Organic matter breakdown as a measure of stream health in New Zealand streams affected by acid mine drainage |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biological Sciences, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla, MO, USA;2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand;3. School of Environment, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand;1. Université de Lorraine – Metz, UMR 7360, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), Rue C. Bernard, 57070 Metz, France;2. CNRS, LIEC UMR 7360, Rue C. Bernard, 57070 Metz, France;3. Université Blaise Pascal – Aubière, CNRS UMR 6023, Laboratoire Microorganismes: Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Clermont Ferrand, France;1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo, 5790, Jardim Universitário, CEP 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brazil;2. Institute for Dehesa Research (INDEHESA), Ingeniería Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida Virgen del Puerto 2, 10600, Plasencia, Spain;3. MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Largo Marquês de Pombal, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal;1. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília—UnB, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Asa Norte, CEP 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil;2. Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Campus Universitário de Ondina, Ondina, CEP 40170-115, Salvador, BA, Brazil;1. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Avignon Université, IMBE, UMR 7263, Campus l’Etoile, 13397 Marseille, cedex 20, France;2. Institute of Ecology and Environnemental Sciences of Paris (IEES-Paris), UMR 7618 (CNRS, SU, INRA, UPEC, IRD, USPC), 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010 Créteil, France;3. Laboratory “Water Resources and Environment”, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Saïda, Algeria;4. RECOVER, IRSTEA, 3275 Route de Cézanne, CS 40061, 13182, Aix en Provence, Cedex 5, France;5. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Spectropole Campus St Jérôme, Fédération des Sciences Chimiques de Marseille, FR 1739, 13397 Marseille, France |
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| Abstract: | Functional indicators of stream health have the potential to provide insights into stream condition that cannot be gained by traditional structural indices. We examined breakdown of leaves, wood, and cotton cloth strips at 18 sites along a gradient of effects of drainage from coal mines in New Zealand to determine the usefulness of these methods as functional indicators of stream health. The pH varied from 2.7 to neutral across the streams, and the more acidic streams typically had higher concentrations of aluminum, iron, zinc, and other metal ions. Precipitates of metal (mainly iron) hydroxides were present in most streams affected by mine drainage, especially in those with a pH of 4–5. Breakdown rates of all organic matter types were highest in several reference streams with neutral pH and lowest in sites with high rates of metal hydroxide deposition. Breakdown was relatively fast in the most acidic streams (pH < 3), in some cases as fast as at reference sites; these sites also had elevated nutrient concentrations. Shredding invertebrates were absent in litterbags from acidic streams and common at only 2 reference sites; their presence contributed to fast breakdown of leaves in the field and in lab microcosms. Microbial respiration was closely related to breakdown rates of leaves and wood; it was high at neutral and highly acidic streams, but lower at sites with pH 4–5, where metal hydroxides were precipitating onto solid surfaces. In these metal hydroxide-stressed streams, leaf and wood breakdown was slower, and associated biota, including microbes, were more affected than by water chemistry stressors (pH, dissolved metals) associated with mine drainage. Litter breakdown and microbial respiration provide insight into the functioning of streams, yielding different responses than traditional structural measures based on macroinvertebrates, which did not accurately distinguish impacts from acid mine drainage. |
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