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BENIGN USE OF SALT SLUGS ON AQUATIC MACROINVERTEBRATES: MEASURING DISCHARGE WITH SALT DURING AN AQUATIC ECOLOGY STUDY
Author(s) -
Muehlbauer J. D.,
Duncan J. M.,
Doyle M. W.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
river research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1535-1467
pISSN - 1535-1459
DOI - 10.1002/rra.1546
Subject(s) - invertebrate , streams , environmental science , ecology , salt lake , salt (chemistry) , sampling (signal processing) , hydrology (agriculture) , chemistry , biology , geology , computer network , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , structural basin , computer science , filter (signal processing) , computer vision
Pulsed salt tracer injections (salt slugs) are widely used for measuring discharge in streams, particularly in small streams. However, salt slug usage in stream ecology studies is limited, possibly due to concerns that salt injections may affect biotic results. We used salt slug measurements concomitantly with macroinvertebrate sampling over the course of a summer field season and show that the realistic use of salt slugs to measure discharge at our sites was benign with respect to several common biotic community metrics. Salt slug discharge measurements may warrant more usage as a component of stream ecology studies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.