BIOLOGY OF WATER POLLUTION
A Collection of Selected Papers on Stream Pollution,
Waste Water, and Water Treatment
Compiled
by
Lowell E. Keup
William Marcus Ingram
Kenneth M. Mackenthun
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
1967
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PREFACE
Water users are becoming more and more concerned with the abatement of pollution.
Accelerated population and industrial growth has brought many persons into intimate
contact with problems relating to water degradation that is associated with municipal,
industrial, or agricultural wastes, or combinations of these. Thus, the problems of
waste disposal and their reasonable solution are today the concern of all. It is apparent
that problems attendant to waste disposal and water treatment are increasing. Most people
fully appreciate that streams, lakes, and estuarine waters remain static in quantity.
With increased concern for America's water resources, the populace is demanding
accelerated programs for the abatement of pollution, and this requires an increased
number of personnel trained in and cognizant of environmental science.
Science is common sense based upon the experiences of man. Scientific literature is
a record of these experiences. With the growth of the aquatic sciences, the literature has
become voluminous, creating an information retrieval problem. In addition, many of the
earlier writings were published in limited editions and some in not readily available
journals. Today many are not readily available to the scientist who does not have access
to a large, long established library.
This book of selected publications on Biology of Water Pollution, Water Treatment,
and Sewage and Industrial Waste Treatment contains some of the many excellent and basic
pertinent biological papers that have been commonly inaccessible to the contemporary
investigator. These papers are often quoted (sometimes incorrectly) and are a portion of
the "foundation" upon which modern aquatic ecological scientific thought and decisions
are often based in summating water pollution control investigations.
This compiled collection will be of assistance in three phases of water pollution
abatement: (1) It will provide a technical service to the aquatic ecologist through the
assemblage of informative literature; (2) it will illustrate many of the concepts upon
which regulations have been formulated for the protection of aquatic life; (3) it will aid
in the training of new environmental scientists to meet today's and tomorrow's personnel
needs in the conservation of our Nation's natural resources.
Lowell E. Keup
William Marcus Ingram
Kenneth M. Mackenthun
Cincinnati, Ohio
October 1, 1967
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The compilers are indebted to all the authors of the articles incorporated in this
publication. With their permission to reproduce their work, we have the opportunity to
present a collection of outstanding scientific reports representing conscientious planning,
hard work, and excellent execution of the final manuscript.
The original publishers are gratefully acknowledged for permitting reproduction of
copyrighted material from their journals. These publishers a're as follows:
Agriculture Research Service, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, publishers of PLANT DISEASE RE-
PORTER
Akademie-Verlag, publishers of INTERNATIONAL
REVUE DER GESAMTEN HYDROBIOLOGIC AND
HYDROGRAPHIC
The American Chemical Society, publishers of IN-
DUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
American Fisheries Society, publishers of TRANS-
ACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY
The American Public Health Association, Inc., pub-
lishers of AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
AND THE NATION'S HEALTH
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Inc.,
publishers of LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
American Water Works Association, Inc., publishers
of JOURNAL AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIA-
TION
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U.S. Department of
The Interior (Formerly, Bureau of Fisheries, U.S.
Department of Commerce), publishers of BULLETIN
OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, U.S. Depart-
ment of the Interior, publishers of THE PROGRES-
SIVE FISH-CULTURIST
The Duke University Press, publishers of ECOLOGY
Gebruder Borntraeger/Verlogsbuchhandlung, publish-
ers of BERICHTE DER DEUTSCHEN BOTANISCHEN
GESELLSCHAFT
Illinois Natural History Survey, publishers of ILLINOIS
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY BULLETIN
International Association of Milk, Food and Environ-
mental Sanitarians, Inc., publishers oi JOURNAL OF
MILK AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY
New England Water Works Association, publishers of
JOURNAL OF THE NEW ENGLAND WATER WORKS
ASSOCIATION
The Ohio State University Engineering Experiment
Station, publishers of PROCEEDINGS, FIRST OHIO
WATER CLINIC, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY ENGI-
NEERING SERIES BULLETIN
Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Ed-
ucation, and Welfare, publishers of PUBLIC HEALTH
REPORTS
Public Works Journal Corp., publishers of PUBLIC
WORKS
Purdue University, School of Civil Engineering, pub-
lishers of PURDUE UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING
BULLETIN, PROCEEDINGS OF THE (ainual) INDUS-
TRIAL WASTE CONFERENCE
The Water Pollution Control Federation, publishers of
JOURNAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FEDER-
ATION (Formerly cited, SEWAGE WORKS JOURNAL
and SEWAGE AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES)
West Virginia Pulp and Paper, Chemical Division,
publishers of TASTE AND ODOR CONTROL JOURNAL
and TASTE AND ODOR CONTROL IN WATER PURI-
FICATION
The English translations of the two German articles were performed by the Joint
Publications Research Service, U. S. Department of Commerce.
Special thanks are also extended to Mr. Richard W. Warner, Mrs. Martha Jean Wilkey,
Mrs. Dorothy M. Williams, Mrs. Rosalynd J. Kendall, and Mrs. Jacquelyn P. Keup, who
all contributed special skills and knowledge in obtaining materials and assembling the
manuscript.
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CONTENTS
PREFACE i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS u
I. GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION 1
THE LAKE AS A MICROCOSM
S. A. Forbes 3
SEWAGE, ALGAE AND FISH
F. J. Brinley ' 10
BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF STREAM POLLUTION
A. F. Bartsch 13
SOME IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF POLLUTION OFTEN
DISREGARDED IN STREAM SURVEYS
C. M. Tarzwell and A. R. Gaufin 21
BIOLOGICAL INDICES OF WATER POLLUTION, WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO FISH POPULATIONS
P. Doudoroff and C. E. Warren 32
BIOACCUMULATION OF RADIOISOTOPES THROUGH AQUATIC FOOD CHAINS
J. J. Davis and R. F. Foster 41
H. RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON 47
ECOLOGY OF PLANT SAPROBIA
R. Kolkwitz and M. Marrson 47
EFFECTS OF SUNLIGHT AND GREEN ORGANISMS ON RE-AERATION
OF STREAMS
W. Rudolfs and H. Heukelekian 52
THE PLANKTON OF THE SANGAMON RIVER IN THE SUMMER OF 1929
S. Eddy 57
AQUATIC LIFE IN WATERS POLLUTED BY ACID MINE WASTE
J. B. Lackey 75
A HEAVY MORTALITY OF FISHES RESULTING FROM THE DECOMPOSITION
OF ALGAE IN THE YAHARA RIVER, WISCONSIN
K. M. Mackenthun, E. F. Herman, and A. F. Bartsch 77
SUGGESTED CLASSIFICATION OF ALGAE AND PROTOZOA IN SANITARY
SCIENCE
C. M. Palmer and W. M. Ingram 79
HI. RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS 85
ECOLOGY OF ANIMAL SAPROBIA
R. Kolkwitz and M. Marsson 85
VALUE OF THE BOTTOM SAMPLER IN DEMONSTRATING THE EFFECTS OF
POLLUTION ON FISH-FOOD ORGANISMS IN THE SHENANDOAH RIVER
C. Henderson 96
AQUATIC ORGANISMS AS AN AID IN SOLVING WASTE DISPOSAL PROBLEMS
R. Patrick 108
EFFECTS OF SILTATION, RESULTING FROM IMPROPER LOGGING ON THE
BOTTOM FAUNA OF A SMALL TROUT STREAM IN THE SOUTHERN
APPALACHIANS
L. B. Tebo, Jr 114
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IE. RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS (Continued)
STREAM LIFE AND THE POLLUTION ENVIRONMENT
A. F. Bartsch and W. M. Ingram 119
IV. RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF FISH 129
DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT OF STREAM POLLUTION
M. M. Ellis 129
THE EFFECTS OF SEWAGE POLLUTION ON THE FISH POPULATION OF
A MIDWESTERN STREAM
M. Katz and A. R. Gaufin 186
THE EFFECTS OF ACID MINE POLLUTION ON THE FISH POPULATION OF
GOOSE CREEK, CLAY COUNTY, KENTUCKY
W. R. Turner 192
V. RELATIONSHIP OF POLLUTION TO MAN 195
WATER QUALITY REQUIREMENTS FOR RECREATIONAL USES
A. H. Stevenson 195
WATER POLLUTION, ITS EFFECT ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH
J. D. Porterfield 198
POTENTIAL PLANT PATHOGENIC FUNGI IN SEWAGE AND POLLUTED
WATER
W. B. Cooke 201
WATER-BORNE TYPHOID EPIDEMIC AT KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE
W. A. Healy and R. P. Grossman 207
VI. BIOLOGY OF POTABLE WATER SUPPLIES 215
TRANSFORMATIONS OF IRON BY BACTERIA IN WATER
R. L. Starkey 215
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ALGAE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO TASTE
AND ODOR
G. A. Rohlich and W. B. Sarles 232
AQUATIC BIOLOGY AND THE WATER WORKS ENGINEER
J. B. Lackey 236
PRE-TREATMENT BASIN FOR ALGAE REMOVAL
A. J. Marx 239
INDUSTRIAL WASTES AS A SOURCE OF TASTES AND ODORS IN WATER
SUPPLIES
A. M. Buswell 244
VII. BIOLOGY OF SEWAGE AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES TREATMENT 247
THE CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY OF MILK WASTE DISPOSAL
T. F. Wisniewski 247
PROTOZOA AND ACTIVATED SLUDGE
R. E. McKinney and A. Gram 252
BIOLOGICAL FACTORS IN TREATMENT OF RAW SEWAGE IN ARTIFICIAL
PONDS
A. F. Bartsch and M. O. Allum 262
TRICKLING FILTER ECOLOGY
W. B. Cooke 269
SELECTION AND ADAPTATION OF MICROORGANISMS IN WASTE
TREATMENT
P. W. Kabler 287
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Chapter I
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF
BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
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The Lake as a Microcosm
Reproduced With Permission From:
ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY BULLETIN
15(1925): 537-550
THE LAKE AS A MICROCOSM*
Stephen A. Forbes
A lake is to the naturalist a chapter out of the
history of a primeval time, for the conditions of life
there are primitive, the forms of life are, as a whole,
relatively low and ancient, and the system of organic
interactions by which they influence and control each
other has remained substantially unchanged from a
remote geological period.
The animals of such a body of water are, as a whole,
remarkably isolated ~ closely related among them-
selves in all their interests, but so far independant of
the land about them that if every terrestrial animal
were suddenly annihilated it would doubtless be long
before the general multitude of the inhabitants of the
lake would feel the effects of this event in any impor-
tant way. It is an islet of older, lower life in the midst
of the higher, more recent life of the surrounding re-
gion. It forms a little world within itself --a micro-
cosm within which all the elemental forces are at work
and the play of life goes on in full, but on so small a
scale as to bring it easily within the mental grasp.
Nowhere can one see more clearly illustrated what
may be called the sensibility of such an organic com-
plex, expressed by the fact that whatever affects any
species belonging to it, must have its influence of
some sort upon the whole assemblage. He will thus
be made to see the impossibility of studying completely
any form out of relation to the other forms; the neces-
sity for taking a comprehensive survey of the whole
as a condition to a satisfactory understanding of any
part. If one wishes to become acquainted with the
black bass, for example, he will learn but little if he
limits himself to that species. He must evidently
study also the species upon which it depends for its
existence, and the various conditions upon which these
depend. He must likewise study the species with which
it comes in competition, and the entire system of con-
ditions affecting their prosperity; and by the time he
has studied all these sufficiently he will find that he
has run through the whole complicated mechanism of
the aquatic life of the locality, both animal and vege-
table, of which his species forms but a single element.
It is under the influence of these general ideas that
I propose to examine briefly to-night the lacustrine life
of Illinois, drawing my data from collections and ob-
servations made during recent years by myself and my
assistants of the State Laboratory of Natural History.
The lakes of Illinois are of two kinds, fluviatile and
water-shed. The fluviatile lakes, which are much the
more numerous and important, are appendages of the
river systems of the state, being situated in the river
bottoms and connected with the adjacent streams by
periodical overflows. Their fauna is therefore sub-
stantially that of the rivers themselves, and the two
should, of course,,be studied together.
They are probably in all cases either parts of for-
mer river channels, which have been cut off and aban-
doned by the current as the river changed its course,
or else are tracts of the high-water beds of streams
over which, for one reason or another, the periodical
deposit of sediment has gone on less rapidly than over
the surrounding area, and which have thus come to
form depressions in the surface which retain the waters
of overflow longer than the higher lands adjacent. Most
of the numerous "horseshoe lakes" belong to the first
of these varieties, and the "bluff-lakes," situated along
the borders of the bottoms, are many of them examples
of the second.
These fluviatile lakes are most important breeding
grounds and reservoirs of life, especially as they are
protected from the filth and poison of towns and man-
ufactories by which the running waters of the state are
yearly more deeply defiled.
The amount and variety of animal life contained in
them as well as in the streams related to them is ex-
tremely variable, depending chiefly on the frequency,
extent, and duration of the spring and summer over-
flows. This is, in fact, the characteristic and peculiar
feature of life in these waters. There is perhaps no
better illustration of the methods by which the flexible
system of organic life adapts itself, without injury, to
widely and rapidly fluctuating conditions. Whenever
the waters of the river remain for a long time far be-
yond their banks, the breeding grounds of fishes and
other animals are immensely extended, and their food
supplies increased to a corresponding degree. The
slow or stagnant backwaters of such an overflow afford
the best situations possible for the development of
myriads of Entomostraca, which furnish, in turn,
abundant food for young fishes of all descriptions.
There thus results an outpouring of life --an extra-
ordinary multiplication of nearly every species, most
prompt and rapid, generally speaking, in such as have
* This paper originally read February 25, 1887, to the Peoria Scientific Association (now extinct), and published in their Bulletin, was
reprinted many years ago by the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History in an edition which has long been out of print. A single copy
remaining in the library of the Natural History Survey is used every year by classes in the University of Illinois, and a professor of
zoology in a Canadian university borrows a copy regularly from a Peoria library for use in his own classes. In view of this long-continued
demand and in the hope that the paper may still be found useful elsewhere, it is again reprinted, with trivial emendations, and with no
attempt to supply its deficiencies or to bring it down to date.
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GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
the highest reproductive rate, that is to say, in those
which produce the largest average number of eggs and
young for each adult.
The first to feel this tremendous impulse are the
protophytes and Protozoa, upon which most of the
Entomostraca and certain minute insect larvae depend
for food. This sudden development of their food re-
sources causes, of course, a corresponding increase
in the numbers of the latter classes, and, through
them, of all sorts of fishes. The first fishes to feel
the force of this tidal wave of life are the rapidly-
breeding, non-predaceous kinds; and the last, the game
fishes, which derive from the others their principal
food supplies. Evidently each of these classes must
act as a check upon the one preceding it. The develop-
ment of animalcules is arrested and soon sent back
below its highest point by the consequent development
of Entomostraca; the latter, again, are met, checked,
and reduced in number by the innumerable shoals of
fishes with which the water speedily swarms. In this
way a general adjustment of numbers to the new con-
ditions would finally be reached spontaneously; but
long before any such settled balance can be established,
often of course before the full effect of this upward in-
fluence has been exhibited, a new cause of disturbance
intervenes in the disappearance-of the overflow. As
the waters retire, the lakes are again defined; the
teeming life which they contain is restricted within
daily narrower bounds, and a fearful slaughter follows;
the lower and more defenseless animals are penned
up more and more closely with their predaceous ene-
mies, and these thrive for a time to an extraordinary
degree. To trace the further consequences of this
oscillation would take me too far. Enough has been
said to illustrate the general idea that the life of waters
subject to periodical expansions of considerable dura-
tion, is peculiarly unstable and fluctuating; that each
species swings, pendulum-like but irregularly, be-
tween a highest and a lowest point, and that this fluc-
tuation affects the different classes successively, in
the order of their dependence upon each other for food.
Where a water-shed is a nearly level plateau with
slight irregularities of the surface many of these will
probably be imperfectly drained, and the accumulating
waters will form either marshes or lakes according
to the depth of the depressions. Highland marshes of
this character are seen in Ford, Livingston, and ad-
jacent counties,* between the headwaters of the Illinois
and Wabash systems and an area of water-shed lakes
occurs in Lake and McHenry counties, in northern
Illinois.
The latter region is everywhere broken by low,
irregular ridges of glacial drift, with no rock but
boulders anywhere in sight. The intervening hollows
are of every variety, from mere sink-holes, either
dry or occupied by ponds, to expanses of several
square miles, forming marshes or lakes.
This is, in fact, the southern end of a broad lake
belt which borders Lakes Michigan and Superior on
the west and south, extending through eastern and
northern Wisconsin and northwestern Minnesota, and
* All now drained and brought under cultivation.
occupying the plateau which separates the headwaters
of the St. Lawrence from those of the Mississippi.
These lakes are of glacial origin, some filling beds
excavated in the solid rock, and others collecting the
surface waters in hollows of the drift.The latter class,
to which all the Illinois lakes belong, may lie either
parallel to the line of glacial action, occupying valleys
between adjacent lateral moraines, or transverse to
that line and bounded by terminal moraines. Those of
our own state- all drain at present into the Illinois
through the Des Plaines and Fox; but as the terraces
around their borders indicate a former water-level
considerably higher than the present one it is likely
that some of them once emptied eastward into Lake
Michigan. Several of these lakes are clear and beau-
tiful sheets of water, with sandy or gravelly beaches,
and shores bold and broken enough to relieve them
from monotony. Sportsmen long ago discovered their
advantages and club-houses and places of summer
resort are numerous on the borders of the most at-
tractive and easily accessible. They offer also an
unusually rich field to the naturalist, and their zool-
ogy and botany should be better known.
The conditions of aquatic life are here in marked
contrast to those afforded by the fluviatile lakes al-
ready mentioned. Connected with each other or with
adjacent streams only by slender rivulets, varying
but little in level with the change of the season and
scarcely at all from year to year, they are charac-
terized by an isolation, independence, and uniformity
which can be found nowhere else within out limits.
Among these Illinois lakes I did considerable work
during October of two successive years, using the
sounding line, deep-sea thermometer, towing net,
dredge, and trawl in six Jakes of northern Illinois,
and in Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, just across the line.
Upon one of these Illinois laies I spent a week in Octo-
ber, and an assistant, Prof. H. Garman, now of the
University, spent two more, making as thorough a
physical and zoological survey of this lake as was
possible at that season of the year.
