Responses of insects,especially Chironomidae (Diptera), and mites to 130 years of acidification in a Scottish lake

About 130 years of anthropogenic acidification of Round Loch of Glenhead, SW Scotland, has resulted in successively decreased stability, diversity, productivity and survival rate of the non-biting midge (Diptera: Chironomidae) fauna. Similar trends have also been observed among mayflies, caddis-flies and water mites. The first effects of anthropogenic acidification on the insect and mite fauna, as evidenced by palaeolimnological analyses of²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment cores, occurred as early as around 1850, i.e. earlier than in any other lake hitherto studied. The drop in the lake's pH was first indicated by decreased stability and changes in species composition of chironomids and mayflies in the littoral zone. Major changes in the profundal chironomid fauna did not take place until about 1950, when mean lake pH dropped below 5.0. At the same time, the littoral insect fauna became even more unstable and the first significant elimination of species occurred. Comparison with insect fauna of other lakes suggests that a pH of less than 5 might be critical for the ecological conditions in many acidified lakes. None of the twelve most common chironomid species present prior to the acidification of the lake had disappeared after 120–130 years of considerable acidification, and they are all common in oligotrophic lakes with a pH of 6.5–7.0. This is in contrast to the effects of heavy acidification on other aquatic animal groups. Chironomids are probably more sensitive to lake trophic status than lake acidity.