2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/23/2019 | 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM | BENTHIC ALGAL COMMUNITIES AS BIOLOGICAL MONITORS OF FUNCTIONAL NUTRIENT THRESHOLDS: A CASE STUDY OF AGRICULTURAL STREAMS IN ALBERTA, CANADA | 150 DEF

BENTHIC ALGAL COMMUNITIES AS BIOLOGICAL MONITORS OF FUNCTIONAL NUTRIENT THRESHOLDS: A CASE STUDY OF AGRICULTURAL STREAMS IN ALBERTA, CANADA

Benthic algal communities occupy a key position in stream ecosystems through coupling the abiotic environment with food webs. These diverse, sessile communities also integrate the impacts of human land-use over time, making them excellent biological indicators of the cumulative functional impacts of anthropogenic nutrient loading on stream ecosystem health. Benthic algal responses to human land-use and nutrient loading may differ between ecoregions, such as the Grassland and Parkland regions found in Alberta, Canada. Here, we explore various metrics of threshold responses by benthic algal communities along a nutrient gradient created by 58 agriculturally-impacted streams. Periphyton samplers were deployed in each stream for one month in late-spring and mid-summer, and harvested algae were identified to genus. Ordination and threshold analyses were conducted to develop predictive models of the functional impacts of nutrient loading on these streams and to identify indicator species. Additional research is exploring nutrient limitation and its effects on the algal community through nutrient injections and tracer analyses. The results of this research could inform watershed management programs in Alberta's agricultural region by suggesting nutrient endpoints that maintain aquatic ecosystem function.

Algae
Nutrients
Biogeochemistry

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Presenters/Authors

Nikki van Klaveren (), University of Alberta, vanklave@ualberta.ca;