I now propose to give you in this paper a brief gen-
eral account of the physical characters and the fauna of
these lakes, and of the relations of the one to the other;
to compare, in a general way, the animal assemblages
which they contain with those of Lake Michigan - - where
also I did some weeks of active aquatic work in 1881 --
and with those of the fluviatile lakes of central Illinois;
to make some similar comparisons with the lakes of
Europe; and, finally, to reach the subject which has
given the title to this paper — to study the system of
natural interactions by which this mere collocation of
plants and animals has been organized as a stable and
prosperous community.
First let us endeavor to form the mental picture.
To make this more graphic and true to the facts, I will
describe to you some typical lakes among those in.
which we worked; and will then do what I can to fur-
nish you the materials for a picture of the life that
swims and creeps and crawls and burrows and climbs
through the water, in and on the bottom, and among
-------
The Lake as a Microcosm
the feathery water-plants with which large areas of
these lakes are filled.
Fox Lake, in the western border of Lake county,
lies in the form of a broad irregular crescent, trun-
cate at the ends, and with the concavity of the crescent
to the northwest. The northern end is broadest and
communicates with Petite Lake. Two points project-
ing inward from the southern shore form three broad
bays. The western end opens into Nippisink Lake,
Crab Island separating the two. Fox River enters the
lake from the north, just eastward of this island, and
flows directly through the Nippisink. The length of a
curved line extending through the central part of this
lake, from end to end, is very nearly three miles, and
the width of the widest part is about a mile and a quar-
ter. The shores are bold, broken, and wooded, except
to the north, where they are marshy and flat. All the
northern and eastern part of the lake was visibly shal-
low -- covered with weeds and feeding water-fowl, and
I made no soundings there. The water there was prob-
ably nowhere more than two fathoms in depth, and over
most of that area was doubtless under one and a half.
In the western part, five lines of soundings were run,
four of them radiating from Lippincott's Point, and
the fifth crossing three of these nearly at right angles.
The deepest water was found in the middle of the mouth
of the western bay, where a small area of five fathoms
occurs. On the line running northeast from the Point,
not more than one and three fourths fathoms is found.
The bottom at a short distance from the shores was
everywhere a soft, deep mud. Four hauls of the dredge
were made in the western bay, and the surface net was
dragged about a mile.
Long Lake differs from this especially in its isola-
tion, and in its smaller size. It is about a mile and a
half in length by a mile in breadth. Its banks are all
bold except at the western end, where a marshy val-
ley traversed by a small creek connects it with Fox
Lake, at a distance of about two miles. The deepest
sounding made was six and a half fathoms, while the
average depth of the deepest part of the bed was about
five fathoms.
Cedar Lake, upon which we spent a fortnight, is a
pretty sheet of water, the head of a chain of six lakes
which open finally into the Fox. It is about a mile in
greatest diameter in each direction, with a small but
charming island bank near the center, covered with
bushes and vines — a favorite home of birds and wild
flowers. The shores vary from rolling to bluffy ex-
cept for a narrow strip of marsh through which the
outlet passes, and the bottoms and margins are gravel,
sand, and mud in different parts of its area. Much of
the lake is shallow and full of water plants; but the
southern part reaches a depth of fifty feet a short
distance from the eastern bluff.
Deep Lake, the second of this chain, is of similar
character, with a greatest depth of fifty-seven feet --
the deepest sounding we made in these smaller lakes
of Illinois. In these two lakes several temperatures
were taken with a differential thermometer. In Deep
Lake, for example, at fifty-seven feet I found the bot-
tom temperature 53-1/2° — about that of ordinary
well-water — when the air was 63°; and in Cedar
Lake, at forty-eight feet, the bottom was 58° when
the air was 61°.
Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, is a clear and beautiful
body of water about eight miles long by one and a
quarter in greatest width. The banks are all high,
rolling, and wooded, except at the eastern end, where
its outlet rises. Its deepest water is found in its
western third, where it reaches a depth of r.wenty-
three fathoms. I made here, early in November,
twelve hauls, of the dredge and three of the trawl,
aggregating about three miles in length, so distributed
in distance and depth as to give a good idea of the in-
vertebrate life of the lake at that season.
And now if you will kindly let this suffice for the
background or setting of the picture of lacustrine life
which I have undertaken to give you, I will next en-
deavor — not to paint in the picture; for that I have not
the artistic skill. I will confine myself to the humble
and safer task of supplying you the pigments, leaving
it to your own constructive imaginations to put them
on the canvas.
When one sees acres of the shallower water black
with water-fowl, and so clogged with weeds that a boat
can scarcely be pushed through the mass; when, lifting
a handful of the latter, he finds them covered with
shells and alive with small crustaceans; and then,
dragging a towing net for a few minutes, finds it lined
with myriads of diatoms and other microscopic algae,
and with multitudes of Entomostraca, he is likely to
infer that these waters are everywhere swarming with
life, from top to bottom and from shore to shore. If,
however, he will haul a dredge for an hour or so in the
deepest water he can find, he will invariably discover
an area singularly barren of both plant and animal life,
yielding scarcely anything but a small bivalve mollusk,
a few low worms, and red larvae of gnats. These in-
habit a black, deep, and almost impalpable mud or
ooze, too soft and unstable to afford foothold to plants
even if the lake is shallow enough to admit a sufficient
quantity of light to its bottom to support vegetation. It
is doubtless to this character of the bottom that the
barrenness of the interior parts of these lakes is due;
and this again is caused by the selective influence of
gravity upon the mud and detritus washed down by
rains. The heaviest and coarsest of this material
necessarily settles nearest the margin, and only the
finest silt reaches the remotest parts of the lakes,
which, filling most slowly, remain, of course, the
deepest. This ooze consists very largely, also, of a
fine organic debris. The superficial part of it contains
scarcely any sand, but has a greasy feel and rubs
away, almost to nothing, between the fingers. The
largest lakes are not therefore, as a rule, by any
means the most prolific of life, but this shades inward
rapidly from the shore, and becomes at no great dis-
tance almost as simple and scanty as that of a desert.
Among the weeds and lily-pads upon the shallows
and around the margin -- the Potamogeton, Myrio-
phyllum, Ceratophyllum, Anacharis, and Chara, and
the common Nelumbium, -- among these the fishes
chiefly swim or lurk, by far the commonest being the
barbaric bream 1 or "pumpkin-seed" of northern
Illinois, splendid with its green and scarlet and purple
1 Lepomis gibbosus.
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GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
and orange. Little less abundant is the common perch
(Perca lutea) in the larger lakes --in the largest out-
numbering the bream itself. The whole sunfish family,
to which the latter belongs, is in fact the dominant
group in these lakes. Of the one hundred and thirty-
two fishes of Illinois only thirty-seven are found in
these waters — about twenty-eight per cent -- while
eight out of our seventeen sunfishes (Centrarchinae)
have been taken there. Next, perhaps, one searching
the pebbly beaches or scanning the weedy tracts will
be struck by the small number of minnows or cypri-
noids which catch the eye or come out in the net. Of
our thirty-three Illinois cyprinoids, only six occur
there -- about eighteen per cent — and only three of
these are common. These are in part replaced by
shoals of the beautiful little silversides (Labidesthes
sicculus), a spiny-finned fish, bright, slender, active,
and voracious — as well supplied with teeth as aperch,
and far better equipped for self-defense than the soft-
bodied and toothless cyprinoids. Next we note that of
our twelve catfishes (Siluridae) only two have been
taken in these lakes — one the common bullhead
(Ictalurus nebulosus). which occurs everywhere, and
the other an insignificant stone cat, not as long as
one's thumb. The suckers, also, are much less abun-
dant in this region than farther south, the buffalo
fishes1 not appearing at all in our collections. Their
family is represented by worthless carp2 by two red-
horse^, by the chub sucker^ and the common sucker
(Catostomus teres). and by one other species. Even
the hickory shad5 -- an ichthyological weed in the
Illinois — we have not found in these lakes at all. The
sheepshead^, so common here, is also conspicuous
there by its absence. The yellow bass"7, not rare in
this river, we should not expect in these lakes because
it is, rather, a southern species; but why the white
bass*5, abundant here, in Lake Michigan, and in the
Wisconsin lakes, should be wholly absent from the
lakes of the Illinois plateau, I am unable to imagine.
If it occurs there at all, it must be rare, as I could
neither find nor hear of it.
A characteristic, abundant, and attractive little fish
is the log perch (Percina caprodes) — the largest of
the darters, slender, active, barred like a zebra,
spending much of its time in chase of Entomostraca
among the water plants, or prying curiously about
among the stones for minute insect larvae. Six darters
in all (Ethcostomatinae). out of the eighteen from the
state, are on our list from these lakes. The two black
bass'' are the most popular game fishes -- the large-
mouthed species being much the most abundant. The
pickerelsf°, gar1*, and dogfish*2 are there about as
here; but the shovel-fish1^ does not occur.
Of the peculiar fish fauna of Lake Michigan -- the
burbot 14, white fish15, trout!6; lake herring or
ciscol?, etc., not one species occurs in these smaller
lakes, and all attempts to transfer any of them have
failed completely. The Cisco is a notable fish of
Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, but does not reach Illinois
except in Lake Michigan. It is useless to attempt to
introduce it, because the deeper areas of the interior
lakes are too limited to give it sufficient range of cool
water in midsummer.
In short, the fishes of these lakes are substantially
those of their region -- excluding the Lake Michigan
series (for which the lakes are too small and warm)
and those peculiar to creeks and rivers. Possibly
the relative scarcity of catfishes (Siluridae) is due
to the comparative clearness and cleanness of these
waters. I see no good reason why minnows should be
so few, unless it be the abundance of pike and Chicago
sportsmen.
Concerning the molluscan fauna, I will only say
that it is poor in bivalves -- as far as our observa-
tions go — and rich in univalves. Our collections
have been but partly determined, but they give us
three species of Valvata, seven of Planorbis, four
Amnicolas, a Melantho, two Physas, six Limnaeas,
and an Ancylus among the Gastropoda, and two Unios,
an Anodonta, a Sphaerium, and a Pisidium among the
Lamellibranchiates. Pisiduim variabile is by far the
most abundant mollusk in the oozy bottom in the deeper
parts of the lakes; and crawling over the weeds are
multitudes of small Amnicolas and Valvatas.
The entomology of these lakes I can merely touch
upon, mentioning only the most important and abun-
dant insect larvae. Hiding under stones and driftwood,
well aware, no doubt, what enticing morsels they are
to a great variety of fishes, we find a number of species
of ephemerid larvae whose specific determination we
have not yet attempted. Among the weeds are the usual
larvae of dragon-flies -- Agrionina and Libellulina,
familiar to every one; swimming in open water the
predaceous larvae of Corethra; wriggling through the
water or buried in the mud the larvae of Chironomus
— the shallow water species white, and those from the
the deeper ooze of the central parts of the lakes blood-
red and larger. Among Charaon the sandy bottom are
a great number and variety of interesting case-worms
-- larvae of Phryganeidae -- most of them inhabiting
tubes of a slender conical form made of a viscid secre-
tion exuded from the mouth and strengthened and thick-
ened by grains of sand, fine or coarse. One of these
cases, nearly naked, but usually thinly covered with
diatoms, is especially worthy of note, as it has been
reported nowhere in this country except in our collec-
tions, and was indeed recently described from Brazil
as new. Its generic name is Lagenopsyche, but its
species undertermined. These larvae are also eaten
by fishes.
Among the worms we have of course a number of
species of leeches and of planarians, -- in the mud
minute Anguillulidae, like vinegar eels, and a slender
Lumbriculus which makes a tubular mud burrow for
itself in the deepest water, and also the curious Nais
probiscidea, notable for its capacity of multiplication
by transverse division.
The crustacean fauna of these lakes is more varied
than any other group. About forty species were noted
^ctiobus bubalus. 2Ictiobus cyprinus. 3Moxostoma aureolum and M. macrolepidotum. 4Erimyzon sucetta. 5Dorosoma cepedianum.
6Haploidonotus. 7Roccus interruptus. 8Roccus chrysops. 9Micropterus. lOEsox. H Lepidosteus. !2Amia. 13 Polyodon. 14 Lota.
15Coregonus clupeiformis. 16Salvelinus namaycush. 17 Coregonus artedi.
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The Lake as a Microcosm
in all. Crawfishes were not especially abundant, and
niost belonged to a single species, Cambarus virilis.
Two amphipods occurred frequently in our collections;
one, less common here but very abundant farther south
Crangonyx gracilis — and one, Allorchestes dentata,
probably the commonest animal in these waters, crawl-
ing and swimming everywhere in myriads among the
submerged water-plants. An occasional Gammarus
fasciatus was also taken in the dredge. A few isopod
Crustacea occur, belonging to Mancasellus tenax -- a
species not previously found in the state.
I have reserved for the last the Entomostraca —
minute crustaceans of a surprising number and variety,
and of a beauty often truly exquisite. They belong
wholly, in our waters, to the three orders, Copedoda,
Ostracoda, and Cladocera -- the first two predaceous
upon still smaller organisms and upon each other, and
the last chiefly vegetarian. Twenty-one species of
Cladocera have been recognized in our collections,
representing sixteen genera. It is an interesting fact
that twelve of these species are found also in the fresh
waters of Europe. Five cyprids have been detected,
two of them common to Europe, and also an abundant
Diaptomus, a variety of a European species. Several
Cyclops species were collected which have not yet
been determined.
These Entomostraca swarm in microscopic myriads
among the weeds along the shore, some swimming
freely, and others creeping in the mud or climbing
over the leaves of plants. Some prefer the open water,
in which they throng locally like shoals of fishes,
coming to the surface preferably by night, or on dark
days, and sinking to the bottom usually by day to avoid
the sunshine. These pelagic forms, as they are called,
are often exquisitely transparent, and hence almost
invisible in their native element — a charming device
of Nature to protect them against their enemies in the
open lake, where there is no chance of shelter or ex-
cape. Then with an ingenuity in which one may almost
detect the flavor of sarcastic humor, Nature has turned
upon these favored children and endowed their most
deadly enemies with a like transparency, so that wher-
ever the towing net brings to light a host of these crys-
talline Cladocera, there it discovers also swimming,
invisible, among them, a lovely pair of robbers and
beasts of prey -- the delicate Leptodora and the
Corethra larva.
These slight, transparent, pelagic forms are much
more numerous in Lake Michigan than in any of the
smaller lakes, and peculiar forms occur there com-
monly which are rare in the larger lakes of Illinois
and entirely wanting in the smallest. The transparent
species are also much more abundant in the isolated
smaller lakes than in those more directly connected
with the rivers.
The vertical range of the animals of Geneva Lake
showed clearly that the barrenness of the interiors of
these small bodies of water was not due to the greater
depth alone. While there were a few species of crus-
taceans and case-worms which occurred there abun-
dantly near shore but rarely or not at all at depths
greater than four fathoms, and may hence be called
littoral species, there was, on the whole, little dimi-
nution either in quantity or variety of animal life until
about fifteen fathoms had been reached. Dredging at
four or five fathoms were nearly or quite as fruitful
as any made. On the other hand, the barrenness of
the bottom at twenty to twenty-three fathoms was very
remarkable. The total product of four hauls of the
dredge and one of the trawl at that depth, aggregating
fully a mile and a half of continuous dragging, would
easily go into a two-dram vial, and represents only
nine animal species -- not counting dead shells, and
fragments which'had probably floated in from shal-
lower waters. The greater part of this little collec-
tion was composed of specimens of Lumbriculus and
larvae of Chironomus. There were a few Corethra
larvae, a single Gammarus, three small leeches, and
some sixteen mollusks, all but four of which belonged
to Pisidium. The others were two Sphaeriums, a
Valvata carinata, and aV. sincera. None of the species
taken here are peculiar, but all were of the kinds found
in the smaller lakes, and all occurred also in shal-
lower water. It is evident that these interior regions
of the lakes must be as destitute of fishes as they are
of plants and lower animals.
While none of the deep-water animals of the Great
Lakes were found in Geneva Lake, other evidences of
zoological affinity were detected. The towing net
yielded almost precisely the assemblage of. species of
Entomostraca found in Lake Michigan, including many
specimens of Limnocalanus macrurus Sars; and pe-
culiar long, smooth leeches, common in Lake Michigan
but not occurring in the small Illinois lakes, were also
found in Geneva. Many Valvata tri-carinata lacked the
middle carina, as in Long Lake and other isolated
lakes of this region.
Comparing the Daphnias of Lake Michigan with those
of Geneva Lake, Wis. (nine miles long and twenty-three
fathoms in depth), those of Long Lake, 111. (one and a
half miles long and six fathoms deep), and those of
other, still smaller, lakes of that region, and the
swamps and smaller ponds as well, we shall be struck
by the inferior development of the Entomostraca of the
larger bodies of water in numbers, in size a.nd robust-
ness, and in reproductive power. Their smaller num-
bers and size are doubtless due to the relative scarcity
of food. The system of aquatic animal life rests es-
sentially upon the vegetable world, although perhaps
less strictly than does the terrestrial system, and in
a large and deep lake vegetation is much less abundant
than in a narrower and shallower one, not only rela-
tively to the amount of water but also to the area of
the bottom. From this deficiency of plant life results
a deficiency of food for Entomostraca, whether of
algae, of Protozoa, or of higher forms, and hence, of
course, a smaller number of the Entomostraca them-
selves, and these with more slender bodies, suitable
for more rapid locomotion and wider range.
The difference of reproductive energy, as shown
by the much smaller egg-masses borne by the species
of the larger lakes, depends upon the vastly greater
destruction to which the paludal Crustacea are sub-
jected. Many of the latter occupy waters liable to be
exhausted by drought, with a consequent enormous
waste of entomostracan life. The opportunity for
reproduction is here greatly limited — in some
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GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
situations to early spring alone — and the chances for
destruction of the summer eggs in the dry and often
dusty soil are so numerous that only the most prolific
species can maintain themselves.
Further, the marshes and shallower lakes are the
favorite breeding grounds of fishes, which migrate to
them in spawning time if possible, and it is from the
Entomostraca found here that most young fishes get
their earliest food supplies -- a danger from which
the deep-water species are measurably free. Not only
is a high reproductive rate rendered unnecessary
among the latter by their freedom from many dangers
to which the shallow-water species are exposed, but
in view of the relatively small amount of food avail-
able for them, a high rate of multiplication would be
a positive injury, and could result only in wholesale
starvation.
All these lakes of Illinois and Wisconsin, together
with the much larger Lake Mendota at Madison (in
which also I have done much work with dredge, trawl,
and seine), differ in one notable particular both from
Lake Michigan and from the larger lakes of Europe.
