| Project Title |  |
| Project
C5: Assessment of
benthic invertebrate communities in metal-contaminated lakes.
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| Research Team | |
| L.
Grapentine, Environment Canada, NWRI Burlington, ON. Fax: (905) 336-6430
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| Project Summary | |
| The
Rouyn-Noranda area (Abitibi, Québec) offers an opportunity to assess
relations between benthic invertebrate communities and environmental
metal contamination. This area, with its long history of mining and
smelting, was chosen as a major site for inter-disciplinary research
by the MITE Research Network. Approximately 30 lakes in the area have
been or are currently being studied. Data from most of the lakes exist
for a series of variables for the water column, sediment and clam
tissue. Included are concentrations for several forms of cadmium,
copper and zinc. An assessment of community level effects would
complement these studies. The assessment of benthic macroinvertebrate
communities will involve sampling from a series of lakes along an
existing metal gradient (e.g., downwind and downstream of the mining /
smelter complex). Based on a review of existing data, a subset of 10
lakes will be selected to maximize the range of metal concentrations,
while minimizing differences in natural conditions (e.g., trophic
status, sediment grain size, water chemistry). Soft bottom benthic
samples will be collected from three locations at similar depths in
each lake. Invertebrates will be taxonomically identified and counted.
Relations between benthic community structure and environmental
chemistry will be analyzed using a correlation approach. Multivariate
statistical methods (mainly ordination) will be applied to accommodate
co-varying and interacting variables, and to identify variables most
importantly associated with benthic invertebrate patterns. In
particular, the strengths of metal and benthic community associations
will be determined.
This project is new for the year 2000. |
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