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SFS Annual Meeting

Wednesday, May 23, 2018
09:00 - 10:30

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09:00 - 09:15: / 310 B BENTHIC MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AS INDICATORS OF ECOLOGICAL DISRUPTION BY PHARMACEUTICALS AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS

5/23/2018  |   09:00 - 09:15   |  310 B

BENTHIC MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AS INDICATORS OF ECOLOGICAL DISRUPTION BY PHARMACEUTICALS AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are biologically active compounds that are present in freshwater ecosystems throughout the world. At current environmental concentrations, PPCPs are generally not toxic, but the production of synthetic chemicals, including PPCPs, is increasing a rate greater than those of other agents of global change. Furthermore, the ability of these compounds to disrupt ecological processes in freshwater ecosystems is often overlooked, and ecological disruption is generally not considered as part of regulatory criteria. We will discuss our research demonstrating that exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of a variety of PPCPs can alter the activity, taxonomic, and genomic composition of benthic microbial communities. Due to the critical role that microbes play in streams, these findings have significant implications for the health of these ecosystems and are indicative of ecological disruption. Therefore, we suggest that benthic microbial communities can be useful indicators of ecological disruption by pharmaceuticals and personal care products and should be considered in the evaluation of the environmental safety of these compounds.

John Kelly (Primary Presenter/Author), Loyola University Chicago, Jkelly7@luc.edu;


Emma Rosi (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, rosie@caryinstitute.org;


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09:15 - 09:30: / 310 B IDENTIFYING THE JOINT EFFECTS OF FLOW VARIABILITY AND URBAN WASTEWATER ON MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES: A TAXONOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL APPROACH

5/23/2018  |   09:15 - 09:30   |  310 B

IDENTIFYING THE JOINT EFFECTS OF FLOW VARIABILITY AND URBAN WASTEWATER ON MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES: A TAXONOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL APPROACH Urban wastewater effluents constitute a source of nutrients, organic matter and emerging contaminants to the receiving freshwater ecosystems. In arid and semi-arid regions such the Mediterranean, wastewater effluents can represent a large contribution to the river discharge during low and non-flow periods, therefore posing an important chemical pollution threat for the biological communities. Our aim was to analyse the joint effects of urban wastewater and hydrological variability on freshwater invertebrate communities in Mediterranean rivers combining a taxonomic and a functional approach. As substrate is a key factor that determines macroinvertebrate-community composition, additionally, we aimed to know how different macroinvertebrates communities respond to the stressors. We sampled twelve sites with different substrate type (mud and pebble), upstream and downstream from sewage inputs, in the dry and wet seasons. Community composition, richness, abundance and biomass changed between up and downstream reach, as did pharmaceuticals and nutrient concentrations. Invertebrate body size, resistance form and feeding habits also changed. In addition, the type of substrate induced a different intensity in the community response suggesting that the composition of the receiving community determines the taxonomic and functional change induced by the wastewater.

Sylvain Dolédec (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), UMR 5023 – LEHNA, Biodiversité et Plasticité dans les Hydrosystèmes, Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France, sylvain.doledec@univ-lyon1.fr;


Olatz Pereda (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of the Basque Country, olatz.pereda@ehu.eus;


Vicens Acuña (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Catalan Institute for Water Research, vacuna@icra.cat;


Arturo Elosegi (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), arturo.elosegi@ehu.eus;


Ladislav Mandaric (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), ICRA, lmandaric@icra.cat;


Sergi Sabater (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain, ssabater@icra.cat;


Isabel Muñoz (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Barcelona, imunoz@ub.edu;


Jordi-René Mor (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Barcelona, jrmor@icra.cat;


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09:30 - 09:45: / 310 B NUTRIENT ADDITIONS MODIFY EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON PRIMARY PRODUCER COMMUNITIES WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR ENERGY AND NUTRIENT FLUX THROUGH FOOD WEBS

