Freshwater ecosystems are under increasing pressure from a variety of contaminants, including heavy metals from mining operations, which can have complex effects that are difficult to evaluate. To detect early warnings from elevated concentrations of metals, organisms are sought to be used as monitoring tools. For example, mouthpart deformities in Chironomid larvae have been proposed as a bioindicator of stress in aquatic environments. However, the frequency and cause of these deformations, and their sensitivity to different stressors remain uncertain. In this study, I evaluated the usefulness of mouthpart deformities as a tool to monitor the effects of heavy metals from mining in northern Sweden. To do this, the mouthparts of 3789 Chironomid individuals analyzed from 17 sites closely located to mining operations and tested against concentrations of metals and DOC in the water chemistry of lakes and rivers. The frequency of deformities ranged from 0.00 – 4.79 % across all sites. Metal concentrations ranged from ‘very low’ to ‘low’ based on biological effect risk assessments. Of these, copper (R2 = 0.73) and cobalt (R2 = 0.66) were found to be significantly correlated with frequency of deformities. Additionally, the occurrence of deformities declined with DOC concentration, this was a nonlinear relationship. Frequencies of deformities observed in this study were lower than what have been reported to similar studies. The result from this study, together with other studies, suggest that deformities in Chironomid larvae are sensitive to even low levels of certain metals and could potentially be a good biomonitoring tool for early warnings of contamination in freshwater environments.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-03-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:10:13Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 rocha_fc_me_sjrp.pdf: 876174 bytes, checksum: 186df0b1db60e6a2c675e44fa547a313 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / As plantas aquáticas são importantes componentes dos ecossistemas lóticos e lênticos. Como conseqüências de transformações ambientais, algumas podem se tornar dominantes, sendo que as plantas aquáticas do gênero Typha são bem sucedidas em brejos e alagados, podendo também ser encontradas em córregos e ribeirões. O presente estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar a influência de T. angustifolia para a ictiofauna em riachos. Foram estudados seis riachos na bacia do Alto Rio Turvo, Estado de São Paulo, desprovidos de vegetação ripária nativa, mas com abundância de T. angustifolia no hábitat interno e ripário. Por meio da análise de mapas de cobertura do solo, observou-se que T. angustifolia está amplamente distribuída nas zonas ripárias ao longo das drenagens estudadas. Os riachos com as maiores proporções de T. angustifolia nas zonas ripárias também apresentaram a menor riqueza de espécies e abundância de peixes. A baixa semelhança na composição e estrutura da ictiofauna entre os períodos sazonais, a grande quantidade de espécies tolerantes e o fato de que a maioria das espécies foi ou acessória ou acidental, sugerem uma dinâmica populacional do tipo “fonte e dreno” nos riachos estudados. Desta forma, os trechos livres de Typha atuam como “fontes”, provendo indivíduos que, por migração, podem ocasionalmente explorar os trechos com elevada abundância de T. angustifolia. Nestes trechos, que teriam o papel funcional de “drenos”, as condições ambientais são pouco apropriadas para a manutenção de uma comunidade diversa e residente de peixes. Os indivíduos dos trechos “fonte” à montante e à jusante que para ali migram se beneficiam de uma oferta relativamente constante de alimento, embora pouco variada (principalmente larvas aquáticas de Chironomidae e detritos), e abrigos (raízes de Typha). / Aquatic plants are a major component of lenthic and lotic ecosystems. As consequences of environmental changes, some species may became dominant, being that aquatic plants of the genus Typha are a well successful group of weeds in swamps and flooded areas, but also found in headwaters and large streams. This study was made with the aim to investigate the influences of T. angustifolia on the fish assemblages in streams. A total of six streams in the Upper Rio Turvo basin, São Paulo state, without riparian vegetation but with abundance of T. angustifolia in the instream and riparian habitat, were studied. By analyzing soil coverage maps, it was registered that T. angustifolia was widespread in the riparian zones along studied drainages. Streams with the largest proportions of T. angustifolia along riparian zones were also those with lowest fish species richness and abundance. Low similarity in the composition and structure of fish fauna between seasonal periods, together with a large number of tolerant species, and the fact that most species are accessory or accidental, suggest a “source and sink” population dynamic in the studied streams. Thus, free Typha stretches play as a “source” habitat, providing individuals that, by migration, may occasionally explore stretches with large abundance of T. angustifolia. In these stretches, which play a “sink” functional role, environmental conditions are often little appropriated to the maintenance of a diverse and resident fish assemblage. The migrating individuals from up and down “source” stretches are benefited by relatively constant food offer, but few diverse (mostly aquatic larvae of Chironomidae and detritus), and shelters (Typha roots).

