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Surface coal mining influences on macroinvertebrate assemblages in streams of the Canadian Rocky Mountains
Author(s) -
Kuchapski Kathryn A.,
Rasmussen Joseph B.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.3052
Subject(s) - streams , alkalinity , coal mining , species richness , ordination , community structure , environmental science , ecology , substrate (aquarium) , invertebrate , hydrology (agriculture) , stream bed , acid mine drainage , environmental chemistry , coal , geology , geography , chemistry , biology , computer network , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , archaeology , computer science
To determine the region‐specific impacts of surface coal mines on macroinvertebrate community health, chemical and physical stream characteristics and macroinvertebrate family and community metrics were measured in surface coal mine‐affected and reference streams in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Water chemistry was significantly altered in mine‐affected streams, which had elevated conductivity, alkalinity, and selenium and ion concentrations compared with reference conditions. Multivariate redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated alterations in macroinvertebrate communities downstream of mine sites. In RDA ordination, Ephemeroptera family densities, family richness, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (EPT) richness, and % Ephemeroptera declined, whereas densities of Capniidae stoneflies increased along environmental gradients defined by variables associated with mine influence including waterborne Se concentration, alkalinity, substrate embeddedness, and interstitial material size. Shifts in macroinvertebrate assemblages may have been the result of multiple region‐specific stressors related to mining influences including selenium toxicity, ionic toxicity, or stream substrate modifications. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:2138–2148. © 2015 SETAC