Spatiotemporal patterns of drivers of episodic acidification in Swedish streams and their relationships to hydrometeorological factors

Thresholds of acidification impacts on macroinvertebrates adapted to seasonally acidified tropical streams: potential responses to extreme drought-driven pH declines

Background

Drought-driven acidification events of increasing frequency and severity are expected as a consequence of climate change, and these events may expose macroinvertebrate taxa to increased acidification beyond their tolerance levels. Recent work in lowland Costa Rica has shown that poorly-buffered tropical streams exhibit natural seasonal variation in pH, with extremely low levels (<4.5) after extreme dry seasons). Our goal was to determine the threshold of pH effects on survival of three tropical stream macroinvertebrate taxa.

Methods

We conducted laboratory mesocosm experiments to determine acidification effects (using diluted HCl) on three focal macroinvertebrate taxa collected from a poorly-buffered stream at La Selva Biological Station: (1) mayfly naiads (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae: Traverella holzenthali), (2) adult shrimp (Decapoda: Palaemonidae: Macrobrachium olfersii), and (3) larval midges (Diptera: Chironomidae). We also compared the effect of pH on survival and growth rates of larval midges from a poorly-buffered (pH 4.3-6.9) vs. a naturally well-buffered (pH 5.1-6.9) stream.

Results/Discussion

Mayfly and shrimp survival decreased between pH 4.0 and 3.5, overlapping with the range of lowest pH levels (3.6-4.0) recorded during a previous extreme El Niño Southern Oscillation event in 1998 and suggesting that increasingly extreme acidification events induced by climate change may negatively affect their survival. In contrast, survival of larval midges was unaffected by pH regimes at/above 3.5, indicating tolerance to pH levels experienced in poorly-buffered stream during seasonal acidification, which has presumably occurred over millennia. These findings highlight the potential importance of historical pH regimes in structuring macroinvertebrate communities. These results are relevant not only to lowland Neotropical streams, but also signal the need for further research in lotic ecosystems worldwide where drought-driven pH declines have been documented or are probable in the future.

Episodic acidification of 5 rivers in Canada's oil sands during snowmelt: A 25-year record

Episodic acidification during snowmelt is a natural phenomenon that can be intensified by acidic deposition from heavy industry. In Canada's oil sands region, acid deposition is estimated to be as much as 5% of the Canadian total and large tracks of northeastern Alberta are considered acid-sensitive because of extensive peatland habitats with poorly weathered soils. To identify the frequency, duration and severity of acidification episodes during snowmelt (the predominant hydrological period for delivery of priority pollutants from atmospheric oil sands emissions to surface waters), a 25-year record (1989 to 2014) of automated water quality data (pH, temperature, conductivity) was assembled for 3 rivers along with a shorter record (2012-2014) for another 2 rivers. Acidic episodes (pH<7, ANC<0) were recorded during 39% of all 83 snowmelt events. The severity (duration x magnitude) of episodic acidification increased exponentially over the study period (r²=0.56, P<0.01) and was strongly correlated (P<0.01) with increasing maximum air temperature and weakly correlated with regional land development (P=0.06). Concentrations of aluminum and 11 priority pollutants (Sb, As, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Se, Ag, Tl and Zn) were greatest (P<0.01) during low (<6.5) pH episodes, particularly when coincident with high discharge, such that aluminum and copper concentrations were at times high enough to pose a risk to juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Although low pH (pH<6.5) was observed during only 8% of 32 acidification episodes, when present, low pH typically lasted 10days. Episodic surface water acidification during snowmelt, and its potential effects on aquatic biota, is therefore an important consideration in the design of long-term monitoring of these typically alkaline (pH=7.72±0.05) rivers.

Decadal trends reveal recent acceleration in the rate of recovery from acidification in the northeastern U.S

Previous reports suggest variable trends in recovery from acidification in northeastern U.S. surface waters in response to the Clean Air Act Amendments. Here we analyze recent trends in emissions, wet deposition, and lake chemistry using long-term data from a variety of lakes in the Adirondack Mountains and New England. Sulfate concentration in wet deposition declined by more than 40% in the 2000s and sulfate concentration in lakes declined at a greater rate from 2002 to 2010 than during the 1980s or 1990s (-3.27 μeq L(-1)year(-1) as compared to -1.26 μeq L(-1)year(-1)). During the 2000s, nitrate concentration in wet deposition declined by more than 50% and nitrate concentration in lakes, which had no linear trend prior to 2000, declined at a rate of -0.05 μeq L(-1)year(-1). Base cation concentrations, which decreased during the 1990s (-1.5 μeq L(-1) year(-1)), have stabilized in New England lakes. Although total aluminum concentrations increased since 1999 (2.57 μg L(-1) year(-1)), there was a shift to nontoxic, organic aluminum. Despite this recent acceleration in recovery in multiple variables, both ANC and pH continue to have variable trends. This may be due in part to variable trajectories in the concentrations of base cations and dissolved organic carbon among our study lakes.

Forest land cover continues to exacerbate freshwater acidification despite decline in sulphate emissions

Evidence from a multi-date regional-scale analysis of both high-flow and annual-average water quality data from Galloway, south-west Scotland, demonstrates that forest land cover continues to exacerbate freshwater acidification. This is in spite of significant reductions in airborne pollutants. The relationship between freshwater sulphate and forest cover has decreased from 1996 to 2006 indicating a decrease in pollutant scavenging. The relationship between forest cover and freshwater acidity (pH) is, however, still present over the same period, and does not show conclusive signs of having declined. Furthermore, evidence for forest cover contributing to a chlorine bias in marine ion capture suggests that forest scavenging of sea-salts may mean that the forest acidification effect may continue in the absence of anthropogenic pollutant inputs, particularly in coastal areas.