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Water Pollution: Organic Waste and Enrichment

Water Pollution: Organic Waste and Enrichment. Headwater stream, Rocky Mountains National Park, CO. R.Grippo. River Continuum Concept A Holistic View. Streams are gradients or continua Downstream processes are linked to upstream events

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Water Pollution: Organic Waste and Enrichment

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  1. Water Pollution: Organic Waste and Enrichment

  2. Headwater stream, Rocky Mountains National Park, CO R.Grippo

  3. River Continuum ConceptA Holistic View • Streams are gradients or continua • Downstream processes are linked to upstream events • Gradients and processes produce a continuous and predictable change in the assemblages of organisms along the stream system

  4. Functional Feeding Groups • Stream benthic macroinvertebrates • Fishes • Protozoa

  5. Functional Feeding Groups(Stream benthic macroinvertebrates) GroupMechanismsFood Shredders Chewers of wood and CPOM Living/decomposing plant tissue Collectors Filtering/gathering FPOM (sewage) and surface films Scrapers Rasping, scraping periphyton Predators Engulfing, piercing Whole animal, animal tissue Piercers Sucking Living hydrophytes Parasites Invasion Living animal and plant tissue

  6. Change from Upper To Lower Reaches

  7. Upper Reaches(headwater to 3rd order) • strong influence of riparian vegetation • - reduction of autotrophic production by shading (P/R <1) • most energy input via allochthonous detritus (CPOM) • microorganisms growing on surface of CPOM provide actual E. to shredders (peanut butter on crackers, Oreo cookie) Headwater stream, GSMNP R. Grippo

  8. Middle Reaches(order 4 to 6) • - CPOM FPOM via organic transport from upstream • Decrease in shading  increase in primary production (P/R >1) • Less dependent on external energy sources Middle reach, Spring River, Centre Co., PA

  9. Delaware River, NJ/PA border

  10. Lower Reaches (order > 6) - still FPOM - water more cloudy, deep  decrease in primary productivity (P/R < 1 again) - increased importance of planktonic organisms

  11. Headwater stream in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming Note: streams are variable, much of Vannote is wrong for western streams R. Grippo

  12. Middle reach of stream in Colorado

  13. Impacts on Streams • Physical – channel alteration, impoundment, sedimentation 2. Chemical • Point sources – toxic waste, sewage • Nonpoint sources – urban, agricultural runoff

  14. Major Water Pollutants 1. Oxygen-demanding wastes (domestic sewage, animal manure, some industrial waste) 2.Disease-causing agents (bacteria, parasites, and viruses) 3. Inorganic wastes and minerals (acids, salts and toxic metals) 4. Organic chemicals (pesticides, plastics, detergents, industrial waste, oil 5. Plant nutrients (nitrates, and phosphates from fertilizers) 6. Sediments (soils, silt, and other solids from land erosion) 7. Heat (industrial and power plant cooling)

  15. Anthropogenic Enrichment • Sewage – alters normal E. source from leaves/algae to disposable sewage (FPOM) Note: Fish hatcheries have a similar effect 2. Logging – takes off riparian cover a. Decreases leaves entering system b. increases runoff/siltation 3. Farming – causes nonpoint source input a. input of crop nutrients  excess algae b. siltation – change in embeddedness  shift to organisms that live on silt 4. Other toxicants – reduce diversity by removing organisms according to sensitivity

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