Orientador: Lilian Casatti / Banca: Katharina Eichbaum Esteves / Banca: Denise de Cerqueira Rossa Feres / Resumo: As plantas aquáticas são importantes componentes dos ecossistemas lóticos e lênticos. Como conseqüências de transformações ambientais, algumas podem se tornar dominantes, sendo que as plantas aquáticas do gênero Typha são bem sucedidas em brejos e alagados, podendo também ser encontradas em córregos e ribeirões. O presente estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar a influência de T. angustifolia para a ictiofauna em riachos. Foram estudados seis riachos na bacia do Alto Rio Turvo, Estado de São Paulo, desprovidos de vegetação ripária nativa, mas com abundância de T. angustifolia no hábitat interno e ripário. Por meio da análise de mapas de cobertura do solo, observou-se que T. angustifolia está amplamente distribuída nas zonas ripárias ao longo das drenagens estudadas. Os riachos com as maiores proporções de T. angustifolia nas zonas ripárias também apresentaram a menor riqueza de espécies e abundância de peixes. A baixa semelhança na composição e estrutura da ictiofauna entre os períodos sazonais, a grande quantidade de espécies tolerantes e o fato de que a maioria das espécies foi ou acessória ou acidental, sugerem uma dinâmica populacional do tipo "fonte e dreno" nos riachos estudados. Desta forma, os trechos livres de Typha atuam como "fontes", provendo indivíduos que, por migração, podem ocasionalmente explorar os trechos com elevada abundância de T. angustifolia. Nestes trechos, que teriam o papel funcional de "drenos", as condições ambientais são pouco apropriadas para a manutenção de uma comunidade diversa e residente de peixes. Os indivíduos dos trechos "fonte" à montante e à jusante que para ali migram se beneficiam de uma oferta relativamente constante de alimento, embora pouco variada (principalmente larvas aquáticas de Chironomidae e detritos), e abrigos (raízes de Typha). / Abstract: Aquatic plants are a major component of lenthic and lotic ecosystems. As consequences of environmental changes, some species may became dominant, being that aquatic plants of the genus Typha are a well successful group of weeds in swamps and flooded areas, but also found in headwaters and large streams. This study was made with the aim to investigate the influences of T. angustifolia on the fish assemblages in streams. A total of six streams in the Upper Rio Turvo basin, São Paulo state, without riparian vegetation but with abundance of T. angustifolia in the instream and riparian habitat, were studied. By analyzing soil coverage maps, it was registered that T. angustifolia was widespread in the riparian zones along studied drainages. Streams with the largest proportions of T. angustifolia along riparian zones were also those with lowest fish species richness and abundance. Low similarity in the composition and structure of fish fauna between seasonal periods, together with a large number of tolerant species, and the fact that most species are accessory or accidental, suggest a "source and sink" population dynamic in the studied streams. Thus, free Typha stretches play as a "source" habitat, providing individuals that, by migration, may occasionally explore stretches with large abundance of T. angustifolia. In these stretches, which play a "sink" functional role, environmental conditions are often little appropriated to the maintenance of a diverse and resident fish assemblage. The migrating individuals from up and down "source" stretches are benefited by relatively constant food offer, but few diverse (mostly aquatic larvae of Chironomidae and detritus), and shelters (Typha roots). / Mestre