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Project 4 Abstract
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Evaluating Recovery of Stream
Ecosystems from Mining Pollution:
Integrating Biochemical, Population, Community and Ecosystem Indicators
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| Investigator(s): Dr. William H. Clements, Dept. of Fishery &
Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University; Dr. James Ranville, Dept. of
Chemistry and Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines |
| Institutions: Colorado State University and the Colorado School
of Mines |
| EPA Project Officer: Mitch Lasat |
| Project Period: October 1, 2001 - September 30, 2003 |
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| Objectives/Hypothesis: This research will integrate the fields
of aquatic toxicology and ecotoxicology to characterize the recovery of
a stream ecosystem from mining pollution. The ultimate goals of our research
are: i) to improve our mechanistic understanding of ecological responses
to heavy metals across several levels of biological organization; and ii)
to evaluate indicators of recovery in a metal polluted stream (the Arkansas
River) following improvements in water quality. |
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| Approach: We will combine experimental
stream studies and a long-term field monitoring project to characterize
responses of aquatic organisms to heavy metals. Experiments conducted
in stream microcosms will quantify concentration-response relationships
between heavy metals and biochemical (bioaccumulation), population
(mortality, size structure of dominant taxa), community (species diversity,
community composition) and ecosystem (respiration) level indicators.
To test the hypothesis that these indicators are sensitive to improvements
in water quality, we will validate responses in a large-scale 'natural
experiment' (sensu Diamond 1986) conducted in the Arkansas River,
a metal polluted stream in central Colorado. Metal concentrations
in the Arkansas River are expected to decline over the next few years
as a result of remediation activities in California Gulch, a U.S.
EPA Superfund. |
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Dr. William
Clements presents
at the TMW '02 conference. |
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| Expected Results: The most important expected benefits of this
research are: i) an improved understanding of the mechanistic linkages among
ecological indicators at different levels of biological organization; and
ii) development and validation of a suite of indicators that can be used
to assess recovery of metal-polluted streams in the Rocky Mountain region.
Traditional biological monitoring programs for evaluating water quality
and for assessing ecological integrity are seriously limited because of
the inability to demonstrate direct cause-and-effect relationships. Our
microcosm experiments are designed not only to show causation but to establish
concentration-response relationships between heavy metals and a suite of
biochemical, population, community, and ecosystem level indicators. We will
test these predictions by evaluating indicator responses to improvements
in water quality in the Arkansas River following a large-scale remediation
program. |
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| Supplemental Keywords: Streams; ecological effects; heavy metals;
Rocky Mountains |