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Community level analysis of ecotoxicological field studies: I. Biological monitoring
Author(s) -
Kedwards Timothy J.,
Maund Stephen J.,
Chapman Peter F.
Publication year - 1999
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.5620180208
Subject(s) - chironomidae , cypermethrin , benthic zone , principal component analysis , multivariate statistics , multidimensional scaling , ecology , environmental science , ecotoxicology , biology , pesticide , larva , statistics , mathematics
A number of multivariate techniques including nonmetric clustering, nonmetric multidimensional scaling, and principal components analysis were used to analyze data from a farm pond study in which the pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin was aerially applied adjacent to the water body. The techniques were used to investigate the effects upon benthic and emerging macroinvertebrate communities prior to, during, and following application. Hydrosoil cypermethrin residue was strongly correlated with changes in community composition, and Diptera were found to be most affected by the perturbation. However, any deleterious effect upon chironomid communities was transient, with Chironomidae larvae rapidly recovering after application. The study illustrates how multivariate techniques can aid in the interpretation of biological monitoring studies in which an adequate control pond is unlikely to be available.