Measurement by in situ bioassay of water quality in an agricultural catchment

doi:10.1016/0043-1354(95)00085-Y

Water Research

Volume 29, Issue 11, November 1995, Pages 2441-2448

https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(95)00085-Y Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper describes a study in which a battery of in situ bioassays was used to assess water quality in an agricultural catchment. The main aim of the study was to test whether experimental bioassays could provide information that complemented more traditional macroinvertebrate and chemical monitoring techniques. Two environmental quality assessments were undertaken in Curtisden Green Stream during 1992–1993, using macroinvertebrate monitoring techniques (hand nets or standard colonization units) and the following bioassays: Gammarus pulex (L.) mortality and feeding rate, Anodonta cygnaea (L.) glutathione-S-transferase activity and Chironomus riparius (Meigen) emergence from sediment. The G. pulex and C. riparius assays provided useful information that complemented the macroinvertebrate survey data. The results revealed a system prone to considerable temporal and spatial variability in macroinvertebrate richness and abundance. Stretches of the stream that were consistently taxon-poor made it difficult to assess the effect of contamination using macroinvertebrate community monitoring alone. The experimental bioassays were able to identify particular stretches of the stream where pollution had occurred.

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Measurement by in situ bioassay of water quality in an agricultural catchment

Abstract

Wat. Res.

Mar. Envir. Res.

Meth. Enzymol.

Aquat. Toxicol.

Envir. Pollut.

Ecotoxicol. Envir. Safety

Wat. Res.

Envir. Pollut.

Chemosphere

Standard Guide for Conducting Sediment Toxicity Tests with Freshwater Invertebrates

River Water Quality

Assessing the toxicity of freshwater sediments

Envir. Toxicol. Chem.

The myth of the most sensitive species

Bioscience

Improving environmental protection

Estimating ecotoxicological risk and impact using indigenous aquatic microbial communities

Hydrobiologia

Problems associated with selecting the most sensitive species for toxicity testing

Hydrobiologia

The lethal and sublethal responses of Gammarus pulex to stress: sensitivity and sources of variation in an in situ bioassay

Envir. Toxicol. Chem.

The role of mesocosm studies in pesticide registration

Sediment interstitial water toxicity evaluations using Daphnia magna