Active entry of stream benthic macroinvertebrates into the water column

Hydrobiologia ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Eugene Walton
1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. P. Quinn ◽  
P. S. Lake ◽  
E. S. G. Schreiber

Little work has been done on colonization by lake benthos, particularly onto hard substrata. This study experimentally compared the rates of colonization of hard substrata (bricks) in a lake by benthic macroinvertebrates from two sources — the water column and the bottom. Colonization onto bricks (as mimics of stones) placed on the bottom of the lake was compared with colonization onto bricks suspended in the water column, where they could not be reached by crawling fauna. Almost all taxa colonizing bottom bricks also colonized suspended bricks, including taxa usually considered benthic (e.g. gastropods, mites, oligochaetes and planarians). Water-column samples confirmed the presence of these taxa in open water. These results suggest that many benthic animals in lakes may move through the water column more readily than previously considered; constant movement by lake benthos may be in response to shortage of resources.


1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (9) ◽  
pp. 1465-1473 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Krantzberg ◽  
P. M. Stokes

The effects of bioturbation on metal dynamics in freshwater–sediment systems were examined. In general, benthic macroinvertebrates caused significant changes in Cu and Zn partitioning among physicochemical forms in the sediment. The proportion of cation-exchangeable and specifically adsorbed Cu observed in Chub Lake (Muskoka–Haliburton) microcosms colonized by chironomids and chaoborids was greater than that for uncolonized sediment. The same relationship held for Cu in Lohi Lake (Sudbury) microcosms supporting a similar benthic community and for Cu and Zn in Port Credit (Lake Ontario) sediments inhabited by tubificids. The ability of tubificid worms to increase sediment Eh was recorded and related to Cu and Zn dynamics. We conclude that macroinvertebrate communities have the potential to increase metal concentrations in the water column, particularly during short episodes of high burrowing activity, and that in situ studies are warranted to verify this potentiality.


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