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Temporal variations of trace metals in aquatic insects
Author(s) -
HARE LANDIS,
CAMPBELL PETER G.C.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
freshwater biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2427
pISSN - 0046-5070
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2427.1992.tb00519.x
Subject(s) - biomonitoring , mayfly , trace metal , biology , seasonality , temperate climate , ecology , taxon , cadmium , environmental chemistry , metal , larva , chemistry , organic chemistry
SUMMARY 1. Temporal fluctuations were measured in the concentrations of the trace metals cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in six insect taxa collected from the same sites in a temperate zone lake over a 14‐month period. The consequences of temporal changes in insect contaminant concentrations for biomonitoring studies are assessed. 2. Significant temporal fluctuations in the concentrations of the three metals were measured in almost all of the insect taxa studied. In no case was there a greater than sixfold change in the concentration of a trace metal over the course of the year. The extent of the fluctuations was generally greater for CD, a non‐essential metal, than for the essential micronutrients Cu or Zn. 3. Temporal fluctuations in CD concentrations appeared to follow a seasonal periodicity for most taxa. Minima were measured during the winter period in the megalopteran Sialis spp. and in the dipteran taxa Chaoborus punctipennis, Glyptotendipes sp., and Procladius spp., whereas a maximum was measured in the mayfly Hexagenia Hmbata during the same season. In general, temporal fluctuations in Cu and Zn concentrations were less seasonal in character than were those of Cd. 4. For some of the taxon—metal combinations studied, temporal fluctuations in metal concentrations could be ignored in biomonitoring studies, whereas in other cases a temporal window of minimum variability should be chosen for the collection of organisms from different sites.