SFS Annual Meeting

5/23/2018  |   09:00 - 09:15   |  410 B

COMPARING RELATIVE SENSITIVITIES OF AQUATIC INSECTS TO TRACE METAL EXPOSURE IN FIELD STUDIES AND SHORT-TERM STREAM MESOCOSM EXPERIMENTS Characterizing macroinvertebrate taxa as either sensitive or tolerant is of critical importance for investigating impacts of anthropogenic stressors in aquatic ecosystems and for inferring causality. However, our understanding of relative sensitivity of aquatic insects to metals in the field and under controlled conditions in the laboratory or mesocosm experiments is limited. In this study, we compared the response of 16 lotic macroinvertebrate families to metals in short term (10-day) stream mesocosm experiments and in a spatially extensive field survey of Colorado streams. Comparisons of field and mesocosm-derived EC20s (effect concentrations of 20%) showed that aquatic insects were generally more sensitive to metals in the field. Although the ranked sensitivity to metals was similar for most families, we observed large differences between field and mesocosm responses for some groups (e.g., Baetidae and Heptageniidae). These differences most likely resulted from the inability of short-term experiments to account for factors such as dietary exposure to metals, rapid recolonization in the field and effects of metals on sensitive life stages. Understanding mechanisms responsible for differences among field, mesocosm and laboratory approaches would improve our ability to predict contaminant effects on aquatic communities.

Yuichi Iwasaki (Primary Presenter/Author), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, yuichiwsk@gmail.com;


Travis Schmidt (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), USGS WY-MT Water Science Center, tschmidt@usgs.gov;


William Clements (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, William.Clements@colostate.edu ;


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5/23/2018  |   09:15 - 09:30   |  410 B

RESPONSES OF AQUATIC INSECT EMERGENCE TO TILE DRAINS IN THE PRAIRIE POTHOLES In the Prairie Potholes, tile drains are a key tool in the conversion of grasslands to croplands. To understand how tile drainage affects wetland ecosystems, we compared the responses of water quality and benthic and emerging aquatic insects among wetlands receiving runoff from tile drains (tiled), wetlands with only surface runoff (surface), and control wetlands with neither surface runoff nor tile drains (control). Over the two year study, dissolved selenium in tiled wetlands was up to 17-fold higher than controls, 13-fold higher than surface sites, and 2.4-fold higher than the EPA criterion for Se. Insect emergence biomass was generally lowest in tiled wetlands, particularly in June of the first year. However, both water quality and emergence biomass varied widely across years and seasons. Selenium concentrations in chironomids emerging from tile sites were up to 4-fold higher than controls, 2-fold higher than surface sites, and 2-fold higher than dietary risk thresholds for waterfowl. Because our strongest effects were observed in June, when ducklings feed on emerging chironomids, these results suggest that tile drains could pose a risk to waterfowl by altering the timing, amount, and quality of adult aquatic insect prey.

Jeff Wesner (Primary Presenter/Author), University of South Dakota, Jeff.Wesner@usd.edu;


Brianna Henry (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of South Dakota, b.henry@eagle.clarion.edu;


Jake Kerby (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of South Dakota, Jacob.kerby@usd.edu;


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5/23/2018  |   09:30 - 09:45   |  410 B

INCREASED TEMPERATURE INFLUENCED GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF LITHOBATES PIPIENS TADPOLES EXPOSED TO INVASIVE PLANT LEACHATES AND A TRICLOPYR HERBICIDE Multiple factors including habitat loss, pollutants, invasive species, and disease have contributed to the global decline of amphibians and continued declines can be expected as a result of climate change. Global warming temperatures may allow for range expansion of invasive plants, and because herbicides are the primary method to control invasive plants, chemical use may increase. A laboratory experiment was performed to examine the effects of two temperature regimes (20°C and 25°C) as well as individual and combined effects of European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) leachates and a triclopyr herbicide (Renovate® 3), on the survival, growth and morphology of northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens) tadpoles. The presence of R. cathartica leachates resulted in increased tadpole growth (i.e., increased mass and length), although mostly in the higher temperature treatment (25°C). Further, tadpoles raised in the warmer temperature were smaller, but at a more developmentally advanced stage after eight weeks. The herbicide triclopyr appeared to have minimal effects on tadpole growth or survival at the concentration used in this experiment. These results encourage further examination of potential effects of global climate changes in combination with other environmental factors that may impact amphibian populations.