In the latter the bottoms in the deeper parts yield a
peculiar assemblage of animal forms which range but
rarely into the littoral region, while in our inland
lakes no such deep water fauna occurs, which the ex-
ception of the Cisco and the large red Chironomus
larva. At Grand Traverse Bay, in Lake Michigan, I
found at a depth of one hundred fathoms a very odd
fish of the sculpin family (Triglopsis thompsoni Gir.)
which, until I collected it, had been known only from
the stomachs of fishes; and there also was an abun-
dant crustacean, Mysis -- the "opossum shrimp", as
it is sometimes called -- the principal food of these
deep lake sculpins. Two remarkable amphipod crus-
taceans also belong in a peculiar way to this deep
water. In the European lakes the same Mysis occurs
in the deepest part, with several other forms not
represented in our collections, two of these being
blind crustaceans related to those which in this coun-
try occur in caves and wells.
Comparing the other features of our lake fauna with
that of Europe, we find a surprising number of Ento-
mostraca identical; but this is a general phenomenon,
as many of the more abundant Cladocera and Copepoda
of our small wayside pools are either European species,
or differ from them so slightly that it is doubtful if
they ought to be called distinct.
It would be quite impossible, within reasonable
limits, to go into details respecting the organic re-
lations of the animals of these waters, and I will
content myself with two or three illustrations. As one
example of the varied and far-reaching relations into
which the animals of a lake are brought in the general
struggle for life, I take the common black bass. In
the dietary of this fish I find, at different ages of the
individual, fishes of great variety, representing all
the important orders of that class; insects in consid-
erable number, especially the various water-bugs and
larvae of day-flies; fresh-water shrimps; and a great
multitude of Entomostraca of many species and genera.
The fish is therefore directly dependent upon all these
classes for its existence. Next, looking to the food of
the species which the bass has eaten, and upon which
it is therefore indirectly dependent, I find that one
kind of the fishes taken feeds upon mud, algae, and
Entomostraca, and another upon nearly every animal
substance in the water, including mollusks and de-
composing organic matter. The insects taken by the
bass, themselves take other insects and small Crus-
tacea. The crawfishes are nearly omnivorous, and of
the other crustaceans some eat Entomostraca and
some algae and Protozoa. At only the second step,
therefore, we find our bass brought into dependence
upon nearly every class of animals in the water.
And now, if we search for its competitors we shall
find these also extremely numerous. In the first place,
I have found that all our young fishes except the Catos-
tomidae feed at first almost wholly on Entomostraca,
so that the little bass finds himself at the very begin-
ning of his life engaged in a scramble for food with all
the other little fishes in the lake. In fact, not only
young fishes but a multitude of other animals as well,
especially insects and the larger Crustacea, feed upon
these Entomostraca, so that the competitors of the
bass are not confined to members of its own class.
Even mollusks, while they do not directly compete
with it do so indirectly, for they appropriate myriads
of the microscopic forms upon which the Entomostraca
largely depend for food. But the enemies of the bass
do not all attack it by appropriating its food supplies,
for many devour the little fish itself. A great variety
of predaceous fishes, turtles, water-snakes, wading
and diving birds, and even bugs of gigantic dimen-
sions destroy it on the slightest opportunity. It is in
fact hardly too much to say that fishes which reach
maturity are relatively as rare as centenarians among
human kind.
As an illustration of the remote and unsuspected
rivalries which reveal themselves on a careful study
of such a situation, we may take the relations of fishes
to the bladderwort1 --a flowering plant which fills
many acres of the water in the shallow lakes of north-
ern Illinois. Upon the leaves of this species are found
little bladders -- several hundred to each plant --
which when closely examined are seen to be tiny traps
for the capture of Entomostraca and other minute
animals. The plant usually has no roots, but lives
entirely upon the animal food obtained through these
little bladders. Ten of these sacs which I took at ran-
dom from a mature plant contained no less than ninety-
three animals (more than nine to a bladder), belonging
to twenty-eight different species. Seventy-six of these
were Entomostraca, and eight others were minute
insect larvae. When we estimate the myriads of small
insects and Crustacea which these plants must appro-
priate during a year to their own support, and consider
the fact that these are of the kinds most useful as food
for young fishes of nearly all descriptions, we must
conclude that the bladderworts compete with fishes for
food, and tend to keep down their number by diminish-
ing the food resources of the young. The plants ev'3n
have a certain advantage in this competition, since
they are not strictly dependent on Entomostraca, as
1 Utricularia.
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The Lake as a Microcosm
the fishes are, but sometimes take root, developing
then but very few leaves and bladders. This probably
happens under conditions unfavorable to their support
by the other method. These simple instances will
suffice to illustrate the intimate way in which the living
forms of a lake are united.
Perhaps no phenomenon of life in such a situation
is more remarkable than the steady balance of organic
nature, which holds each species within the limits of
a uniform average number, year after year, although
each one is always doing its best to break across
boundaries on every side. The reproductive rate is
usually enormous and the struggle for existence is
correspondingly severe. Every animal within these
bounds has its enemies, and Nature seems to have
taxed her skill and ingenuity to the utmost to furnish
these enemies with contrivances for the destruction
of their prey in myriads. For every defensive device
with which she has armed an animal, she has invented
a still more effective apparatus of destruction and
bestowed it upon some foe, thus striving with unending
pertinacity to outwit herself; and yet life does not
perish in the lake, nor even oscillate to any consid-
erable degree, but on the contrary the little community
secluded here is as prosperous as if its state were
one of profound and perpetual peace. Although every
species has to fight its way inch by inch from the egg
to maturity, yet no species is exterminated, but each
is maintained at a regular average number which we
shall find good reason to believe is the greatest for
which there is, year after year, a sufficient supply
of food.
I will bring this paper to a close, already too long
postponed, by endeavoring to show how this beneficent
order is maintained in the midst of a conflict seem-
ingly so lawless.
It is a self-evident proposition that a species can
not maintain itself continuously, year after year, unless
its birth-rate at least equals its death-rate. If it is
preyed upon by another species, it must produce reg-
gularly an excess of individuals for destruction, or
else it must certainly dwindle and disappear. On the
other hand, the dependent species evidently must not
appropriate, on an average, any more than the surplus
and excess of individuals upon which it preys, for if
it does so it will continuously diminish its own food
supply, and thus indirectly but surely exterminate
itself. The interests of both parties will therefore be
best served by an adjustment of their respective rates
of multiplication such that the species devoured shall
furnish an excess of numbers to supply the wants of
the devourer, and that the latter shall confine its
appropriations to the excess thus furnished. We thus
see that there is really a close community of interest
between these two seemingly deadly foes.
And next we note that this common interest is
promoted by the process of natural selection; for it
is the great office of this process to eliminate the
unfit. If two species standing to each other in the re-
lation of hunter and prey are or become badly adjusted
in respect to their rates of increase, so that the one
preyed upon is kept very far below the normal number
which might find food, even if they do not presently
obliterate each other the pair are placed at a disad-
vantage in the battle for life, and must suffer accord-
ingly. Just as certainly as the thrifty business man
who lives within his income will finally dispossess
his shiftless competitor who can never pay his debts,
the well-adjusted aquatic animal will in time crowd
out its poorly-adjusted competitors for food and for
the various goods of life. Consequently we may be-
lieve that in the long run and as a general rule those
species which have survived, are those which have
reached a fairly close adjustment in this particular. 1
Two ideas are thus seen to be sufficient to explain
the order evolved from this seeming chaos; the first
that of a general community of interests among all the
classes of organic beings here assembled, and the
second that of the beneficent power of natural selection
which compels such adjustments of the rates of de-
struction and of multiplication of the various species
as shall best promote this common interest.
Have these facts and ideas, derived from a study
of our aquatic microcosm, any general application on
a higher plane ? We have here an example of the tri-
umphant beneficence of the laws of life applied to con-
ditions seemingly the most unfavorable possible for
any mutually helpful adjustment. In this lake, where
competitions are fierce and continuous beyond any
parallel in the worst periods of human history; where
they take hold, not on goods of life merely, but always
upon life itself; where mercy and charity and sympathy
and magnanimity and all the virtues are utterly un-
known; where robbery and murder and the deadly
tyranny of strength over weakness are the unvarying
rule; where what we call wrong-doing is always tri-
umphant, and what we call goodness would be imme-
diately fatal to its possessor, — even here, out of
these hard conditions, an order-has been evolved which
is the best conceivable without a total change in the
conditions themselves; an equilibrium has been reached
and is steadily maintained that actually accomplishes
for all the parties involved the greatest good which the
circumstances will at all permit. In a system where
life is the universal good, but the destruction of life
the well-nigh universal occupation, an order has spon-
taneously arisen which constantly tends to maintain
life at the highest limit — a limit far higher, in fact,
with respect to both quality and quantity, than would
be possible in the absence of this destructive conflict.
Is there not, in this reflection, solid ground for a
belief in the final beneficence of the laws of organic
nature? If the system of life is such that a harmonious
balance of conflicting interests has been reached where
every element is either hostile or indifferent to every
other, may we not trust much to the outcome where,
as in human affairs, the spontaneous adjustments of
nature are aided by intelligent effort, by sympathy,
and by self-sacrifice?
iFor a fuller statement of this argument, see Bui. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist. Vol. I, No. 3, pages 5 to 10.
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10
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
Reproduced With Permission From:
SEWAGE WORKS JOURNAL
15(1943): 78-83
SEWAGE, ALGAE AND FISH*
Floyd J. Brinley
U. S. Public Health Service, Cincinnati, Ohio
Much has been written concerning the effects of
stream pollutants on fish life. It is the general belief
that fish cannot live in a stream polluted by domestic
sewage or industrial wastes. The conservationists
would like to have all waste materials prevented from
entering out streams, thereby returning them, at least
partially, to their virgin state. This, of course, would
be ideal, but our population has increased to more than
one hundred million people, conditions have changed
and the clock cannot be turned backwards. Few people,
however, seem to realize that domestic sewage, after
proper treatment, increases the stream's biological
productivity as represented by the plankton and fish
population. It is the purpose of this paper to show that
treated domestic sewage acts as a fertilizer for a
stream in much the same manner as barnyard manure
does for field plants.
While making a biological survey of the Ohio River
Watershed the author was able to collect a large amount
of data on the relation of domestic sewage to aquatic
life. The present paper is based upon the data pre-
sented in detail in a supplement of a forthcoming
report of the Ohio River Pollution Survey (1).
RELATION OF SEWAGE TO ALGAE
The entrance of untreated domestic sewage pro-
duces a well defined series of physical, chemical and
biological changes in a flowing stream (2). In heavily
polluted streams, the region immediately below the
source of pollution is characterized by a high bacterial
population. The water frequently has a cloudy appear-
ance, high biochemical oxygen demand and a strong
disagreeable odor, all indicating general depletion of
dissolved oxygen. Masses of gaseous sludge, rising
from the bottom of the more sluggish streams, are
often noticed floating near the surface of the water.
The plankton population in this region is composed
largely of bacteria-eating ciliated protozoa, such as
Paramecium and Colpidium. Large numbers of stalked
ciliates (Vorticella and Carchesium) are frequently
found attached to bottom objects. Colorless flagellates
may be abundant, with an occasional chlorophyll-bear-
ing species. The total volume of plankton is usually
less than 2000 parts per million, but may reach several
times that figure if conditions are optimum for the
development of large numbers of protozoa. Long
streamers of sewage fungus are frequently attached
to submerged objects. The fishes that normally pene-
trate this region are carp and buffalo and they are
found near the sewer outlet, feeding upon the raw
sewage, where the bacterial action has not yet de-
pleted the dissolved oxygen. These fish survive the
prevailing low oxygen concentration by coming to the
surface to "gulp" air.
Farther down stream, after sufficient time has
elapsed for the masses of bacteria to decompose the
sewage, the water tends to become clear and the dis-
solved oxygen level is sufficiently high to support
forage and rough fish. The plankton population is
slightly higher than upstream but is still composed
largely of ciliated protozoe. and colorless flagellates.
Chlorophyll-bearing species are^ beginning to make
their appearance in noticeable numbers. Blue-green
and filamentous green algae are commonly found along
the margins and bottom of the stream. Accumulated
oxygen may bring large masses of the bottom algae
to the surface of the water and give to the stream an
unsightly appearance. (These floating islands of algae
should not be confused with the gaseous sludge masses
previously mentioned.) The combined photosynthetic
action of all the green plants is an important factor
in raising the oxygen level, especially on bright
sunny days.
The adjacent region farther downstream clearly
shows the beneficial effect of the decomposed sewage
which entered upstream. The bacterial action in the
upper reaches of the stream has oxidized the complex
organic compounds present in the sewage to nitrates
and phosphates. The availability of these end products
as plant foods results in the development of large
numbers of chlorophyll-bearing algae, which furnish
food for the zooplankton and this food supply results
in an increase in the population of mixed fishes (Fig. 1).
The photosynthetic action of the green algae in this
region increases the dissolved oxygen, often to super-
saturation during the day, which, however, decreases
at night but seldom to the asphyxial level for fishes.
Still farther downstream the plankton population
drops sharply, probably owing largely to the utilization
of the available food materials by the heavy growth of
plankton in the upstream region. There is a tendency
for a reduction in the forage and rough fishes, but the
game fishes tend to increase.
The above statements give a brief description of
the conditions present in a small stream that receives
untreated domestic sewage. However, if the waste
* Published by permission of the Surgeon-General. From the Division of Public Health Methods.
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F
Sewage, Algae and Fish
11
FOOD CYCLE
Figure 1 - Food Cycle in a Polluted Stream. Sewage or other putrescible organic
matter after entrance into a flowing stream is changed by bacterial
action into ammonia and nitrites and finally into nitrates and phosphates.
These latter compounds are assimilated by the algae and result in an
increase in growth of these plants. The algae are consumed as food by
the larger plankton, zooplankton, which in turn are eaten by fishes.
Cross hatched area shows the condition of the effluent as it leaves the
treatment plant. The effluent from a primary plant contains some ammo-
nia and nitrites, but is still subject to bacterial action after disposition
into the receiving stream. The degradation zone, of high bacterial
action, high B.O.D. and low D.O., in the stream can be eliminated by
passing the sewage through a complete or secondary treatment plant.
Complete treatment converts much of the organic matter into nitrates
and phosphates which become immediately available for plant growth
resulting in an increased fish population.
receives complete or secondary treatment, so that the
bacterial action oxidizes the sewage to available plant
foods before the effluent enters the stream, the early
obnoxious stage will not occur and the stream will be
benefited by the fertilizing effect of the sewage for
many miles of its length. Beneficial effects of pri-
mary treatment are shown by the red-action in sludge
deposits and a shortening of the zone of degradation.
RELATION OF SEWAGE TO FISH LIFE
The effect of sewage on fish life varies with the
season and also with the time of day. In summer the
fish are active, their metabolic rate is high and more
oxygen is required for their respiration than during
the winter, when their activity is greatly reduced. On
the ottier hand, during the warm summer periods the
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12
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
bacterial decomposition in a heavily polluted region of
a stream is at its maximum, resulting in an increased
biological oxygen demand and a lower dissolved oxygen
concentration. The solubility of oxygen, moreover, is
less in warm water than in cold water, so that less
oxygen is absorbed from the atmosphere and held in
solution. The increased oxygen requirement of the
fish and the reduced oxygen concentration of the water
renders hot weather particularly unfavorable for fish
life in a polluted stream. Fish, therefore, usually die
of suffocation during warm periods in regions grossly
polluted by putrescible organic matter. It must not be
assumed that summer is the only time that fish suffer
from low oxygen concentration, because thousands of
fish may die under ice by suffocation owing to the de-
pletion of oxygen by decaying organic matter. This
condition may last for only a day or two but that is suf-
ficient time to destroy the fish population in a stream.
The toxic ity of the hydrogen sulfide and other com-
pounds produced by anaerobic bacterial action in the
bottom sludge deposits may be an important factor in
the death of fishes in streams receiving untreated
sewage. Ellis (3) reports that 10 p.p.m. of H2S in
hard water killed goldfish in 96 hours or less. Local
freshets resulting from heavy rains during low water
periods tend to mix the sludge with the supernatant
water and to carry the putrid mass downstream. The
resulting reduction in the dissolved oxygen and the
end products of anaerobic bacterial action destroy the
fish for miles below.
It is also well known that heavy organic pollution
causes an increase in disease, parasitism and abnor-
malities among fishes.
The deposition of sludge on the bottom of streams
renders that portion of the stream unfit for nesting
sites and will smother any eggs that may have been
laid prior to the entrance of the waste. Polluted re-
gions may act as barriers to the upstream migration
of fish for the purpose of spawning.
As stated in the first section of this paper, domestic
sewage, after it has been decomposed by bacterial
action, either in the stream or previously by artificial
secondary treatment, increases the growth of aquatic
plants by virtue of the fertilizing value of the end prod-
ucts. These plants furnish food for the zooplankton
which in turn furnishes food for fish and thus the fish
population is increased in regions where stream fer-
tilization by sewage occurs.
Another important factor in the relation of algae to
fish life is the reoxygenation of the stream by the
photosynthesis of algae. The combined photosynthetic
action of all the algae may increase the dissolved
oxygen to supersaturation during sunny days. Purdy
(4) has shown that Oocystis increases appreciably the
amount of oxygen in a closed sample of water. The
fact must not be overlooked, however, that the plants
themselves, in addition to all forms of aquatic life,
consume oxygen during the process of respiration, so
the rapid rise of oxygen during the day may be followed
by a disastrous fall in the early morning hours if the
stream is heavily polluted by decaying organic matter.
Photosynthesis also removes from the water carbon
dioxide which is produced as a waste product by the
living cell and the decomposition of organic matter.
Wells (5) has shown that fishes are very sensitive to
small changes in the carbon dioxide content of the
water and tend to avoid detrimental concentrations of
this gas by moving away to more favorable locations
when possible, and that fresh water species of fish
tend to select regions where the CO2 concentration
lies between 1 and 6 cc. per liter.
Turbidity may occur in hard-water ponds by the
removal of the CO2 by plants with the subsequent pre-
cipitation of the carbonates that are held in solution
by the carbonic acid in the water. The removal of
CO2 tends to keep the water from becoming acid, but
fish will tolerate without apparent harm a pH as low
as 4.5 (6).
RELATION OF ALGAE TO FISH LIFE
Algae serve directly or indirectly as food for all
fishes. The green algae are the medium by which the
complex organic compounds in sewage, following bac-
terial decomposition, are transferred to fish. The
organic compounds, as previously stated, are con-
verted by bacterial action into available plant foods.
