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Toxicity of Copper to Zooplankton
Author(s) -
McIntosh A. W.,
Kevern N. R.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1974.00472425000300020018x
Subject(s) - cladocera , cyclops , zooplankton , daphnia pulex , rotifer , branchiopoda , copepod , daphnia , copper , environmental chemistry , biology , lepomis , crustacean , copper sulfate , ecology , zoology , chemistry , predation , organic chemistry
The toxicity of copper sulfate (CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O) to zooplankton was studied. Bioassays on Daphnia pulex and Cyclops sp. yielded 96‐hour TL m values of 0.096 and 225.0 ppm, respectively. A treatment of 3 ppm copper sulfate to an outdoor pond was followed by a depression of cladoceran and rotifer populations. Addition of 3 ppm copper sulfate to a second pond occurred when cladoceran numbers were low; however, a combination of oxygen depletion, H 2 S production and released copper from large masses of decomposing Chara apparently suppressed rotifer, copepod, and cladoceran populations. Treatment of 1 ppm copper sulfate to a third pond produced no discernible effects on cladocera. Stomach analyses conducted on green sunfish ( Lepomis cyanellus R.) indicated that the fish shifted to alternate food sources when cladocera disappeared from affected ponds.