Amanda Curtis (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, amandac3@illinois.edu;


M. Gabriela Bidart (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Bowling Green State University, gbidart@bgsu.edu;


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5/23/2018  |   09:45 - 10:00   |  410 B

ACCUMULATION OF HEAVY METALS IN CORBICULID CLAMS FROM THE MEKONG AND RED RIVER DELTAS (VIETNAM) Examined the bioaccumulation of Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni, Mn, Fe, Pb, As in Corbicula sp. in the Mekong Delta and the Lower Red River for the scientific database records to use in the future for biomonitoring of Vietnam aquatic ecosystems. We estimated trace metal concentrations in corbiculids collected from 10 sites in April and September of 2017. Results revealed rather high levels of the most dangerous metals Pb, Cd and As in tissues of Corbicula sp. from number of sites. Bioaccumulation of Zn, Cu, Ni, Mn, Fe were estimated as insignificant. Concentrations of Cu in Corbicula were similar in both basins. The levels of the other elements were higher in Corbicula sp. from the Northern Delta, double of the amount in the Mekong Delta for (Zn, Ni), 3-7 times for (Mn, Ni, Fe, Cd) and even more than 10 times for (Pb). All detected metal concentrations, excluding As, were below the maximum permissible limits for hazardous substances in fish and fish related products by recommendation of FAO.

Larisa Prozorova (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy of Science, lprozorova@mail.ru;


Elena Chernova (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), 2Pacific Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, elena@tig.dvo.ru;


Eugenia Lysenko (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Pacific Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, lysenko_tig@mail.ru;


Quang Ngo (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, ngoxuanq@gmail.com;


Thai Tran (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, thanhthai.bentrect@gmail.com;


Son Hoang (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, hoangnghiason@itb.ac.vn;


Viktor Bogatov (Primary Presenter/Author), Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy of Science, vibogatov@mail.ru;


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5/23/2018  |   10:00 - 10:15   |  410 B

TRACE ELEMENTS SHED IN EXUVIAE VERSUS EXPORTED FROM CONTAMINATED WETLANDS BY EMERGING DRAGONFLIES Dragonfly adults and their aquatic immature stages are an important part of food webs and provide a link between aquatic and terrestrial components. During emergence, contaminants can be shed with their exuviae or be incorporated into their body and enter the terrestrial food web as adults fly away. Our previous work established contaminants accumulating in dragonfly nymphs throughout a wetland system constructed to regulate pH and remove trace metals from an industrial effluent line. We analyzed accumulation of 16 elements in over 400 samples distributed across14 dragonfly species belonging to 2 families and 11 genera. Some elements (e.g. Al, Fe, Ba, Pb) primarily surface bound or were incorporated into the exuviae that is shed and left behind in the wetland, whereas others accumulated more in the teneral (e.g. Cu, Zn, Mg, B). Patterns of accumulation in/on exuviae versus teneral differed among species, but similarities within subfamilies were observed. Concentration of trace elements in nymphs were indicative of trophic doses when preyed upon directly, but not necessarily to that of predators preying on emerging dragonflies. Future work needs to evaluate underlying causes of interspecific variation of trace element accumulation.

Dean Fletcher (Primary Presenter/Author), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory-University of Georgia, fletcher@srel.uga.edu;


Angela Lindell (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory-University of Georgia, lindell@srel.uga.edu;


Danielle Pitt (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory-University of Georgia, dbpitt@uga.edu;


Paul Stankus (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory-University of Georgia, stankus@srel.uga.edu;


Brooke Lindell (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory-University of Georgia, elindell@uga.edu;


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5/23/2018  |   10:15 - 10:30   |  410 B

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT FISH PREDATORS ON RIPARIAN SPIDER MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS The use of riparian spiders as tracers of aquatic contaminants (i.e. mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls) is limited by complex interactions that can affect the %-contribution of adult aquatic insects assimilated by these predators. The objective of this study was to determine if the presence of different fish predators impact the mercury concentrations in riparian spiders and if mercury measured in these riparian spiders exceed thresholds of concern. Three sites were selected in the Appalachian Mountains; two sites have a barrier separating downstream rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss) from upstream eastern brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) while the third site has sympatric populations of rainbow trout and eastern brook trout. At each site, spiders were separated by family, homogenized into three samples, and then analyzed for total-mercury (Upstream Tetragnathidae THg: 280.7 µg/kg ± 63.1 SE and Araneidae THg: 93.9 µg/kg ± 16.3 SE; Downstream Tetragnathidae THg: 196.7 µg/kg ± 16.6 SE and Araneidae THg: 110.0 µg/kg ± 21.7 SE). The different fish communities alone do not explain the differential export of mercury to riparian predators. At all sites spiders exceeded mercury risk threshold concentrations calculated for chickadee (Poecile spp.) nestlings.

Gale Beaubien (Primary Presenter/Author), Middle Tennessee State University, Gale.b.beaubien@gmail.com;


Connor Olson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Middle Tennessee State University, cio2b;


David Walters (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), United States Geological Survey, waltersd@usgs.gov;
Dr. David Walters is a Supervisory Research Ecologist at the Columbia Environmental Research Center. David has been a research ecologist with the USGS since 2008. Prior to that, he was an ecologist for the U.S. EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory for 6 years. He is a freshwater ecologist with broad training in stream ecology, human impacts on aquatic ecosystems, and ecotoxicology. His current research topics include food webs and contaminant flux, aquatic-riparian linkages, stream fish ecology, land use and climate change, and invasive species.

Scott Rush (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Mississippi State University, scott.rush@msstate.edu;


Ryan Otter (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Middle Tennessee State University, ryan.otter@mtsu.edu;


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