These materials are absorbed from the water by the
aquatic plants and by the process of photosynthesis,
and other cellular activities are converted into the
living plant cell. The organic materials comprising
the green algae are transferred to the fish through
the medium of the zooplankton which are found asso-
ciated with the algae. Small fish feed directly upon
the algae and zooplankton and the adults of many
species, such as the shad, live almost entirely upon
the microscopic life in the water. The larger zoo-
plankton such a.s Daphnia, Cyclops, etc., are impor-
tant articles of diet for larval and small species of
fish; in turn, these are eaten by larger fishes which
may become the food of man (Fig. 1).
SUMMARY
Data obtained from a pollution survey of the Ohio
River Basin clearly show that the decomposition prod-
ucts of domestic sewage and other putrescible organic
matter increase the growth of plankton, which growth
is reflected in an increase in the fish population.
Untreated or raw sewage, when in sufficient con-
centration, produces a toxic area below the sewer
outlet. The region extends downstream for a variable
distance, until the sewage is decomposed by bacteria.
From this point, the stream is benefited by the fertil-
izing action of the decomposition products.
When the sewage has received proper secondary
treatment, the toxic or degradation zone does not exist
and the entire stream will be benefited biologically by
the available plant foods introduced.
-------
Biological Aspects of Stream Pollution
13
REFERENCES
1. F.J. Brinley and L.I. Katzin, Ohio River Pollution
Survey. Report of Biological Studies. In press.
2. F.J. Brinley, Biological Studies, Ohio River Pol-
lution Survey. I. Biological Zones in a Polluted
Stream. This Journal, 14, 147-152 (1942).
3. M.M. Ellis, Detection and Measurement of Stream
Pollution. Bulletin of the Bur. of Fisheries, 48,
Bull. No. 22 (1937).
4. W.C.Purdy, Experimental Studies of Natural Puri-
fication in Polluted Waters. X. Reoxygenation of
Polluted Waters by Microscopic Algae. U.S. Public
Health Reports, 52, 29, 945-978 (1937).
5. M.M. Wells, The Reaction and Resistance of Fishes
to Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide. Bull. 111.
State Lab. of Natural History, XI, Art. VIII, 557-
569 (1918).
6. H.W. Brown and M.E. Jewell, Further Studies on
the Fishes of an Acid Lake. Trans. Amer. Micros.
Soc., 45, 20-34 (1928).
Reproduced With Permission From:
SEWAGE WORKS JOURNAL
20(1948): 292-302
BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF STREAM POLLUTION*
A. F. Bartsch
Senior Biologist, State Committee on Water Pollution, Madison, Wis.
The entry of pollutants into a flowing stream sets
off a progressive series of physical, chemical and
biological events in the downstream waters. Their
nature is governed by the character and quantity of
the polluting substance. Domestic or industrial ef-
fluents may adversely affect natural stream life by
direct toxic action or indirectly through quantitative
alterations in the1 character of the water or the stream
bed. These facts imply that the presence of polluting
substances produces physical, chemical and biological
changes that may be recognized as dependable criteria
of stream conditions.
The value of physical and chemical data is recog-
nized generally by those concerned with stream pol-
lution and its control. Methods used in gathering
these data are fairly well standardized and practiced.
Biological procedures have not, as yet, attained an
equal degree of refinement. In some ways this is
surprising, for the complex interactions resulting
from stream pollution are predominantly biological.
The determinations of biochemical oxygen demand and
dissolved oxygen are essentially for the purpose of
finding out how much bacterial food is available and
how the bacteria like their diet. Other applications of
these data are well known.
The biological phase of stream sanitation is still
an infant science, with many of its procedures, re-
finements and applications still to be worked out. For
this reason the following discussion is of a general
nature and refers primarily to stream pollution re-
sulting from the introduction of raw or partly treated
sewage. Industrial or toxic types of wastes are not
considered. Personal field observations and the pub-
lications of others have been drawn upon freely for
interpretation.
Biological aspects of stream pollution will be con-
sidered in a general way from two separate but related
points of view: (1) how pollutants change the character
of the stream as a habitat for organisms, and (2) the
action of organisms upon the pollutant and their re-
lated distribution.
The fundamentals of stream biology may best be
illustrated by reference to a fictional stream whose
hypothetical character may be molded with a free
hand. This stream has a semi-solid bottom, medium
gradient, average width of about 75 feet, and depth of
6 feet. It flows through alternating wooded and culti-
vated areas. It is blessed, for our purpose, by having
a single source of man-made pollution -- the com-
munity of Windmill. Sewage is discharged directly to
the stream.
The stream water reaching this community is not
pure, for the word, as commonly used, is only rela-
tive. Drainage from the land already has added humus
extracts, organic particulate matter and inorganic
salts leached from the soil. Drainage from cultivated
land is rich in the elements that stimulate plant growth,
* Presented at Twentieth Annual Convention, Central States Sewage Works Assn.; Duluth, Minn.; June 20, 1947.
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14
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
and pasture lands contribute organic wastes and intes-
tinal bacteria. These contributions are sometimes
called "natural pollution." Whether the origin is na-
tural or from a sewer outlet, the stimulatory effect
upon organisms is the same in principle. The recog-
nizable result is that the unpolluted stream supports
a variety of organisms as a normal biota.
EFFECTS OF POLLUTION ON BIOLOGICAL
ENVIRONMENT
The entry of pollutants changes in many ways the
conditions under which stream organisms normally
live. This discussion can consider only a few, but
there are changes in the stream bottom, in the phys-
ical and chemical properties of the water and in the
competitive relations of organisms.
Sewage is a complex mixture of many kinds of
substances that have been discarded by man because,
to him, they have no further value. The constituents
are organic and inorganic, simple compounds and
complex ones. The organic substances include car-
bohydrates, proteins and fats as well as their decom-
position products. There are salts of various kinds
including ammonium salts, nitrates and nitrites. Or-
ganic growth stimulators also are a part. Some of the
sewage substances are in solution, some colloidal and
others suspended but capable of settling. It follows,
then, that a recipient stream will have its waters
affected by all fractions of the sewage while the stream
bed is altered primarily by settling particulate matter.
If the stream is represented graphically (Figure 1)
with mileage distances (or hours of flow) on the hori-
zontal axis, the fictional community of Windmill is
located at the zero level. Distances upstream are to
the left and downstream to the right. The intensity of
varying environmental conditions is plotted along the
vertical axis. Food for organisms -- chemists call
this B.O.D. -- is shown as curve F. The introduction
of sewage tremendously augments the normal supply
and thus alters this environmental factor. As the food
supply is increased by pollution, the bacterial popula-
tion tends to increase in geometric proportion and
draws upon the available food (Figure 4). It is to be
expected that the food supply will decline downstream
and will eventually approach thepre-pollutionalvalue.
This is found to be a fact.
All organisms require oxygen for the maintenance
of life. When applied to food, it functions in releasing
the life-supporting energy that foods contain. Man
draws upon the atmospheric supply by breathing, while
most aquatic organisms draw upon the oxygen dis-
solved in water. Bacterial reduction of thepollutional
food supply -- desirable and necessary as it may be --
is not accomplished without cost. That cost is reduc-
tion in dissolved oxygen concentration beyond the point
required by desirable water animals.
The normal oxygen value of clean water is shown
as areas A, from this level to 40 per cent of saturation
as B, lesser concentrations as C, and those increasing
beyond 40 per cent of saturation as D. These areas
also mark the arbitrary limits of stream zones based
upon oxygen concentration. The descriptive names are
clean water for A, degradation for B, active decompo-
sition for C_ and recovery for D.
If the pollutional load is fairly light or the dilution
factor high, the sag curve resembles the upper curved
line with normal value reestablished at 58 miles. This
is accomplished by addition of oxygen from the atmos-
phere and through the activity of green plants. Where
the content of organic matter is sufficiently high, dis-
solved oxygen may be reduced to zero through the
oxygen-absorbing efficiency of bacteria. This is the
ultimate in organic stream pollution and the circum-
stance upon which the following discussion is based.
This poorest of stream conditions will be discussed
since conditions that are less severe are then readily
apparent also.
Ten miles below Windmill is the beginning of a 20-
mile zone in which dissolved oxygen is absent entirely.
10
20 30
MILES
4O
50 60
Figure 1 - Graphic representation of hypothetical polluted stream showing relation-
ship of biotic food supply (F) and dissolved oxygen sag curve.
-------
Biological Aspects of Stream Pollution
15
Here, the biotic demand for oxygen is greater than
the supply provided by solution from the atmosphere.
Bacteria and certain other organisms occupying this
septic region are obliged to obtain the required oxygen
from other sources. This they do by reducing oxygen-
bearing compounds by anaerobic processes. Such
activity may result in depleting the supply of oxygen
found chemically in nitrates and nitrites, and reduces
sulfates to hydrogen sulfide with its offensive odor and
toxic action. These are some of the causes for rising
gas bubbles and sludge in the septic zone. The gases
alone make living conditions here unattractive for
most forms of life.
Stream environment is further affected by the sus-
pended semi-solids of sewage (Figure 2-A). These
affect green free-floating stream life by immediately
decreasing the transparency of the water and blotting
Out the sunlight. Downstream from the sewer outlet
the water is turbid and slightly brownish, becoming
dark and murky in the septic zone. As oxygen is added
downstream by reaeration, the water gradually clears
and finally is tinged with green by suspended micro-
scopic plants.
Organisms that live in the stream bed are also
affected by the suspended matters of sewage. These
finally settle to the bottom (Figure 2-C) as a blanket
of debris that effectively covers the normal habitat of
clean water bottom life. It is an inexhaustible source
of food but will sustain only those organisms that can
qualify for life in that habitat. They must be efficient
in obtaining oxygen, for conditions frequently are
anaerobic. They must be able to burrow and creep so
as to stay on top of the steadily growing layer, or else
must be indifferent to being covered over. They must
resist the toxic action of hydrogen sulfide and other
gases that may emanate continuously from the deeper
sludge layers.
Thus, it is seen that sewage alters the normal con-
ditions of food supply, dissolved oxygen, turbidity,
bottom surface, and chemical character of the stream
and its bed. These are but a few of the environmental
alterations that result from sewage pollution. They
are sufficient to show that biological changes are sure
to follow. Alteration in the competitive relations of
stream life will be shown in subsequent discussion.
ACTION OF ORGANISMS UPON THE POLLUTANT
AND THEIR RELATED DISTRIBUTION
It is apparent that most modern methods for the
treatment of sewage depend, at some stage or another,
upon the activities of living organisms. So much is
this the case that all sorts of schemes have been de-
vised for pampering the biotic associations and fos-
tering their work. Biological competition is removed
in the wastage of activated sludge, and oxygen is
supplied to excess. The trickling filter brings the
organisms food and oxygen and washes away their
metabolic wastes and products. In the sludge digester,
they are kept warm so their work proceeds properly
and at a rapid pace. In the final analysis, the modern
treatment plant is an artificial, telescoped, polluted
stream with the zone of degradation at the primary
tank and the recovery zone in the final effluent. The
high efficiencies obtained are related entirely to these
artificial stimulatory conditions, for the fundamental
biological processes are the same as in the less
efficient stream. •
It has been shown that -sewage is food, stimulation
and habitat for simple forms of life, and that reduc-
tion in the organic stream load is accompanied by a
corresponding extraction of oxygen. It is not the intent
of this discussion, nor within the ability of the writer,
to give in detail the precise bacterial activities in-
volved in this accomplishment. At the same time, the
basic information is important and needs consideration.
The millions of bacteria in sewage-laden waters
are of a variety of kinds and have a variety of abilities.
Some of these are normal inhabitants of both clean and
10
to
ao 30
MILES
40
50
60
Figure 2 - Biotic habitat alterations resulting from stream pollution. (A) Physical
changes in water resulting from entry of raw sewage at zero mileage
level; (B) dissolved oxygen sag curve; and (C) accumulation of bottom
sludge deposits and rising gas bubbles.
-------
16
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
foul water. The presence of sewage stimulates their
population increase (Figure 4). Others find their way
into the stream in tremendous numbers as normal
inhabitants of sewage. Some bacteria are able to
multiply in the stream, while others such as B. coli
and disease producers appear to die off gradually
downstream. They may starve to death, be eaten by
predators, be killed by high acidity, or disappear in
still other unknown ways. In any event, the popula-
tion peak is in the near downstream vicinity of the
pollutional source.
Some bacteria can act upon a given organic com-
pound, derive energy and growth material from it, and
leave an altered residue that serves a different bac-
terial species or other organism in the same manner.
In this way, chains of progressive actions are set in
motion that result eventually in the transformation of
sewage to simpler, innocuous substances. Some of
these are carbon dioxide and water from carbohydrates
and fats, and salts of phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen
from protein. Evidence of this mineralizing process
is found in the progressive quantity shift from organic
nitrogen, to ammonia, to nitrites and finally to nitrates
as the water proceeds downstream.
As bacteria grow and multiply, selected constitu-
ents of the sewage are incorporated into their living
substance. The ability to do this distinguishes all
nonliving from living matter. It is an important ability,
for in its practice a part of the sewage is set aside
momentarily for action at a later time. On this account,
bacteria sometimes are called concentrators of the
pollutional load.
These activities of bacteria proceed in all parts of
the stream. They are distributed throughout the water
and are mixed into and over the bottom deposits. Un-
der conditions of intense pollution, dissolved oxygen
eventually is depleted in the flowing stream. Such
depletion is more frequent and widespread in the bot-
tom sludge. When this condition prevails, as from the
10 to 30-mile levels in the illustrative stream, bacte-
rial action becomes of a different sort. In this septic
region bacteria that are able to do so, act upon oxygen-
bearing compounds in such a. manner that oxygen from
outside sources is not required. These bacteria are
commonly called anaerobes. Their actions are to be
prevented, if possible, for their products are various
acids and such gases as ammonia, methane and hy-
drogen sulfide. Living conditions here are suitable
only for organisms unaffected by these products and
indifferent to oxygen supply.
Biological action in the stream continually de-
creases the food supply so that at 50 to 60 miles the
concentration approximates the upstream values.
Bacteria decrease in much the same pattern so that
normal populations are attained at about the same level.
In addition to bacteria, unpolluted streams support
a variety of other kinds of organisms. Those forms
that produce their required food from minerals, car-
bon dioxide and water are members of the plant king-
dom. Animals are those that require a supply of food
already prepared. Bacteria and molds resemble
animals in their food habits, but are classed as plants
that lack the ability to make food. Organisms may be
classified further by their position in the stream.
Those that are small, suspended in the water and
swept along with the current, are called the plankton.
Plankters may be either plant or animal. Organisms
that are attached to, lie upon, creep over or burrow
into the stream bed are called the benthos. As has
been stated, the bacteria occupy all of these positions.
Large animals such as fish, frogs and turtles are not
considered in this classification scheme.
Clean waters support a wide variety of organisms
consisting of plant and animal plankton as well as
benthic organisms. They are exacting in their habitat
requirements and are affected by any interfering al-
terations. Normal changes in temperature, light,
dissolved oxygen and food supply tend to result in
shifts in the population picture. These, however, are
rarely great, for predation, death and growth moderate
the changing tendency and keep the biotic society in
balance. In this society are organisms ordinarily as-
sociated with clean stream conditions. Some of these
are game fishes such as trout, bass, blue-gills and
pike, and smaller animals such as mussels, crayfish,
snails and the larvae of caddisflys, stoneflies and
dragon and damselflies. Shrimplike scuds may be
present, swimming about on their sides or climbing
over vegetation. A complete list of these organisms
would be a long one. '
In such a list of inhabitants would be the names of
some organisms that are just holding their own, never
building an appreciable population. Competition is too
keen, food supply too low, and the habitat not quite
suitable. Some of these would fare better in the pol-
luted portions of the stream.
SIGNIFICANCE OF BIOLOGICAL POPULATION
The remainder of this discussion is based upon the
principle that organisms differ, not only in appearance,
but also in their power of response to conditions of the
environment. If all moderating factors for a given
organism are removed, the organism will thrive and
produce tremendous numbers. On the other hand, if
environmental factors are inhibitory, numbers will be
small or totally absent. A set of conditions that are
ideal for one organism may be lethal for another.
If changing conditions, such as pollution, are un-
favorable, organisms must resist these changes,
migrate or be destroyed. But, if conditions are favor-
able for certain organisms, these will thrive and build
high populations. For this reason, the society of or-
ganisms found in zones of pollution is highly significant.
It offers clues to the intensity of pollution and the
degree of recovery.
Let it be supposed that the clean waters of the
illustrative stream will provide suitable living quar-
ters for a hundred different kinds of organisms, — a
balanced society of plant and animal species (Figure
3-A). With the entry of sewage, the variety decreases
rapidly. Of these 100 species upstream the majority
find conditions for life unsuitable in the zones of pol-
lution. It is only downstream in the recovery 'zone
where biotic variety makes a gain.
-------
Biological Aspects of Stream Pollution
17
VARIETY
A
.»•** w///////m.
POPU-
LATION
B
10
10
20 30
MILES
40
50
60
Figure 3 - Responses of bottom organisms to entry of raw sewage at zero mileage
level. (A) Varity distribution; (B) population alterations of "clean
water" and "pollutional" bottom forms.
Strange as it may seem, these few species in the
pollutional zones find conditions quite suitable. Here
they thrive in the absence of competition and with a
high food supply. They are the ones that are intimately
concerned with stream recovery. They may be called
pollutional organisms.
If the biotic population be differentiated into clean
water and pollutional organisms (Figure 3-B), their
distribution may be contrasted. Bacteria are excluded
from this graph. Clean water population drops abruptly
to zero with the introduction of sewage. The population
increases downstream with the variety increase. Pol-
lutional population is low in clean water, but response
is quick in the presence of wastes. Even these organ-
isms decline in the true septic zone where only the
anaerobes can live. The population peak will occur
near the 45-mile level where food is abundant and
oxygen again sufficient for the biotic needs. In the
absence of a septic zone, both population peaks would
roughly coincide. This condition will apply also in the
following graphs. Population drop from the 45-mile
point reflects approaching exhaustion of the food supply.
POLLUTIONAL ORGANISMS AND THEIR
FUNCTIONS
Swimming about among the bacteria and creeping
over the bottom sludge are minute animals composed
of a single structural unit or cell. Some of these are
able to utilize complex dissolved and particulate or-
ganic substances and in this way parallel the action of
bacteria. Their prime function, however, is a more
important one. They drive the bacteria and keep them
at work. This is accomplished by the simple expedient
of voraciously eating the bacteria so that they must
reproduce to maintain their numbers. Since growth
is a prelude to reproduction, biochemical oxidation
proceeds at a feverish pace.
