2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
6/06/2017 | 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM | LONG-TERM SEDIMENTATION FROM PERMAFROST DEGRADATION DECREASES BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE DRIFT DENSITIES IN ARCTIC STREAMS | 306C
LONG-TERM SEDIMENTATION FROM PERMAFROST DEGRADATION DECREASES BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE DRIFT DENSITIES IN ARCTIC STREAMS
Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS), landscape features formed from permafrost degradation, are increasing in size and frequency in the western Canadian Arctic. The debris from RTS flows into nearby stream systems, greatly changing the physical and chemical properties of the stream, however, little is known about the biological impacts of this abiotic disturbance regime. Disturbances in streams can increase benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) drift, and decrease BMI abundance in impacted stream reaches. This study investigated the influence of RTS disturbances on BMI drift. Sites were sampled upstream and downstream of RTS. Grab samples and sediment traps were used to assess the physical and chemical conditions of stream sites and BMIs were collected using drift nets. Drift density was assessed over a gradient of sedimentation using regressions. There was an unexpected decrease in BMI drift densities with as sedimentation increased, but proportional drift, which corrected for abundance of BMIs collected from the benthos, increased along a sedimentation gradient. This study showed that drift densities can decrease in chronically-impacted streams due to depleted local populations, opposite to what is generally found in the literature.
- C03 Invertebrates
- C22 Disturbance
- C20 Climate Change
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Presenters/Authors
Brianna Levenstein
(), Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunwsick, brianna.levenstein@unb.ca;
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Jennifer Lento
(), Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, jlento@gmail.com;
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Joseph M. Culp
(), Environment and Climate Change Canada and Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5, joseph.culp@canada.ca;
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