We identify littoral microcrustacean indicators of acidification in 2 surveys of Canadian Shield lakes conducted 10 years apart. We found a total of 90 cladoceran and copepod species with richness increasing severalfold from acidic to nonacidic lakes. The fauna of the nonacidic lakes differed between the surveys. The 1987 survey employed activity traps, and caught more littoral taxa than the more recent, net-haul-based survey. Similar faunas were identified in the acidified lakes in both surveys, and several good indicator species were identified. For example, Acanthocycops vernalis was restricted to lakes with pH < 6. Sinobosmina sp. was very common but only in lakes with pH > 4.8. Tropocyclops extensus, Mesocyclops edax, and Sida crystallina were commonly found but only at pH > 5, and Chydorus faviformis only at pH > 5.9. These indicators showed promise in gauging the early stages of recovery from acidification in 3 lakes that were included in both surveys.
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1 May 2003
Littoral Microcrustacean (Cladocera and Copepoda) Indicators of Acidification in Canadian Shield Lakes
Bjørn Walseng,
Norman D. Yan,
Ann Kristin Schartau
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AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
Vol. 32 • No. 3
May 2003
Vol. 32 • No. 3
May 2003