The bacteria-eaters are mainly those protozoans
equipped with cilia which they use for swimming and
food gathering. They move about continuously, lashing
the water with their cilia and setting up currents that
sweep bacteria into the gullet. This practice is carried
out wherever bacteria occur. Following due process
of ciliate digestion, the bacterial substance is now
protozoan substance. The presence of bacteria and
organic supplies results in a population peak below the
bacterial peak as well as one above the septic zone
(Figure 4).
But, for these protozoans all is not sublime — they
too have enemies. As they are swept downstream or
flutter over the mud, they finally fall victim to rotifers,
water fleas and related crustaceans that select them
for variety in their diet of bacteria and small algae.
The peak crustacean population is at the 58-mile point
(Figure 4). And so it goes, the larger eating the smal-
ler until the food progression leads to mussels, cray-
fish, small fish and large fish.
Mainly restricted to the bottom is another array of
biotic forms. These are perhaps the most dependable
indicators of stream condition. Ordinarily, the pol-
lutional bottom is a confusion of biological activity --
each member of the assemblage going about his own
business of gathering food and reproducing. To them,
stream recovery is merely incidental. The distri-
bution of species is governed by the stringency of
habitat conditions.
Rat-tail maggots (Figure 5-A) are a sign of ex-
tremely poor conditions. Thus ugly larva of the drone-
fly (Eristalis tenax) lies buried in the mud with the
tail extended to the surface for air. For this reason,
dissolved oxygen is not a consideration and it may
penetrate into the septic zone.
Next in line come the sludge-worms (Tubificidae)
(Figure 5-B), reddish in color, 1/2 inch to 1-1/2 inch
-------
18
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
10
Figure 4 - Linear alterations in populations of bacteria, ciliate protozoans, and
crustaceans.
Figure 5 - Bottom organisms found in zones of pol-
lution. (A) Rat-tail maggot (Eristalis
tenax); (B) Sludge-worm (Tubifex sp.);
(C) Blood-worm (Chironomus sp.); and
(D) Sow-bug (Asellus communis). Approx-
imately natural size.
in length. They burrow in the mud where organic con-
tent is high. They excavate in the upper layers of the
sludge, passing large quantities through the intestinal
tract and straining out the food. With the posterior
part of the body projecting into the water, the worms
cast rejected parts of the sludge on the surface in the
form of fecal pellets. The work accomplished in this
manner is tremendous. The sludge is worked over,
perforated and its organic content reduced.
Frequently these worms are so numerous that the
stream bed appears as a red undulating sheet. They
occupy the zones of degradation, active decomposi-
tion and the upper part of the recovery zone. They
are absent from the septic region.
Blood-worms (Chironomus sp.) also are burrowers
in the mud. These are red, jointed, worm-like ani-
mals (Figure 5-C) that eventually transform to midge-
flies. In this larval stage, they occupy burrow-like
tubes constructed of sludge stuck together with an
adhesive substance. Empty tubes are common and
may occur in heaps. Their food habits are similar to
the sludge worms, but they are more exacting in their
habitat requirements. For this reason they reach
their peak in the recovery zone.
At this point, also, the sow-bug or water-log-louse
(Asellus communis) makes its first appearance. They
are flattened, greyish animals about 1/4 inch long
-------
Biological Aspects of Stream Pollution
19
0 10 20 30 40 SO 6O
MILES
Figure 6 - Linear alterations in populations of sludge-worms (A), blood-worms (B),
and sow-bugs (C).
(Figure 5-D), related to the scuds found in clean water.
They are provided with jpinted appendages, of which
six pairs are modified as legs. They crawl about on
the bottom, under stones, or climb among water weeds.
They do not move by swimming.
Sow-bugs are omnivorous in their feeding habits
but seem to prefer dead and decaying vegetable matter.
Their oxygen requirements apparently are greater
than those of sludge-worms or blood-worms. They
are common in the recovery zone where dissolved
oxygen in the supernatant water exceeds 40 per cent
of saturation. They indicate improving conditions.
If the distribution of sludge-worms, blood-worms
and sow-bugs are plotted together, their population
peaks occur in the succession shown in Figure 6.
In addition to bacteria, other plants also are in-
volved in stream recovery. Sewage molds and fila-
mentous bacteria may be seen attached to sticks, stones
and vegetation, waving gracefully in the current (Fig-
ure?). They function with the bacteria in biochemical
oxidation. They are whitish gray, becoming tinged
with yellow, red or brown when old. In the zone of
degradation, growth is widespread and luxuriant. It
persists to the septic region and reappears feebly with
Figure 7 - Sewage mold (Sphaerotilus natans) attached to sticks, stones and vege-
tation and waving in the current.
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20
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
-------
Some Important Biological Effects of Pollution Often Disregarded in Stream Surveys
21
Reproduced With Permission From:
PURDUE UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING BULLETIN -
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 8th INDUSTRIAL WASTE CONFERENCE
1953: 295-316
SOME IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF
POLLUTION OFTEN DISREGARDED IN
STREAM SURVEYS
Clarence M. Tarzwell and Arden R. Gaufin
Chief and Biologist - Biology Section
Environmental Health Center, Public Health Service
Cincinnati, Ohio
The complexity of the pollution problem is being
constantly intensified by the ever-increasing variety of
pollutants that are added to streams. Due to the fact
that pollutants, domestic and industrial, represent
only a portion of the many factors which determine
stream environments, the same pollutant may not bring
about similar conditions in different streams. The
character of the watershed, including soil type, amount
and type of ground cover, and land uses; the amount,
seasonal distribution, and type of precipitation; the
frequency of floods and the amount of erosion; and the
character of the stream banks, bottom materials, gra-
dient and stream flow are all of importance. These
and other factors determine stream characteristics,
environmental conditions, the aquatic biota, and in
large part the effects of different polluting substances.
SOME BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF POLLUTANTS
Pollutants may alter the stream environments and
thereby affect aquatic life in a number of ways. These
environmental changes may include an increase in
stream temperatures; changes in the character of the
stream bottom; increase in turbidity; changes in the
content of dissolved oxygen; increase in dissolved
nutrients; production of undesirable growths; deposi-
tion of sludge beds; and the addition of toxic wastes.
The degree or extent of the effect of these changes on
aquatic life varies with the type and amount of the
pollutant and the character of the receiving water. It
is the purpose of this paper, therefore, to point out
some of the possible effects of pollution on aquatic life
and to indicate pertinent ecological conditions which
should be noted in stream surveys.
Water used for cooling purposes in industrial proc-
esses may become so hot and be of such quantity that
it may substantially raise the temperature of the re-
ceiving stream. The addition of a waste or wash water
having a fairly constant temperature tends to stabilize
stream temperatures, especially during the winter
(31) and may increase productivity through increased
metabolic activity. Moderate heating by increasing
metabolism can hasten the natural purification process
and shorten the pollutional zones (56). In trout streams
even a slight rise in temperature is usually undesir-
able (6). Due to the removal of shade and other factors
(73) (64), many trout streams are approaching border-
line temperatures (87) and a rise of even two to three
degrees Fahrenheit sometimes is sufficient to elimi-
nate trout or to make the stream less favorable for
them (6). If temperatures become too warm for trout
on only one day in the year, that stream ceases to be
a trout stream (47). Highest stream temperatures
during the day usually occur between 2 and 4p.m. and
peak temperatures usually occur after a succession
of warm days and nights. Few trout, even the most
tolerant species, can survive temperatures above 82
to 83 degrees Fahrenheit even for very short periods
(44) (24). During the summer of 1930, the senior
author found rainbow trout living in the South Branch
of the Pere Marquette river in Michigan at a peak
temperature of 83 degrees Fahrenheit. This temper-
ature occurred for a short time between 3 and 4 p.m.
During July, 1931, brook trout survived peak temper-
atures of 81 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit in the East
Branch of the Black river in Michigan.
Studies of trout streams in many portions of the
country and observations on the effects of the removal
of shade and the raising of stream temperatures has
lead the senior author to conclude that water temper-
atures need not be raised to lethal levels in order to
affect trout populations adversely. When stream tem-
peratures are raised so that they consistently exceed
70 degrees Fahrenheit in summer, environmental
conditions become less favorable for the cold water
species and more favorable for the warm water forms
(6). Due to this change in environmental conditions,
minnows, suckers, and other warm water fishes may
increase in numbers at the expense of the Salmonoids
(87) which decrease in numbers to such an extent that
sometimes they represent less than ten percent of
the total fish population (43) (69).
Fish population studies conducted by the senior
author in 1931 and 193 5 in the East Branch of the Black
river in northern Michigan, indicated that trout com-
prised 9.6 percent of the total number of fishes and
8.6 percent of the weight of the total population of
fishes. Minnows, however, accounted for over 60
percent of the total number of fishes taken and made
up 9.6 percent of the total weight of the population.
Suckers comprised 23.3 percent of the total number
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22
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
of fishes and 66.7 percent of the weight of all fishes.
Studies carried out in 1934 on another warm trout
stream, the Pigeon river, indicated that the trout
comprised 14.3 to 19.7 percent of the total population;
whereas minnows comprised 58 to 68 percent of the
population. Fish population studies made during the
same period on a cold stream, the West Branch of the
Sturgeon river, which lies near to and parallels the
Pigeon river, indicated that in the latter stream trout
comprised 93.8 to 98.7 percent of the total number of
fishes and over 99 percent of the total weight of the
population. Shetter and Hazzard (67) found that in the
lower portion of the South Branch of the Pine river of
Michigan, where the water is fairly warm, trout com-
prised 13.6 percent of the population, while in a cold
stream, the Little Manistee river, they comprise 64
to 91 percent of the population.
In streams inhabited by the warm water species,
sunfishes, white bass, black bass, crappie, etc., a
slight rise in temperature may increase productivity
(78) (33). Temperatures directly lethal to fishes are
not so likely to occur in such streams. In the northern
portion of the country, bass have been killed by water
temperatures of 94 degrees F. (Michigan Lake 1936).
In the TVA Reservoirs of northern Alabama water
temperatures sometimes reach 96 degrees F. without
apparent harmful effects to bass and other native
fishes. Near Savannah, Georgia, all fish in a shallow
pond died in water which reached 108 degrees F.
The type of bottom material directly affects the
productivity of a stream. Shifting sand bottom streams
are virtually aquatic deserts (74) while rubble gravel
bottoms usually support large populations of aquatic
insects (75) (76) (77). The addition of sand, clay, or
other inorganic wastes which covers more productive
bottom types is, therefore, detrimental to the overall
productivity of a stream.
Inert inorganic wastes may be added to streams
from a number of sources such as hydraulic and placer
mining operations (68), mine tailings, gravel pit wash-
ings (89), etc. However, the greatest and most wide-
spread sources of this type of pollutant is soil erosion
(7) (17). During the past century floods and soil erosion
have been greatly increased in some areas by defores-
tation (5) (14), fire, overgrazing (30) (41), and ill-
advised agricultural practices (34) (86). Materials
eroded from the watersheds and washed into streams
affect the aquatic environments in a number of ways
(48). Sand and silt fill pools, destroy fish cover and
spawning beds (35), and cover productive bottom types
(45) (46) (52). Erosion and eroded materials have con-
verted good fish streams into wide washes where the
low water flow meanders over the wide bottom in a
thin sheet or disappears completely in the deposits
which choke the former stream channel.
Eroded materials also cause turbidity which affects
productivity and water uses. Turbidity decreases
light penetration and thereby limits the growth of
phytoplankton and other aquatic plants which are of
outstanding importance as a basic food for aquatic
animals and as a producer of oxygen by photosynthesis
(49). The photosynthetic activity of aquatic plants
plays an important part in stream reaeration and in
the natural purification process (10) (55) (60). Although
turbidity prevents or limits algal growth, it does not
eliminate the bacterial action which mineralizes or-
ganic wastes (13). Thus, turbid waters may transport
the bi-products of bacterial action on organic wastes
and the effluents of sewage treatment plants consider-
able distances before they are utilized(83). When the
water clears due to impoundment or other causes so
that the phytoplankton can grow, these fertilizing
materials are utilized and may produce troublesome
blooms, or taste and odor problems far from the
source of pollution.
Soil washings from eroded areas are usually infer-
tile and generally reduce productivity by choking or
covering densely populated rubble gravel riffles, and
rich bottom deposits. Washings, from fertile areas,
where accelerated erosion is just beginning, or from
rich well-fertilized agricultural areas, carry a great
deal of nutrient materials into lakes and streams and
increase productivity. This fertilizing effect may be
so great that nuisance blooms of algae may develop
each year such as those that occur in many Iowa lakes.
These blooms become especially troublesome when
domestic sewage is also added to the water (9) (40).
Further, in some areas, blooms of toxic algae are
frequent and severe (8) (50).
The sole detrimental effect of putrescible wastes
is often considered to be oxygen depletion. Putrescible
wastes, however, may affect environmental conditions,
aquatic life, and water uses in a variety of ways. Or-
ganic wastes serve as nutrients which stimulate growth
and reproduction of aquatic life (10). The first group
to be stimulated are the bacteria which are chiefly
responsible for the decomposition and conversion of
organic wastes into nutrient materials such as nitrate,
phosphate and carbon dioxide (16). If the organic ma-
terials occur in sufficient concentration the bacteria
may utilize nearly all of the dissolved oxygen and
produce conditions which are unfavorable for many
other forms of life (9). When such conditions prevail
the zone of greatest bacterial growth is designated as
a septic zone, in which the species of macro-inverte-
brates are limited to those organisms that have the
ability to live under low oxygen concentrations and
those which have adaptations for breathing atmospheric
oxygen (3) (31). Although the number of different
species of macro-invertebrates occurring in the septic
zone, is only a fraction of the number found in the
other well-recognized zones of pollution, productivity
from the standpoint of numbers and volume of organ-
isms produced is several times that of the other zones
(4) (12) (31) (63). This is well-demonstrated in Figure
1 which shows the number of different species and the
number and volume of organisms found per unit area
under summer conditions in the various pollutional
zones of Lytle creek, a small stream near Cincinnati,
Ohio, which has been intensively studied by the Public
Health Service. This small number of species and
very large number of individuals constitute a biological
indication of septic conditions (59).
The decomposition of organic wastes by the bacteria
converts them into materials such as carbon dioxide,
nitrate, and phosphate, which are readily used by
phytoplankton. As these materials become available,
-------
Some Important Biological Effects of Pollution Often Disregarded in Stream Surveys
23
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0-
-VOL. ORGANISMS (cc)-7/\
A
O.Q
I i
8.7 7.6 7.2 6.5 5.2 4.2 2.8
STATIONS IN MILES
1.0
Figure 1 - Macro-invertebrate distribution, Lytle creek, summer conditions.
there is a gradual buildup of phytoplankton in the lower
septic zone which reaches its peak in the recovery
zone (28). Considerable oxygen is produced by the
phytoplankton when conditions are favorable (60). In-
vestigations carried out at the Cincinnati station of the
Public Health Service have demonstrated that in many
small and moderate sized streams which are fairly
clear, reoxygenation by photosynthesis completely
overshadows reoxygenation by aeration. Because of
the large amounts of food present in the recovery zone
of streams polluted with putrescible wastes, phyto-
plankton populations may become very large and dis-
solved oxygen levels frequently may exceed saturation
by 100 percent (31) (56) (60) (61). In fact, a supera-
bundance of dissolved oxygen may be an indication of
organic pollution.
Because photosynthetic activity is dependent upon
sunlight there may be wide variations in dissolved
oxygen in a polluted stream during the 24-hour daily
cycle (31) (38) (60) (66) (70) (84). Dissolved oxygen
concentrations are usually highest between 2 and 4 p.m.
and are lowest just before or after sunrise. At one
Station on Lytle creek, dissolved oxygen varied from
a high of 19.4 p.p.m. in the afternoon to a low of 0.7
p.p.m. the next morning. The Lytle creek investiga-
tions showed that these daily variations in dissolved
oxygen are greatest in the late spring and summer
seasons and that the difference between maximum
and minimum levels is most marked in the recovery
zone. Nocturnal-dirunal variations in dissolved oxy-
gen in Lytle creek at different seasons of the year
are shown in Figures 2 and 3. It is apparent from these
graphs that the season greatly influences minimum
oxygen levels.
Year-round studies in Lytle creek and the Great
Miami river have indicated a fairly definite seasonal
cycle of environmental conditions (31). During the
winter months there was an abundance of dissolved
oxygen throughout the streams with levels at no time
falling far below saturation. During spring as the
water becomes warmer, oxygen was depleted just
below pollution outfalls during the early morning
hours. As the season advanced this oxygenless area
increased in extent and duration until in late summer
there was a definite septic zone in which oxygen was
absent or essentially absent at all times. In Lytle
creek there was an almost equal stretch of stream
just below this zone in which oxygen was absent or
very low during the night. As the fall season advanced
the oxygenless zone decreased in extent and duration
until by the beginning of winter there was an abundance
of oxygen throughout the stream. Character of flow is
of great importance in determining the seasonal pat-
tern of stream conditions. If flows are extremely
low in winter, septic conditions may persist into De-
cember, while if they are high they may not develop
in summer.
It will be noted in Figures 2 and 3 that the greatest
variations in dissolved oxygen occurred during the
spring and summer in the zone of recovery and that
concentrations of dissolved oxygen reached a maxi-
mum in that zone. These conditions prevailed because,
first, phytoplankton growth and photosynthesis reached
a peak in the recovery zone, and second, under condi-
tions of supersaturation, riffles and general stream
turbulence in the clean water zone brought about the
release of oxygen rather than the absorption of addi-
tional amounts.
The decomposition of putrescible wastes either by
natural purification or by sewage treatment provides
a supply of those materials which stimulate the growth
of large populations of phytoplankton (10) (28) (91).
These algal populations through photosynthetic action
aerate the stream and at times produce supersatura-
-------
24
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
20.0
0.0
8.7 7.6/7.2 6.5
OUTFALL
5.2 4.2 2.8
STATIONS IN MILES
1.0 0.0
Figure 2 - Range in dissolved oxygen, Lytle creek.
tion (31) (49) (84). There is, however, a point, not
definitely known as yet, beyond which the algae cease
to be beneficial and may actually be harmful. This is
due to the fact that at levels of supersaturation photo-
synthetic oxygen in streams is rather rapidly released
to the atmosphere and this rate of release increases
in proportion to the rate of production. Further, while
the phytoplankton may produce large quantities of
oxygen during the day (61), it also uses oxygen for
respiration at all times and during the night exces-
sively large phytoplankton populations may deplete the
dissolved oxygen and cause fish kills (49) (54). Such a
fish kill occurred in Lytle creek in the fall of 1952.