5/23/2018  |   09:30 - 09:45   |  310 B

NUTRIENT ADDITIONS MODIFY EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON PRIMARY PRODUCER COMMUNITIES WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR ENERGY AND NUTRIENT FLUX THROUGH FOOD WEBS Temperature and nutrient availability are ‘master variables’ that control organismal resource demand, metabolic rates, body size, and biotic interactions. While the independent effects of warming and nutrient supply on freshwater ecosystems are relatively well understood, few studies consider the combined and potentially interactive effects of these global-change drivers on food webs, especially at ecosystem scales. To examine temperature-nutrient interactions in natural communities, we compared macroscopic primary producer assemblages in four Icelandic streams that varied in temperature, under ambient nutrient concentrations and during 12-week experimental phosphorus-, and nitrogen -addition treatments. Under ambient conditions, the warmest stream was dominated by N2-fixing cyanobacteria (Nostoc spp.), while epilithic algal biomass was highest in cold streams. Phosphorus addition had no consistent effect on producer biomass at any temperature. Nitrogen addition strongly reduced Nostoc biomass across streams and increased epilithic algal biomass in warm, but not cold streams. As Nostoc is potentially inedible, these shifts represent a change in food quality and quantity, as more palatable primary producers replaced Nostoc. Our results show that interactions between warming and nutrients alter primary producer community structure, with potential consequences for energy and nutrient flux to higher trophic levels.

Kate Henderson (Primary Presenter/Author), Montana State University, kahenderson121@gmail.com;


Wyatt Cross (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Montana State University, wyatt.cross@montana.edu ;


Jonathan P. Benstead (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Alabama, jbenstead@ua.ed;


Gisli Mar Gislason (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Iceland, gmg@hi.is;


James Hood (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), The Ohio State University, hood.211@osu.edu;


Alexander D Huryn (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), The University of Alabama, huryn@bama.ua.edu;


Jon S Olafsson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, jon.s.olafsson@gmail.com;


Jill Welter (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), St. Catherine University, jill.welter@gmail.com;


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09:45 - 10:00: / 310 B A COMPARISON OF ALGAE, INVERTEBRATE AND FISH MULTI-STRESSOR MODELS ACROSS MULTIPLE DISTURBANCE GRADIENTS

5/23/2018  |   09:45 - 10:00   |  310 B

A COMPARISON OF ALGAE, INVERTEBRATE AND FISH MULTI-STRESSOR MODELS ACROSS MULTIPLE DISTURBANCE GRADIENTS U.S. Geological Survey sampled 98 streams in the Midwest and 74 streams in the S.E. Piedmont of the U.S., across agricultural and urban disturbance gradients, respectively. Ecological condition was assessed in relation to multiple stressors including streamflow, habitat, nutrients, pesticides, and sediment-associated contaminants. Streams were sampled for algae, macroinvertebrates, and fish in the summer under base-flow conditions. The overall objective was to understand how aquatic assemblages respond to multiple stressors in these contrasting settings. Generally, physical habitat metrics were more important in the Midwest whereas contaminants were more important in the S.E. In the Midwest, 56% of the total environmental variables selected in all models across the three assemblage types were habitat based, whereas in the Southeast only 17% of the final variables were habitat based. On the other hand, DO, temperature, and flow alteration metrics were more important in Southeast and contaminant metrics made up 44% of the stressors in the Southeast models but only 12% of the stressors in the Midwest models. These differences reflect the widespread physical alteration of the Midwest by farming and suggest chemical and hydrologic alteration of streams by urbanization in the Southeast.

