Bank erosion hazard index as an indicator of near-bank aquatic habitat and community structure in a southeastern Piedmont stream

Streams in the southeastern Piedmont region display varying degrees of bank erosion, which in turn can influence multiple physical and biological processes. In efforts to assess and predict bank erosion, the multi-metric tool Bank Erosion Hazard Index (BEHI) is often calculated. As designed, the BEHI takes into consideration many physical phenomena and scores stream banks categorically from very low to extreme bank erosion hazard; however the power of this index to directly predict in-stream biological conditions is unknown. The predictive ability of BEHI was evaluated on near-bank aquatic biota and organic matter (OM) retention in an AL Piedmont stream with a range of bank conditions. Fifteen banks were characterized using the BEHI and subsequently, macroinvertebrates, crayfishes, fishes and organic matter associated with each bank were quantified. Results suggest increased macroinvertebrate richness and OM retention with low BEHI score. Multivariate analyses suggest functional similarity in macroinvertebrate assemblages associated with low BEHI banks and greater variation in assemblages as BEHI increased. Crayfish were more abundant at banks with high BEHI, a pattern attributed to increases in a generalist species in more-degraded habitats. Fish response showed no discernible pattern in relationship to BEHI score. These results suggest that BEHI may have applications as an informative ecological evaluation tool integrating physical and biological conditions in streams.     

Freshwater sediment pesticide biodegradation potential as an ecological indicator of microbial recovery following a decrease in chronic pesticide exposure: A case study with the herbicide diuron

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of freshwater sediment biodegradation potential as an ecological indicator for monitoring microbial recovery following a decrease in chronic pesticide exposure. For this purpose, a four-year case study (2008–2011) was conducted in a small stream (Morcille river) long exposed to high diuron concentrations, increasing from upstream to downstream. Our results show that the ban on diuron in December 2008 resulted in a progressive decrease in its concentrations in the Morcille river over the survey period. However, diuron remained present in the water three years after the ban. The spatio-temporal variations in the sediment biodegradation potential were assessed by radiorespirometry using [ring-U-¹⁴C] diuron to estimate diuron mineralization potentials. Between autumn 2008 and autumn 2011, mean diuron mineralization percentage after 15 weeks of incubation decreased by 65% downstream and by 82% in the intermediate sector, and mean 10% diuron dissipation time values increased between 143% (downstream) and 210% (intermediate). Thus the decrease in the level of chronic diuron exposure in the river also caused a fall in sediment diuron-mineralizing capacities, revealing a corresponding recovery of microbial communities. Our results show that the use of freshwater sediment biodegradation potential may be useful for assessing microbial recovery after a decrease in chronic exposure to pollutants, opening prospects for developing a new class of ecological indicator to monitor the recovery of biological quality of water resources. In this way, the use of molecular approaches based on direct extraction of nucleic acids from environmental matrices and their subsequent analysis by PCR-based approaches to quantify the abundance of pesticide-degrading communities could represent a promising alternative.     

Use of an ungulate‐specific feed structure as a potential tool for controlling feral goats in Australian forest ecosystems

The feral Goat (Capra hircus) has successfully exploited a range of landscapes around the world with occurrences of overabundance resulting in significant damage to ecological values. In forested ecosystems in Australia, there are currently limited means to control the species when compared to the range of management techniques available for other pest animals. To redress this deficiency, we designed a feed structure combined with commercially available salt blocks to attract goats to set locations in a forested study area. Structures that exploited differences in the pedal morphology (foot size and shape) of native herbivores (kangaroos and wallabies) and ungulates (feral goats and deer) were found to be highly target‐specific, with feral goats freely able to access salt blocks, whilst nontarget native species were effectively excluded. Other introduced ungulate species, Fallow Deer (Dama dama) and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), successfully accessed salt blocks in feed structures but at a considerably lower rate than feral goats. The capacity to present a range of bait types within a target‐specific feed structure, once matched with a humane toxicant, could provide land managers with an additional cost‐effective lethal control tool for future management of feral ungulates, particularly goats.