At that time due to extremely low flows of clear water
the nutrients in the stream caused an excessive phy-
toplankton bloom which produced dissolved oxygen
levels in excess of 21 p.p.m. in the afternoon but dur-
ing the night reduced dissolved oxygen levels to such
an extent that a severe fish kill occurred in the recov-
ery and clean water zones. It is possible, therefore,
for a large secondary sewage treatment plant, located
on a small to moderate sized stream, to indirectly
cause fish kills through the production of nutrients
which bring about excessive growths of algae which in
turn deplete the oxygen at night by their respiration
and decay.
20.0
E
a. 15.0
o
o 10.0
o
Ul
o 5.0
to
v>
o
0.0
I I r
» r
MINIMUM-
'*-DEC. 6-10,1949-v---"*
-t
_L
JL
J_
8.7 7.6 7.2 6.5 5,2 4.2 2.8
STATIONS IN MILES
1.0
Figure 3 - Range in dissolved oxygen, Lytle creek.
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Some Important Biological Effects of Pollution Often Disregarded in Stream Surveys
25
These algal blooms may have other undesirable
effects. The algal growths may cause tastes and odors
in water supplies farther downstream (93), they may
clog filters, or they may create toxic conditions at
points of concentration (26) (49) (51) (92). The constant
addition of even low lev els of nitrogen and phorphorus,
no greater than those which may occur naturally, can
greatly stimulate algal growths (32). Under natural
conditions available phosphates and nitrogen are rather
rapidly utilized and bound up in the bodies of the phy-
toplankton. Studies made by Wiebe (personal commu-
nication) in Norris Reservoir, Tennessee, for example,
indicated that all of the available phosphorus was util-
ized in the upper half of the reservoir. In reservoirs,
nutrients are also removed by the dying and settling
out of the plankters (90). If there are periodic floods
which bring in silt that covers the dead organisms
which have settled to the bottom, fertility is perma-
nently removed from the reservoir. However, if they
are not covered with silt and stratification occurs in
the reservoir, they may be decomposed by bacterial
action and the nutrient materials may be recirculated
throughout the reservoir by the spring and fall over-
turns. In lakes which are stratified, this is consid-
ered to be a basic cause of the spring and fall peaks
in plankton growths (90). Reservoirs may, therefore,
remove or create problems, depending on conditions.
Their mode of operation also influences downstream
conditions (83).
In streams severely polluted with organic wastes
the stream bottom in the septic zone is usually cov-
ered with grayish growths commonly referred to as
"sewage fungus" (58) (91). These growths are often
regarded as being a result of oxygen deficiencies be-
cause they are generally limited to septic areas dur-
ing the season in which stream surveys are most often
conducted. It has been shown, however, that these
prolific growths are not produced by oxygen deficien-
cies but by concentrations of organic matter, chiefly
nitrogenous and carbohydrate material (11). The low
oxygen concentrations usually associated with them
are incidental and the result of the decomposition of
the organic material upon which they are dependent for
existence. The common designation of these growths
as "sewage fungus" is somewhat unfortunate because,
while they may contain some fungi such as Geotrichum.
Leptomitas. and Fusarium. they are often chiefly
composed of the bacteria Sphaerotilus. Zoogloea. and
Beggiatoa. and certain ciliated protozoans such as
Yorticella, and Carchesium (11) (59). Taken collec-
tively these organisms constitute a pollutional blanket
which influences natural purification and other stream
life in such ways as the breaking of the natural food
cycle in the stream and creating an unfavorable
bottom condition.
The year round studies which have been carried out
onLytle creek have demonstrated that when floods are
not too severe during the winter months, there is a
downstream extension of this pollutional blanket. This
is brought about by a change in environment conditions
which are more favorable for such growths; namely,
an increase in the organic content in the water in the
lower zones (36). This increase of organic matter
lurther downstream in winter is believed to'be chiefly
due to two factors, first, a reduction in the time of
flow to about one-fifth that of the summer period due
to larger flows, and second, to low water tempera-
tures which decrease metabolic activity of the bacteria
and thus the rate of decomposition of the organic mat-
ter. The down stream extension of the pollutional
blanket covers the bottom and alters the habitat so
that it is unfavorable to most of the macro aquatic in-
vertebrates which normally occur in the recovery and
upper clean water zones, with the result that they
must migrate or die. Its direct effect on the larger
forms was well illustrated by the fate of stoneflies,
mayflies, caddis flies, and other insects which were
washed into polluted sections of Lytle creek. These
insects soon became so covered with growths that they
were overwhelmed and smothered. The accumulations
of these growths on some mayflies, stoneflies, drag-
onflies, and other insects which were taken under
such conditions are shown in Figures 4 and 5. In these
figures normal insects are included to enable com-
parison with those which have been covered with the
growths. The pollutional blanket does not develop if
severe floods occur during the winter period. It de-
velops during periods of normal or low water and it
is removed by the first flood. After its removal the
area is practically barren of bottom life and some
time is required for it to be repopulated.
Seining studies demonstrated that fish were forced
downstream during the period of existence of the pol-
lutional blanket. In fact, although dissolved oxygen
concentrations were near saturation throughout Lytle
creek during the winter months the fishless area was
about twice as long as it was in the summer months.
This movement downstream of the fish population was
probably due to the destruction of their normal food
by the pollutional blanket. It is evident, therefore,
that oxygen depletion is not the only factor responsible
for the creation of fishless areas in streams polluted
with organic wastes.
In instances of organic pollution it is generally
assumed that the critically low oxygen levels which
occur in streams in late summer during periods of
low flow and high temperatures most seriously affect
the overall economy of the stream. While this is
generally true it may not always be the case. Obser-
vations have indicated that in small streams under
such conditions increased metabolic activity plus very
slow flows have resulted in greatly shortened septic
zones. Further, if the water is clear, reaeration
due to the photosynthetic activity of the phytoplankton
builds up oxygen levels in the recovery zone such that
the fishless zone is at a minimum. In addition, low
water and slack current allows the settling out of a
great deal of material so that it is for the time being
removed from the stream. However, the first real
rise in stream flow usually picks up these sludge beds
and may create a real problem. Studies on the Great
Miami river indicate that the first high water after an
extended low water period picks up sludge beds and
carries them farther downstream with a resultant
critical decrease in dissolved oxygen over a more
extensive area than was previously affected. The
harmful effects of the removal of accumulated sludge
beds have been noted by several investigators (9) (59)
(88). Forbes (27) noted fish kills in the Illinois and
Rock rivers due to the flushing out of sludge beds
-------
26
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
-
-—
Figure 4 - Upper row, normal mayflies. Lower row, those which have been covered
with "sewage fungus" (bacteria and protozoa).
.
Figure 5 - Growths which develop on aquatic insects in polluted streams due to the
downstream extension of the pollutional blanket (sewage fungus). Normal
specimens are included for comparison. It can be noted how the gills are
covered by the growth.
which had accumulated during periods of low water.
The removal of settleable solids is, therefore, of value
for the protection of stream life.
Toxic wastes may eliminate the fish population in
certain areas or they may decimate only certain
species or certain developmental stages. Thus, adults
may migrate into an area and live where reproduction
is not successful. Some fish food organisms are more
sensitive to certain toxic materials than are fish (1).
In such instances fish populations may be reduced due
to lack of food without actually killing the fish. In addi-
tion to destroying fish, toxic wastes may interfere with
the natural purification process by limiting those or-
ganisms which breakdown the wastes. If these wastes
are to be controlled, their mode of action and their
influence on aquatic life must be considered (19) (20)
(22). Materials toxic to aquatic life can most readily
be detected and their strength estimated by meanss of
bioassays (21) (23).
The character of the water and its mineral content
can alter considerably the toxic effects of a given
chemical or waste (21). For example, an acid waste
-------
Some Important Biological Effects of Pollution Often Disregarded in Stream Surveys
27
added to a highly alkaline stream may be much less
toxic than it is when added to an acid stream (18). The
reverse is true for alkaline wastes. Further, ammonia
salts are much more toxic to fish at high pH levels
while copper and other heavy metals are more toxic
in,soft acid waters. Antagonism and synergy are also
of great importance. For example, it has been dem-
onstrated that when salts of copper and zinc occur
together they are several times as toxic as when they
occur separately at comparable concentrations (84). It
is evident, therefore, that the toxicity of wastes cannot
be represented in chemical terms alone but should be
combined with data secured by means of bioassays.
DISCUSSION
The foregoing has served to indicate that various
types of pollutants may have a variety of effects on
streams and their biota. Environmental conditions,
which largely govern the natural purification process,
vary widely in different streams. The capacity to
assimilate and purify wastes and the rate of purifica-
tion, therefore, is not a constant for all streams.
Surveys designed to evaluate pollutional conditions and
the ability of a stream to assimilate wastes must give
full consideration to these environmental conditions.
While dissolved oxygen is of great importance it is
only one of a complex of factors which constitute the
aquatic environment. The species composition of the
aquatic population in a given area is determined by the
environmental conditions which have prevailed during
the developmental period of the organisms involved
(61). If at any time during its development, environ-
mental conditions become lethal for a given organism,
that organism will be eliminated even though the un-
favorable conditions are of very short duration (9)
(47). The aquatic population which occurs in a given
area is, therefore, a representation or indicator of
environmental conditions which have prevailed during
the life history of the organisms comprising the popu-
lation (3) (15) (53) (63). It is this property of indicating
past environmental conditions, especially the extreme
conditions of brief duration, that make aquatic popula-
tions such valuable indicators of pollution (25) (31)
(42). In using biological indicators, however, single
species do not possess high index value. Our Studies
have indicated that it is the qualitative and quantitative
composition of the population which is of importance
in denoting past conditions. Further, the absence of
clean water species is much more significant than the
presence of tolerant species (31) (62).
Data on fish populations are especially valuable for
indicating pollutional conditions because fish are the
chief end product of the aquatic cycle. Data on the
qualitative and quantitative composition of fish popu-
lations, rate of growth, average size, and catch per
unit effort of the sport and commercial fishery are
especially valuable for denoting the suitability of water
conditions and the economic and recreational losses
due to pollution. In fact the suitability of a water for
fish life is best defined by its productivity.
Pollution affects fish populations in a number of
ways depending upon the nature and concentration of
the waste. Moderate amounts of organic materials
which do not seriously affect dissolved oxygen levels,
may serve as nutrient materials and increase fish
production. This occurred in the Illinois river prior
to 1920 (29).
Periodic fish kills due to spills attract a great deal
of attention but they are, in general much less harm-
ful than the slow gradual increase in pollution which
slowly decimates the population in such a way that the
dead fish, or the decline in the fish population, are
not noted and the fishery is destroyed without exciting
public protest. In some streams in 1Jie east fisheries
values have been gradually reduced over such a long
period that the fishery potentials are not now generally
realized (39).
Although extensive areas of streams are often made
fishless the effects of pollution are not always on an
all-or-none basis (62). The complete absence of fish
is usually common information, but deteriorations in
the quality of the population is not generally apparent
without some sampling studies. In polluted streams
the game fishes may be reduced in number or elimi-
nated while the coarse species or those most tolerant
of low oxygen concentrations comprise the remaining
population (37). It has been the senior author's ex-
perience that when coarse fishes become abundant,
they crowd out the game fishes which results in a
marked decline in the sport fishery because the coarse
fishes are not desired by the sportsmen and are in-
ferior as food fishes (79) (80) (81) (82).
A somewhat routine procedure has grown up and
been adopted for pollutional surveys. In these surveys,
very often most of the effort is devoted to measure-
ments of the discharge from various plants; to routine
bacteriological, physical, and chemical studies of
selected effluents; and to a compilation of existing
data on domestic and industrial watei uses, stream
flows, sources of pollution, and sewage treatment.
The physical, chemical, and bacteriological studies
on the pollutants being discharged into the stream
usually include determinations for D.O., B.O.D., pH,
temperature, turbidity, settleable solids, total alka-
linity, the coliform index, and others depending upon
the nature of the waste discharged (2).
Sampling in the receiving stream is isually limited
in scope and carried out during the period of low flow
and high temperatures. It is customarily confined to
the taking of grab samples at selected stations which
are often highway bridges. Determinations made on
these stream samples are generally the same as those
made on the pollutional effluents.
All these studies can be worthwhile and are essen-
tial in many instances but their adequacy and value
for meeting the overall problem would be greatly in-
creased if some additional studies were made and a
somewhat different approach were adopted. The col-
lection, abstracting, rearranging, and assembling of
existing data, the routine collection and analysis of
samples, and the use of empirical constants and for-
mulae may lead to a "cook book" approach to the
overall pollution problem and the concept of th,e stream
as a biological entity is lost.
-------
28
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
Further, the routine application of the customary
survey procedures can result in wasted time and effort.
An example is the routine determination of B.O.D.'s
and the coliform index for a waste, the detrimental
effect of which is toxicity. Repeatedly, survey groups
which go into the field to investigate one of the common
biological effects of pollution, a fish kill, follow the
customary chemical approach and carry into the field
only equipment for the collection and analysis of water
samples. Ordinarily no biological observations or
studies are made. Further, when samples of the
supposedly off ending waste are brought into the labor-
atory an indirect approach is customarily used. First
consideration is usually given to B.O.D. or oxygen
consumed tests. When the possibility of toxicity is
considered and the highly toxic materials, for which
routine methods of analyses have been developed, are
not found, little thought is given to the probability of
the presence of those highly toxic materials which are
not readily separated and measured chemically (19).
If some of the more toxic substances are indicated by
the analyses, their toxicity to aquatic life is frequently
estimated on the basis of a limited knowledge of their
toxicity in simple solution. Consideration is not given
to the fact that the quality of the receiving water
greatly influences their toxicity, or that they occur
not alone, but in mixtures, and their action may be
greatly modified by antagonism and synergy.
The simplest and most direct approach for deter-
mining toxicity which takes into consideration all these
factors is to make a bioassayof the waste in question,
using local species of fish as reagents and employing
the receiving water for dilution of the waste. When
bioassays are combined with chemical studies for
toxicity determinations, much more progress will be
made toward detecting, analyzing, and meeting toxic
waste problems.
Considerable attention has been devoted to the de-
velopment of procedures for estimating the dissolved
oxygen levels that may be present at critical times of
the year or during periods of recorded low flows.
Customarily, the data on which these calculations are
based are secured from grab samples taken without
regard to photosynthetic activity and diurnal variations
in dissolved oxygen (72) (85). When collecting data
from the calculation of the sag curve attention should
be directed not only to variations in water level, rate
of flow, temperatures, and the character of the stream,
but also to photosynthetic activity and the time of day
during which samples are taken. From the standpoint
of the protection of fish life, averages of dissolved
oxygen concentrations determined from grab samples,
are of little value and may be actually misleading
unless the determinations on which the averages are
based are taken at the correct times and minimal
levels are known. It is the extreme and not the aver-
age conditions which are important.
Grab samples taken without reference to daily
fluctuations in D.O. concentrations or the zones of
pollution do not give an adequate or accurate measure
of oxygen conditions in a stream. Further, in the
calculation of sag curves, photosynthetic activity is
neglected (71), even though in many streams it com-
pletely overshadows reaeration from the atmosphere
and is at its peak during periods of low flow and clear
water. In addition, much still remains to be learned
concerning the effects of sludge deposits and the re-
lation between the breaking down of the wastes under
the controlled conditions in the B.O.D. test and what
actually occurs in the stream. It has been shown that
all wastes are not broken down at the same rate and
that nitrification begins before the fifth day (65). The
problem is not simply the amount of pollution dis-
charged. It involves the fate of the waste materials
in the stream under varying seasonal conditions, the
capacity of the stream for handling that particular
waste, and the effects on aquatic life of recreational
and economic importance.
If environmental changes brought about in a stream
due to pollution cannot be observed or measured, there
is justification for estimating them inferentially. How-
ever, since the toxicity of wastes to fish life can be
determined directly by bioassays, the direct effects of
pollution on the aquatic biota can be determined by ob-
servation and population studies. Because the aquatic
biota present in a stream or stream section serves to
indicate past environmental or pollutional conditions,
it is evident that the inferential approach is not always
necessary. Since acceptable dissolved oxygen concen-
trations and regulations governing the discharge of
toxic wastes are frequently set up tomeot the require-
ments for fish life, and because the natural purifica-
tion of putrescible wastes in streams is a biological
process, the necessity of biological studies to supply
pertinent information and to supplement and strengthen
the customary stream investigations is apparent.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The biological surveys and investigations upon
which much of this paper is based have required the
active assistance and cooperation of several individ-
uals. The authors wish to express their appreciation
for assistance rendered to the following: C.M. Palmer,
Peter Doudoroff, Max Katz, Thomas E. Maloney,
George Paine, Harold Walter, and Charles Howard.
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32
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
Reproduced With Permission From:
BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN WATER POLLUTION, pp 144-163, U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
ROBERT A. TAFT SANITARY ENGINEERING CENTER, CINCINNATI, OHIO. 1957 '
BIOLOGICAL INDICES OF WATER POLLUTION
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO FISH POPULATIONS*
Peter Doudoroff
U. S. Public Health Service
and
Charles E. Warren
Department of Fish and Game Management
Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon
A number of investigators have very recently pub-
lished discussions having to do with biological indices
and biological measures of water pollution (1) (2) (7)
(13) (14) (15) (16) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (36) (38).
Fjerdingstad (12) has discussed some of the pertinent
European literature. The fundamental concepts pre-
sented by these authors are not original, for the idea
that aquatic organisms can be useful "indicators" of
environmental conditions, and particularly of the de-
gree of pollution of water with organic wastes, has a
long history (12). Because of certain novel features
and the relatively wide scope of the studies, and the
broad implications of some of the conclusions, the
work of Patrick (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) has attracted
much attention in the United States and seems to de-
serve the closest scrutiny.
Although much has been written about the various
biological indices, there has been no general agree-
ment among the authors as to the meaning of some of
the most important terms used in this literature and
little effort to clarify the terminology. In view of the
variety of backgrounds and dominant interests of indi-
viduals concerned with waste disposal and with the
effects of wastes on receiving streams, it is not sur-
prising that the term "pollution" does not have exactly
the same meaning for all. It is regrettable that a
variety of meanings have come to be associated with
technical terms such as "biological indicator of pol-
lution". Some of the differences of opinion as to what
the biological indices are and what may be their utility
doubtless stem from a lack of agreement on the mean-
ing of the word "pollution". Investigators proposing
the use of different indicators of pollution should have
clarified, it would seem, their ideas as to just what
constitutes pollution, or, in other words, exactly what
it is that the indicators can be expected to indicate.