Ian Waite (Primary Presenter/Author), U.S. Geological Survey, Portland, OR, iwaite@usgs.gov;


Mark Munn (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, Tacoma, WA, mdmunn@usgs.gov;


Mike Meador (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, mrmeador@usgs.gov;


Pete VanMetre (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, Austin, TX, pcvanmet@usgs.gov;


Patrick Moran (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, pwmoran@usgs.gov;


Lisa Nowell (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, lhnowell@usgs.gov;


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10:00 - 10:15: / 310 B BIODIVERSITY RESPONSES TO MULTIPLE STRESSORS IN THREE EUROPEAN BASINS: BACTERIA, ALGAE, MACROPHYTES, INVERTEBRATES AND FISH

5/23/2018  |   10:00 - 10:15   |  310 B

BIODIVERSITY RESPONSES TO MULTIPLE STRESSORS IN THREE EUROPEAN BASINS: BACTERIA, ALGAE, MACROPHYTES, INVERTEBRATES AND FISH Rivers suffer from an important decrease in species diversity due to a variety of stressors related to human activities. The effects on diversity will obviously differ based on the type of stressor and their combination and severity, as well as on the characteristics of the local community composition and tolerance to the stressor. This study presents the results of the analyses of the biodiversity patterns for bacteria, algae, macrophytes, macroinvertebrate and fish communities related to environmental pressures in three European case study basins (Adige, Sava and Evrotas). Simultaneous field work was designed to define and quantify the magnitude of stressors at each sampling site. The most evident relationships between changes in species richness and diversity were explained by changes in hydrology and morphological changes in the basins. The presence of pharmaceutical products (urban pollution) and pesticides was related to lower insect richness. Also emerging compounds, despite their low concentrations, seem to lead to a reduction in macrophyte abundance, richness and diversity. These results open the way to compare responses in the studied basins as representative of the European reality of the combined effects of multiple stressors on biological diversity.

Nuria De Castro-Catala (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Barcelona, ndecastro@ub.edu;


Alberto Bellin (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Trento, Trento, Italy, Alberto.Bellin@unitn.it ;


Carles Borrego (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain, cborrego@icra.cat;


Eleni Kalogianni (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Hellenic Centre for Marine Research , ekalog@hcmr.gr;


Momir Paunovic (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Belgrade , mpaunovi@ibiss.bg.ac.rs;


Sergi Sabater (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain, ssabater@icra.cat;


Isabel Muñoz (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Barcelona, imunoz@ub.edu;


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10:15 - 10:30: / 310 B DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON STREAM FAUNA ACROSS WATERSHED, REACH AND SITE SCALES.

5/23/2018  |   10:15 - 10:30   |  310 B

DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON STREAM FAUNA ACROSS WATERSHED, REACH AND SITE SCALES. The purpose of our approach was to take account of the nested scales of stream functioning on the links between pressures and ecological status by building and analysing a hierarchical model. The development of this model aimed at answering the following questions: Does the indirect links between pressures and ecological status modify the impact hierarchy of pressures? Do the different nested scales play a different role in the pressures-ecological status relationship? To achieve that goal, we used the PLS path modelling method for developing a structural model linking the latent variables of (i) land use, and hydromorphological alterations at watershed scale, (ii) hydromorphological alterations at reach scale, (ii) nutrients-organic matter contamination levels, and (iv) substrate samples to explain macroinvertebrate based index I2M2 score variation. As a first important result, we have highlighted the importance of land use effect exerted on both hydromorphology and physico-chemistry and their translation as an indirect effect on biological condition of streams. We have also demonstrated that hydromorphological alterations had an effect on substrates structure and nutrients and organic matter concentrations. This result implies that hydromorphology has a major indirect effect on macroinvertebrates.

Bertrand Villeneuve (Primary Presenter/Author), Irstea (FRANCE), bertrand.villeneuve@irstea.fr;


Jeremy Piffady (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Irstea (France), jeremy.piffady@irstea.fr;


Laurent Valette (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Irstea (France), laurent.valette@irstea.fr;


Yves Souchon (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Irstea (France), yves.souchon@irstea.fr;


Philippe Usseglio-Polatera (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Continental Environments (LIEC), CNRS UMR 7360, University of Lorraine, France, philippe.usseglio-polatera@univ-lorraine.fr;


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