Journal
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Volume 37, Issue -, Pages 341-350Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.11.002
Keywords
Acidification; Bioavailability; Chemical speciation; Lakes; Macroinvertebrates; Modelling; Streamwaters; Toxicity
Categories
Funding
- Norwegian Directorate of Nature Management (Biology)
- Norwegian State Pollution Control Authority (Biology and Chemistry)
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
- Countryside Council for Wales (CCW)
- Northern Ireland Department of the Environment
- Environment Agency (EA)
- Environment Agency of Wales
- Forestry Commission (FC), Marine Scotland Pitlochry
- School of Biological Sciences QMuL
- Scottish Government (SG)
- Welsh Assembly Government (WAG)
- ENSIS Ltd./the Environmental Change Research Centre
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (Northern Ireland)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- CCW
- WAG
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
- DEFRA
- EA
- FC
- Natural England
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Northern Ireland Environment Agency
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency
- SG
- Scottish Natural Heritage
- NERC
- Freshwater Biological Association
- Natural Environment Research Council CEH Biogeochemistry Programme
- Natural Environment Research Council [ceh010023] Funding Source: researchfish
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The WHAM-F-TOX model uses chemical speciation to describe the bioavailability and toxicity of proton and metal mixtures (including Al) to aquatic organisms. Here, we apply the previously parameterised model to 45 UK and Norwegian upland surface waters recovering from acidification, to compare its predictions of the maximum species richness of the macroinvertebrate Orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (SR-EPT) with time-series observations. This work uses data from two national scale survey programmes, the Acid Waters Monitoring Network in the UK and a lakes survey in Norway. We also investigate data from a long-studied catchment, Llyn Brianne in Wales. For the national surveys, model results relate well with actual trends, with Regional Kendall analysis indicating biological recovery rates for both actual and predicted species richness that are generally consistent (1.2-2.0 species per decade). However, actual recovery rates in AWMN lakes were less than in the rivers (0.6 vs. 2.0 species per decade), whilst predicted rates were similar (1.7 vs. 2.0). Several sites give a very good fit between model predictions and observations; at these sites chemistry is apparently the principal factor controlling limits of species richness. At other sites where there is poorer agreement between model predictions and observations, chemistry can still explain some of the reduction in species richness. However, for these sites, additional (un-modelled) factors further suppress species richness. The model gives a good indication of the extent of these un-modelled factors and the degree to which chemistry may suppress species richness at a given site. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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