Too often this has not been done, or the ideas and
definitions presented have not been carefully developed
and appear to be unsound from a practical standpoint.
Should the mere change (physical, chemical, or
biological) of some aquatic environment resulting from
waste disposal be regarded as pollution even when
ordinary human use and enjoyment of the water and of
* Miscellaneous Paper No. 31, Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.
associated natural resources have not been affected
adversely? When there is evidence of environmental
change, is this always reliable evidence of damage to
a valuable natural resource ? May not certain bene-
ficial uses of water be sometimes seriously interfered
with by the introduction of wastes which may cause
little or no detectable alteration of biological com-
munities? Have there been any studies which have
conclusively demonstrated a useable fixed relation
between the biological indices of pollution and the
actual fate or change in value of aquatic resources
which are subject to damage by pollution? If water
pollution can be the result of introduction of any of a
great variety of substances, organic and inorganic, is
it proper to refer to those biotic responses which are
only known to occur in the presence of putrescible
organic wastes (i.e. to organic enrichment of water)
as "indices of pollution"? Can there be any general
biological solution for all problems of detection and
measurement of water pollution, or is effort being
wasted in a search for such a general solution? Are
broad limnological investigations being undertaken
where intensive study and appraisal of supposedly
damaged natural resources of obvious value to man
would be more profitable? Is immediate practical
value of research results being claimed improperly
in an effort to justify fundamental limnological studies
for which no such justification should be necessary?
These are questions which all biologists interested in
water pollution should perhaps ask themselves. Many
of these questions have no categorical answer, but
it is hoped that the following discussion will prove
thought-provoking. It may not only call attention to
certain inconsistencies in claims made and termi-
nology used, but may also indicate the need for revi-
sion of objectives or a change of emphasis in pertinent
future investigations.
Biological investigation now is an integral part of
water pollution detection and control, and biologists
have become increasingly aware of their opportunities
for contributing to progress in this field of work. Their
ideas have been solicited and have been well received
by other specialists. In trying to aid the advancement
of their science, biologists owe it to their profession
-------
Biological Indices of Water Pollution with Special Reference to Fish Population
33
to seek thorough understanding of the practical prob-
lems of water pollution control. Understanding the
complexity of these problems will make apparent the
need for thorough and critical testing of new ideas
previous to their widespread practical application.
First, it is necessary to consider the meaning of
the term "pollution". The introduction of any foreign
substance which merely alters the natural quality of
water without materially interfering with any likely
use of the water cannot be said in a practical sense to
constitute pollution. Virtually every stream and lake
in any inhabited region receives at least a trace of
something which measurably or not measurably alters
the natural quality of the water. What is significant or
important from a practical standpoint is not the mere
presence of the added material, but its influence upon
the economic and esthetic value of the water, or on
human welfare in a broad sense. It appears that most
authorities in the field of water pollution control and
abatement agree in defining water pollution as an im-
pairment of the suitability of water for any beneficial
human use, actual or potential, by any foreign material
added thereto.
This definition agrees with repeatedly expressed
judicial opinion, that is, with definitions of "pollution"
and of "clean water "established by courts of law. The
following legal definition, cited on page 100 of "Water
Quality Criteria", a publication of the California State
Water Pollution Control Board (4) is typical: "For the
purposes of this case, the word 'pollution' means an
impairment, with attendant injury, to the use of water
that plaintiffs are entitled to make. Unless the intro-
duction of extraneous matter so unfavorably affects
such use, the condition created is short of pollution.
In reality, the thing forbidden is the injury. The quan-
tity introduced is immaterial." Other definitions cited
agree essentially with this one.
In accordance with the above definition of the word
pollution, a demonstrable change of some components
of the biota of a stream clearly caused by the discharge
of some waste into the water is not invariably evidence
of pollution, any more than is a demonstrable chem-
ical change. If it cannot be reasonably asserted that a
hazard to human health or interference with some
beneficial use of the stream such as fishing, must
accompany a particular alteration of the biota, the
change cannot correctly be said to indicate pollution.
Even the discharge of a waste which eliminates virtu-
ally all organisms initially present in a very small or
temporary stream capable of supporting no aquatic
life of any value to man is not necessarily pollution.
Oxygen-depleting organic wastes may be thoroughly
mineralized in such streams through natural self-
purification processes, so that only harmless sub-
stances andbeneficial plant nutrients may reach larger
watercourses to which these streams are tributary.
In agreement with the definition offered above,
Beck (1) has defined pollution broadly as "the altera-
tion of any body of water, by man, to such a degree
that said body of water loses any of its value as a
natural resource."
Patrick (28), on the other hand, has proposed a dis-
tinctly different, strictly biological definition. This
author defines pollution as "any thing which brings
about a reduction in the diversity of aquatic life and
eventually destroys the balance of life in a stream." By
way of explanation, it is further stated that "As conser-
vationists interested in using rivers today - but not
abusing them so that they are damaged in the future -
this is the basis on which pollution should be judged.
For it is by preserving the biodynamic cycle that the
ability of a river to rejuvenate itself is maintained."
Unfortunately it is not clear just what is to be re-
garded as pollution according to the definition given by
Patrick. Is any reduction in the diversity of aquatic
life evidence of pollution which will eventually destroy
the "balance of life", or only such a severe reduction
of the diversity of life that the ability of the stream to
"rejuvenate itself" is indeed destroyed? A reduction
of species numbers is not always necessarily followed
by the eventual destruction of the "balance of life" in
a stream and of the ability of the stream to "rejuvenate
itself" (i.e., to undergo natural self-purification).
Patrick (28) has pointed out that the so-called "food
chain" in aquatic environments "consists of many
series of interlocking links so that if one series is
broken another can take over so that the chain is not
destroyed." It is well known, also, that in certain
"zones" of streams heavily and continually enriched
with organic wastes relatively few animal and plant
species are present, as a rule, yet natural purifica-
tion proceeds at a very rapid rate. Here, as in an
efficient trickling filter, an ideally adapted and ob-
viously vigorous, healthy, and in certain respects very
well balanced biota of limited variety can exist, and
the organic waste is mineralized far more rapidly and
efficiently than it could possibly be in a previously
uncontaminated stream with its original, primitive
biota. The ability of the stream to "rejuvenate itself"
certainly cannot be said to have been destroyed, or
even impaired.
Thus, a stream can be seriously polluted, in any
usual sense of the word, without lasting destruction of
the "balance of life" and of self-purification capacity
(which balance hardly can be permanent anyway, in
any unstable environment). On the other hand, mere
reduction of the diversity of aquatic life without im-
pairment of any important "food chain" (i.e., the food
supply of valuable fishes, etc.), or interference with
existing stream uses, does not necessarily have any-
thing to do with the conservation of natural resources.
It appears, therefore, that the last-mentioned definition
of pollution is unsatisfactory, from a practical stand-
point, no matter how it was meant to be interpreted.
Careful consideration of the other pertinent writ-
ings of Patrick and of the proposed method of judging
stream conditions leads to the conclusion that probably
this author regards any marked reduction of the diver-
sity of aquatic life as evidence of pollution.
Beck (1) states that "Patrick's methods suggest
that the bio-dynamic cycle should be maintained in the
primitive condition," allowing for no equitable stream
use, for "any deviation from the primitive bio-dynamic
cycle is interpreted by Patrick as evidence of pollu-
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34
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
tion." Actually Patrick has not suggested that an
entirely primitive condition of every stream biota
should be maintained and has classified as "healthy"
certain stream sections which evidently were not in
the primitive state. A diversity of organisms ap-
proaching that found under undisturbed or primitive
conditions does seem to have been regarded, however,
as being characteristic of all "healthy", unpolluted
waters. This interpretation of Patrick's views may
be right or wrong. In any case, the need for clarifi-
cation thereof, and for better agreement among biol-
ogists as to the meaning of terms too often loosely
used, is apparent. It is noteworthy that Patrick's
definition of pollution, quoted above, implies that an
alteration of water quality cannot be pollution if it has
no appreciable effect on the diversity of aquatic life,
and it can be interpreted as meaning that a marked
reduction of the diversity of aquatic life is always as-
sociated with pollutional abuse of the aquatic environ-
ment. Probably few if any workers directly concerned
with water pollution abatement or control can approve
such a definition.
One can hardly maintain that the relative worth of
any biological environment depends on the number of
species that it supports, rather than on the relative
abundance of species of some importance or value to
man. The presence of many different weeds does not
usually contribute to the value of a pasture. Also, it
is not always correct to assume that any marked
modification of a natural environment and of its orig-
inal, primitive biota will result in their economic
degradation, that is, a reduction in value. The clear-
ing, irrigation, and cultivation of desert and other
almost worthless lands, the application of agricultural
and other poisons for the control of various pests and
weeds, and many other human activities can, indeed,
greatly enhance the value of the affected lands while
drastically modifying their biotas and reducing the
numbers of species present. Not only the production
of valuable crops is thus promoted, but sometimes
also the production of equally valuable wild game. On
the other hand, the destruction of only one or a few
animal or plant species of outstanding value (e.g., by
some selective poison) obviously can mean great loss.
This loss is in no way ameliorated by the fact that
most of the organisms in the same environment are
not noticeably affected. It is evident that a change of
any biota considered as a whole (e.g., the number of
species represented, etc.) may not be a direct nor
always reliable index and measure of damage to any
valuable natural resource. There seems to be no
sound basis for a general assumption of their strict
or even approximate parallelism.
Although most authors evidently have recognized
the economic significance of pollution, it appears that
when devising their biological indices and measures of
water pollution and its severity some biologists have
completely disregarded all economic considerations.
They seem to have curiously attached at least as much
importance to the elimination of any species of diatom,
protozoan, rotifer, or insect as to the disappearance
of the most valuable food or game fish species. Yet,
some have claimed that their measure of the harmful
effects of pollution is a direct measure and therefore
is more reliable than any chemical evidence or meas-
ure of pollution. Why the fate of harmless algal, pro-
tozoan or insect species can be said to indicate directly
the extent of damage to a valuable fish population or to
any commercial, recreational, or other use of water
has not been explained.
If biological indices and measures of the severity
of pollution cannot be relied upon always to reveal
even the extent of damage to valuable aquatic life,
they certainly do not indicate accurately the general
pollutional status of any water. Water which is ren-
dered biologically sterile by addition of some sub-
stances such as chlorine, or is appreciably enriched
with some organic wastes, other than domestic sewage,
may be of good sanitary quality and suitable for most
ordinary domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses.
On the other hand, water in which aquatic life is not
markedly and adversely affected can be contaminated
with dangerous pathogens or with chemicals which may
seriously interfere with one or more of the above-
mentioned uses. In view of the great variety of water
uses, and the number and complexity of considerations
(physical, chemical, biological, psychological, econ-
omic, and sociological) which evidently must enter
into any reliable determination of the degree of inter-
ference with these uses by pollution, the evaluation of
the over-all pollutional damage cannot be a simple
matter. Any contention that some biological obser-
vations alone can cut across all of this complexity and
show clearly whether the actual and potential uses of
a stream have or have not been affected, and the mag-
nitude of the total damage, would appear to be an over-
simplification of the problem. It must be admitted
that probably nobody has come forth yet with a clear
statement of this claim. An yet, unless a different
meaning is made perfectly clear, is not this claim
implicit in every asseration to the effect that a gen-
erally applicable and reliable biological index or
measure of the pollutional status or condition of
streams has been devised and developed?
Biotic responses to all of the numerous and very
different water pollutants are not alike. Early students
of water pollution (23) (24) (31) dealt chiefly with pol-
lution by putrescible organic wastes and particularly
domestic sewage. In their day, the use of the term
"biological indicators of pollution" when referring to
organisms which respond in a certain way to heavy
organic enrichment of their medium was perhaps
justifiable. Untreated or inadequately treated domes-
tic sewage then was by far the most important and
perhaps the only well known and generally recognized
water pollutant. Its discharge into public waters in
amounts sufficient to bring about appreciable biotic
changes being usually a hazard to human health, it
was and is almost always pollution in any ordinary
sense of the word. Today, the importance of pollut-
ants other than domestic sewage is generally recog-
nized. Yet, many authors still speak of "pollution
indicators" when they actually are referring only to
indicators of organic enrichment of water with putres-
cible organic wastes, which may or may not involve
demonstrable damage to natural resources. Some
readers are known to have been misled by this termi-
nology, believing that the same biological indices
are useful in detecting every kind of pollution.
-------
Biological Indices of Water Pollution with Special Reference to Fish Population
35
Gaufin and Tarzwell (13), when reporting their
studies of stream pollution with domestic sewage,
obviously were considering the effects on aquatic life
of an oxygen-depleting organic waste only. Neverthe-
less, such unqualified and seemingly general state-
ments as their conclusionthaf'Pollutional associations
are characterized by few species but large numbers of
individuals" can be misleading. As the quoted authors
well know, the numbers of many organisms initially
present are reduced and the numbers of none are mark-
edly increased in some waters polluted with toxic
wastes, suspended solids such as silt, or even oxygen-
depleting organic wastes discharged intermittently.
These authors undoubtedly did not intend the conclusion
in question to be a very broad generalization from their
observational results having to do with one kind of pol-
lution only. Their use of the expression "pollutional
associations" for designating associations found in
waters polluted with domestic sewage, or in waters
enriched with putrescible organic matter, can be
excused on the ground that no term that is more ap-
propriate than the term "pollutional" has come into
general use in the biological literature. Yet, this
lack of a more precise terminology is not any less
deplorable because the use of inappropriate terms,
and terms which are not sufficiently specific, has
become prevalent.
Beck(l) (2) explicitly confines his discussion to the
subject of "organic pollution". He has proposed the
use of a numerical "biotic index", which is said to be
"indicative of the cleanliness (with regard to organic
pollution) of a portion of a stream or lake" (2). He
recognizes that his methods are "confined to fresh
waters and encroaching salinity has a marked effect
on the fauna of a stream." Inasmuch as many differ-
ent pollutants, including toxic constituents of some
organic wastes, likewise can have a marked effect
on the fauna of a stream, it is apparent that Beck's
methods may have only very limited applicability. It
may be usable only in connection with the investiga-
tion and description of waters known in advance to
contain no pollutants other than non-toxic putrescible
organic matter.
Patrick (26) (27) (28), recognizing the importance
of a variety of pollutants, apparently has attempted to
devise a general procedure for the reliable biological
detection and measurement of the different kinds of
pollution. For reasons already indicated, however,
this desirable objective appears to be attainable only
when one defines pollution as "any thing which brings
about a reduction in the diversity of aquatic life",
which is not a generally acceptable definition.
Wurtz (38), while evidently realizing the existence
and importance of a large variety of pollutants, seems
to overlook completely the important differences of
biotic responses to the different pollutants. Thus, his
figure 1 suggests that the same pollutional zones,
including a "degradation zone" extending from the
point of mixing of an effluent with the water of a
stream to a "polluted zone" located some distance
downstream, can be expected to occur in any heavily
Polluted stream, regardless of the nature of the pol-
lutant (i.e., whether it be "organic", "toxic", or
Physical"). Furthermore, he speaks of "pollution
tolerant species" and of "non-tolerant organisms"
suggesting that organisms are consistently tolerant
or consistently non-tolerant with respect to all pol-
lutants. Nowhere does he specify that he has in mind
resistance to putrescible organic pollutants only, and
there is considerable evidence that he has in mind all
pollutants. In large degree, Wurtz seems to have
adopted methods similar to Patrick's, but one of his
innovations seems to require the probably impossible
classification of all or nearly all aquatic organisms
as "tolerant" and "non-tolerant" to all kinds of pollu-
tion, including the various toxicants, etc. Unfortu-
nately, Wurtz does not include in his paper a list of
all organisms considered by him to be tolerant and
all those thought to be non-tolerant.
There can be no doubt that some of the so-called
"pollution-tolerant" organisms, which actually are
simply forms known to thrive in waters markedly
enriched with organic wastes, are less tolerant with
respect to some other water pollutants than a number
of the species known as "clean-water" forms. For
example, a species of Physa, a genus of snails gen-
erally believed to be resistant to organic pollution (1)
has been found to be extremely susceptible to dis-
solved copper. Certain fish (e.g., centrarchids), may
fly nymphs, etc., thought to be more susceptible than
Physa to the effects of organic pollution, proved much
more resistant to copper. An aquatic environment in
which "clean-water" organisms are predominant might
possibly be more seriously polluted than one with
decidedly "pollutional" biota. The biological ter-
minology evidently needs revision, so that the word
pollution would not be used synonymously with or-
ganic enrichment.
It appears that, in general, very broad significance
of the various biological indices of water quality and
the severity of pollution has been only assumed and
not actually demonstrated. This is well exemplified
by the following quotations from the summary of one
of Patrick's papers (27): "On the premise that the
balanced physiological activities of aquatic life in
surface waters are essential for the maintenance of
healthy water conditions, it may be assumed that the
most direct measure of this biodynamic cycle will
indicate the condition of the water." It will be noted
that we have here an assumption based upon a rather
nebulous premise. Most writers have failed to supply
entirely satisfactory, clear definitions of terms used
(e.g., "pollution", "health", etc.) to show precisely
what it is that they believe they can detect or measure
biologically. Others have failed to use defined terms
in a manner entirely consistent with their own defini-
tions. The need for demonstration of the validity of
some of the most fundamental assumptions concerning
the reliability of pollution indices designed for general
application has not been satisfied. Some authors seem
to be of the opinion that the proof is unnecessary. It
must be admitted that investigations designed to pro-
vide such proof would be extremely complex and diffi-
cult, and it is not likely that the search for this proof
would be very rewarding, for there can hardly be a
simple, general solution for the problem of pollution
detection and measurement. Like a panacea, a gen-
eral test for all kinds of pollutional damage is some-
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36
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
thing for which biologists and engineers alike probably
would be wise not to seek.
