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) to detect changes in biofilm fatty acid profiles, differences in specific fatty acid biomarkers, and nutritional quality among AMD-unimpaired, AMD-impaired, and AMD-remediated stream sites in southeastern Ohio (USA). In general, the physical, chemical, and biological measurements of the remediated sites were intermediate between the unimpaired and impaired streams. PLFA content was five times greater in AMD-unimpaired sites when compared to AMD-impaired and double that of AMD-remediated sites. PLFA profiles separated sites of the three categories into two statistically distinct groups: AMD-unimpaired/AMD-remediated and AMD-impaired. The results of this study showed that PLFA profiles have great promise as an additional metric to evaluate AMD impact for stream biomonitoring programs.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Jessica Lindner for her assistance in collecting field samples and laboratory analysis. Sites used in this study were selected with the assistance of Jen Bowman and Kelly Johnson. Comments provided by Jared Deforest, Kelly Johnson, Brian McCarthy, and three anonymous reviewers greatly enhanced the quality of this manuscript. Funding was supplied in part by the Ohio University Graduate Student Senate Original Works Grant. Assistantship support was provided to S. Drerup from the American Energy Power Foundation Graduate Assistantship for Watershed Assessment and Restoration awarded through the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs.

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  1. Department of Environmental & Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, 45701, USA

    Samuel A. Drerup & Morgan L. Vis

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  1. Samuel A. Drerup
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  2. Morgan L. Vis
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Correspondence to Samuel A. Drerup.

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Drerup, S.A., Vis, M.L. Responses of Stream Biofilm Phospholipid Fatty Acid Profiles to Acid Mine Drainage Impairment and Remediation. Water Air Soil Pollut 227, 159 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-016-2856-5

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