The value of fish as indicators of environment con-
ditions and the importance of fish population studies
in connection with the estimation of the intensity of
water pollution now can be considered. Doubtless
there is much more published information on the
environmental requirements of fish than on the re-
quirements of species of any other group of aquatic
organisms excepting perhaps a few invertebrate
species of outstanding economic importance. The
vast quantity of published data relating to the water
quality requirements of fish is partly revealed by a
few recently prepared compilations and summaries of
some of this information (4) (5) (8) (9) (10) (11) (17)
(33). The resistance of many fish species to extreme
temperatures, to unusual concentrations of dissolved
oxygen and other dissolved gases, to variations of
water salinity, and to extremes of pH, their suscepti-
bility to the harmful effects of a great variety of toxic
substances and of suspended solids of importance as
water pollutants, the influence of some of these envi-
ronmental factors upon embryonic development,
growth, and activity, and so forth, have all been
studied intensively. There exists also a voluminous
literature on the food of fishes, their life history and
reproductive requirements, their habitat preferences,
movements, avoidance of adverse environmental con-
ditions, and so on.
While it is evident that more is known of the envi-
ronmental requirements of many fish than is known
of the requirements of most, if not all, of the other
aquatic organisms often considered as indicators of
environmental conditions, the use of fish as indicators
has received considerably less attention than has the
use of other major groups, plant and animal, micro-
scopic and macroscopic. Fisheries workers recognize
the difficulty of adequately sampling fish populations
even in bodies of water of moderate size, and this,
along with the mobility of fishes, has been advanced
as a reason for the unsuitability of fish as indicators
of environmental conditions. But, other aquatic groups
are difficult to sample too, as Needham and Usinger
(25) have demonstrated in the case of the invertebrate
macrofauna of a riffle. The difficulty of sampling and
the mobility of fishes may not be the chief reasons
why fish have not been given more consideration as
indicators. The taxonomic groups which have received
the most attention no doubt have reflected to some
extent the special interests of investigators who hap-
pened to be working in the field of water pollution. Fish
being the usual economic and recreational yield of
stream productivity, their study has obvious applied
value and so has required no additional justification.
Further, the status of a fish population may indicate
suitable or unsuitable environmental conditions, but
when knowledge of this population is the end or aim of
an investigation, the population status is not regarded
as an index of anything else. The value of fish as
indicators of the suitability of water for uses other
than fishing has not been clearly demonstrated. What-
ever the reasons may be, the emphasis in most dis-
cussions of the "biological indices" has been on groups
other than fish, even though very little is known of the
environmental requirements of the species of many of
these groups.
The value of knowledge of fish populations in con-
nection with the classification of aquatic environments
has not been entirely overlooked. Ricker (32) made
important use of the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
and the Centrarchidae and Esocidae as a basis for his
ecological classification of certain Ontario streams.
Fisheries workers frequently use such expressions
as "trout waters" or "bass waters", thus conveniently
classifying waters according to the fish species for
which the waters are well suited. European workers
have made more formal use of such a system of stream
classification (34) (37). Brinley and Katzin (3) have
classified waters and named various pollutional
"zones" of streams in the Ohio River drainage basin
according to the kinds of fish populations found there-
in. As has been done with other animals and plants,
some species of fish have been classified as to their
"saprobic" preferences by a few authors (22) (24) (19)
(35). The basis for such classification of fish is highly
questionably. Patrick (26) (27) includes fish among
the groups considered in her "biological measure" of
stream conditions. Doudoroff (7) and Gaufin and
Tarzwell (14) have emphasized the need'for thorough
fish population studies in connection with water pol-
lution investigations and the determination of the
pollutional status of waters.
Studies of fish populations in variously polluted
waters, which reveal varying susceptibility of differ-
ent fish species to pollutional conditions in their
natural habitats, have been reported by a number of
investigators (3) (6) (11) (20). However, sufficiently
intensive sampling of fish populations has not often
been undertaken in connection with routine pollution
surveys and investigations, the sampling of other
aquatic life having been probably more often empha-
sized when the scope of the biological studies has had
to be limited. Inasmuch as it is not often possible
adequately to study all of the aquatic biota, including
the fish, the practical value of information to be ob-
tained by concentrating attention on fish populations
must be carefully weighed against that of information
to be derived from equally intensive study of some of
the other aquatic organisms, and from comparatively
superficial study of the entire biota.
The absence or extreme scarcity of some fish in a
stream below the point of entry of a waste, and not
above the point of entry, strongly suggests that the
waste is somehow detrimental to these fish; if valuable
food and game fish species are among those believed
to be adversely affected, pollution is indicated. Neither
the presence nor the absence of fish is a reliable indi-
cation of suitability or unsuitability of water for do-
mestic, agricultural, and industrial uses and for
recreational uses other than fishing. Nevertheless,
because of the great economic and recreational value
of many fish species, this information is essential
to sound classification of waters according to their
pollutional status.
The presence of fish does not necessarily show that
their environment has been suitable for them for a
very long time, nor that the species found can survive
indefinitely and complete their life cycles under the
existing environmental conditions. However, the
presence of thriving populations of non-migratory
species, including numerous representatives of dif-
-------
Biological Indices of Water Pollution with Special References to Fish Population
37
ferent age classes whose growth rates have not been
subnormal, is significant. It suggests strongly that
pollution which is highly detrimental to these fishes
and to migratory species whose habitat preferences,
natural food, and water quality requirements are quite
similar has not occurred recently. For example, the
presence of numerous cottids in Northwestern salmon
and trout streams which receive organic wastes is
believed to indicate that dissolved oxygen concentra-
tions have been adequate for some time and other
environmental conditions probably have been suitable
not only for the cottids, but also for migratory salmon
and trout. There is now no sound reason for believing
that the presence of any invertebrate form is a more
reliable and appropriate biological indicator of the
suitability of past environmental conditions for the
migratory salmonids than is the presence of cottids.
The value of waters used for fishing, and of the
fisheries which they support, bears no fixed, direct
relation to the number of fish species to be found
therein, just as it bears no such relation to the num-
ber of species of other organisms present. Some 35
species of fish were collected in the Midwestern
warm-water stream studied by Katz and Gaufin (20).
Because of the scarcity of valuable food and game
fishes, this small, polluted stream is not regarded
as a valuable fishing stream. On the other hand, many
cool, pure streams which are highly valued as trout
and salmon streams contain very few fish species
other than the salmonids. Indeed, the invasion of
valuable trout waters by other fish species not initially
present is generally regarded as evidence of degrada-
tion of these waters, for the numbers of trout usually
decline when it occurs. Such a change of the fish pop-
ulation can be a result of increasing temperatures and
probably also of enrichment (18). Warm, eutrophic
waters can support a great variety of fish and other
organisms, but trout waters which are approaching
this condition can hardly be regarded as "healthy".
Some of the above, statements seem to contradict
Patrick's (26) (27) conclusion, based on a study of the
Conestoga River Basin of Pennsylvania, that "The
results of this study indicate that under healthy con-
ditions a great many species representing the various
taxonomic groups should be present." It is necessary,
therefore, to examine the evidence on which the latter
conclusion is based. It appears that, in accordance
with Patrick's conception of what a "healthy" stream
should be like biologically, only those stations where
a variety of organisms judged to be fairly normal or
typical was actually found were classed as "healthy".
It is not surprising, therefore, that all of the stations
classed as "healthy" had indeed this large variety of
organisms. Chemical, bacteriological, and other data
were collected and considered in selecting and clas-
sifying the stations studied. It is clearly indicated,
nowever, that the variety of organisms found (which
is the proposed index or measure of stream "health")
also was a major consideration. Different conclusions
Perhaps would have been reached had the initial clas-
sification of the stations been based entirely on other
criteria of obvious practical import (such as the abun-
aance, condition, and growth rates of valuable native
game fish, etc.) and had a greater variety of natural,
unpolluted streams been examined. It is noteworthy
also that certain stations which evidently were not
much affected by waste discharges but lacked the
usual variety of organisms (e.g., Station No. 152, in
a stream section evidently suited for stocking with
trout) were classed as "atypical" stations by reason
of certain observed peculiarities, such as low water
temperatures, unusual bottom or shore conditions,
etc. Other stations which had the expected variety of
organisms were classified as "healthy" stations de-
spite noted peculiarities such as marked organic
enrichment, unusually high BOD, high CO2 content,
high bacterial content, or great turbidity of the water.
Thus, it appears that the rating of the stations was
somewhat arbitrary.
When the possibility of certain pollutional damage
specifically to fisheries is under consideration, it
should be remembered that fishes have varying eco-
logical requirements and habits, differ in their resis-
tance to variations of water quality, and are not all
dependent upon all aquatic organisms, nor upon the
same organisms, for their food. It has been shown
that the growth of some fish species is promoted in
certain waters affected by the discharge of organic
waste (21), whereas the same waters apparently are
rendered unsuitable for some other species (20). A
reduction of the number of species of fish-food or-
ganisms, with a great increase of abundance of some
of the remaining species, which occur often in streams
receiving various wastes, doubtless can be harmless
or beneficial for some fish species, although this re-
duction may be detrimental to others. If they are
not otherwise adversely affected by environmental
changes, those fishes which can well utilize the abun-
dant food organisms will thrive, while others may
disappear. Whether the total effect on fisheries will
be favorable or unfavorable clearly will depend on the
relative commercial and recreational value of those
fish populations which are favored and those which
are affected adversely. An intensive study of the en-
tire aquatic biota cannot always reveal the extent of
pollutional damage to fisheries, unless the relative
value of the various forms present (for man, or as
food for important fishes) is considered.
To evaluate the effect of environmental changes on
fisheries it is necessary to know what fish species
were originally present, how highly each is valued,
and in what way and to what degree each important
species has been affected by waste discharges. The
relative abundance and condition of individuals of dif-
ferent species in the waters under investigation and
in suitable "control" areas, the growth-rates of dif-
ferent age classes, the palatability of the flesh, and
possible interference with normal migratory move-
ments or with other reproductive activities must all
be considered. Fish collections taken by carefully
planned netting will yield much of this information.
Commercial and sport catch records, showing the
take per unit of fishing effort, and various field ob-
servations (e.g., of spawning areas utilized, etc.)
also can be very helpful. Inasmuch as the presence
of wastes and other pollutants is by no means the
only factor which can directly influence fish popula-
tions, the cause of observed differences of fish popu-
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38
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
lations must be determined. In this connection, studies
of the food of important fish species and of the relative
abundance of available food organisms in waters which
are affected and those which are not affected by waste
discharges may be essential. However, if detection
and evaluation of pollutional damage to fisheries is
the only or primary objective of a biological investi-
gation, an enumeration of the species of organisms
of all taxonomic groups, or of some single inverte-
brate group, cannot be deemed a direct approach to
the problem at hand. Judged only by its practical
utility, it may be a waste of time, effort, and money,
which perhaps could be far better expended on more
directly pertinent studies. Indeed, it is difficult to
imagine pollutional interference with any use or com-
bination of uses of water which could usually be ac-
curately and most efficiently evaluated in such an
indirect manner.
A study of the influence of large amounts of or-
ganic waste on the ecology of the Tuolumne River of
California has recently been completed by Warren
(unpublished data). During August and September of
1952, the daily mean discharge rates of this river at
the city of Modesto ranged from 293 to 822 cubic feet
per second. The daily mean discharge rates of do-
mestic and cannery waste introduced into the Tuolumne
at Modesto ranged from 0 to 22.3 cubic feet per second.
The 5-day biochemical oxygen demand of samples of
this waste ranged from 60 to 575 parts per million.
Dissolved oxygen concentrations at stations below the
point of waste discharge ranged from zero to super-
saturation during this time.
The objective of this study was to determine some
of the effects of organic waste discharges on the ecology
of the Tuolumne during the different seasons of the
year. Some thirty miles of the river were studied, of
which only the lower ten were influenced by waste
discharges. The phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic
fauna, and fish were studied along with the physical,
chemical, and bacteriological conditions in this river.
The fishery phase of the investigation represented a
small part of the total effort.
The investigation of the Tuolumne River now being
complete and its objective more or less realized, it
is interesting to consider how well other objectives
might have been satisfied by this same study, planned
and conducted as it was. For instance, had the objec-
tive been to determine the influence of the organic
waste specifically on the fisheries of the Tuolumne,
could not much of the effort devoted to the bacterio-
logical, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and benthic faunal
investigations have been far better expended on a
thorough study of the fisheries? One is forced to con-
clude that were the objective to determine the status
of the fisheries, the fish should have received most
of the attention. This does not mean that studies of
the plankton and of the benthic fauna are not necessary
phases of an investigation so oriented. They may be
quite necessary, but they should be so planned that the
time and effort devoted thereto would not be out of
proportion to their contribution to thorough under-
standing of the status or condition of the valuable
fish populations.
The benthic fauna present at stations on the
Tuolumne River below the point of waste discharge
had many of the recognized "pollutional" character-
istics during late summer and early fall. By this
time, many of the "clean-water" species present at
these stations earlier in the summer, and persisting
at stations above the waste outfall, had disappeared.
A marked reduction in species numbers had taken
place, and at least one species occurred in unusually
great numbers. While the bottom fauna showed changes
that in accordance with most biological index methods
would be regarded as evidence of pollution, rather
intensive seining during mid-September resulted in
the collection of 10 species of fish at stations above
the point of waste discharge and 12 species at stations
within the first ten miles below this point. The variety
of fish present had certainly not been greatly altered
by the introduction of wastes, even though the bottom
fauna had been markedly modified.
Collections of young bluegills (Lepomis macro-
chirus) made in September showed the O-year class
to grow faster at stations below the point of waste
introduction than at stations above this point. The
size difference persisted in the 1-year class. The
difference in the O-year - class growth rates could
probably be attributed to the greater abundance of
zooplankton at the downstream stations.
While the above data are interesting, they cannot
be taken as evidence that pollution of the Tuolumne
damaging to fisheries did not exist. Some evidence
indicated interference with a portion of the upstream
migration of adult chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus
tshawytscha). though the downstream migrant young
were presumably unaffected, being apparently absent
from the Tuolumne by the time of critical summer
river flows and waste discharges. Juvenile shad may
perhaps have been affected also. Had the principal
objective of the Tuolumne River investigation been an
evaluation of damage to fisheries resources by pollu-
tion, the study could not have been deemed complete
in the absence of conclusive evidence that interference
with salmon migrations and other possible damage to
valuable fish populations had or had not occurred.
None of the proposed "biological measures" of pollu-
tion intensity could have revealed the degree of such
interference or damage. In order to obtain the crucial
evidence required, it would have been necessary to
emphasize the fisheries phase of the investigation.
It is not the purpose of this paper to discourage
limnological research pertinent to water pollution
problems, nor is it intended to deny the value of all
biological indicators of pollution. There can be no
doubt that a drastic modification of any natural aquatic
biota, attributable to a change of water quality, can
have highly undesirable aspects or consequences.
Such changes presumably are detrimental to human
use and enjoyment of natural waters more often than
they are not. Many a readily demonstrable effect of
wastes upon aquatic life in a valuable stream is sug-
gestive of probable existing or incipient pollution
which deserves close attention and investigation. Even
before valuable fish populations have been materially
affected by some potentially harmful pollutant, an
observed detrimental effect upon other organisms
-------
Biological Indices of Water Pollution with Special Reference to Fish Populations
39
which are somewhat more susceptible than fish may
give warning of possible future damage to fisheries
by continued or additional waste discharges. The na-
ture and the source of existing or incipient pollution
also may be revealed by appropriate biological indices.
Finally, inasmuch as some of the organisms consid-
ered to be indicators of pollution are organisms which
can directly interfere with human use or enjoyment of
waters (e.g., unsightly slime-forming organisms such
as Sphaerotilus, odor-producing algae, etc.), their
unusual abundance may not be disregarded in evaluat-
ing over-all damage caused by pollution.
CONCLUSIONS
It must be concluded that every change or peculi-
arity of the flora and fauna of a stream which has been
referred to as an index or measure of pollution is in
reality only an index of environmental disturbance or
environmental anomaly. The disturbance or anomaly
indicated may or may not be pollutional in the sense
that stream uses are interfered with. Pollution (i.e.,
interference with stream uses) can be negligible when
the effect on the aquatic biota as a whole is great, and
it can be severe when most of the aquatic life is unaf-
fected. Gross pollution often can be demonstrated
without any biological investigation. When biological
investigation may be necessary, pollutional damage to
valuable aquatic organisms can probably best be de-
termined by concentrating attention upon these partic-
ular organisms. Yet, since all aquatic life forms are
more or less sensitive to changes of water quality, the
fate of any of them theoretically can be instructive,
revealing something about the nature and magnitude
of these changes that may not be obvious nor easily
determined otherwise.
A genuine contribution to water pollution science
can be made whenever the presence or relative abun-
dance of living organisms of any kind can be shown to
be a reliable index of something tangible that one
may need to know in order fully to ascertain and un-
derstand the pollutional status of an aquatic environ-
ment. When proposing and describing the use of such
biological indices, one should state specifically
what it is that each is believed to indicate, carefully
avoiding such general, vague, or abstract terms as
"pollution" and "stream health", which may be vari-
ously understood. Does it indicate, for example, con-
tinual presence of dissolved oxygen in certain concen-
trations believed to be adequate for sensitive fish
species? Does it indicate organic enrichment likely
to interfere in some way other than through oxygen
depletion with certain specific uses of water? Or
does it indicate that particular toxic substances have
not recently been present in concentrations likely to
be injurious to fish, to man, or to certain crops ? No
simple biological indicator and no one measure of
stream conditions can indicate all of these things.
But any species can become a biological indicator of
environmental conditions of possible interest as soon
as its nutritional and other environmental require-
ments, its relative resistance to various toxic sub-
stances, etc., become known. Widely distributed
sessile or sedentary organisms should be the most
useful indicators of past conditions. Unfortunately,
the water quality requirements of most of the "indica-
tor organisms" have never been thoroughly investi-
gated, so that there is no real knowledge of specific
factors which limit their distribution and abundance.
Probably nobody now knows just why any of the so-
called clean-water organisms begin to disappear from
waters subject to progressively increasing organic
enrichment. Here is a field for future research which
is far more promising than is, for example, the ques-
tionable classification of all aquatic organisms as
"pollutional", "clean-water", or "facultative". If there
are common sedentary organisms whose water quality
requirements can be shown to correspond closely with
those of valuable fish species, they are potentially
useful indicators. At the present time, however,
excepting instances of gross pollution, only fish
themselves can be said to indicate reliably environ-
mental conditions generally suitable or unsuitable for
their existence.
REFERENCES
1. Beck, W.M. 1954. Studies in stream pollution bi-
ology. I. A simplified ecological classification of
organisms. Quarterly journal of the Florida Acad-
emy of Science, 17:211-227.
2. Beck, W.M. 1955. Suggested method for reporting
biotic data. Sewage and Industrial Wastes, 27:
1193-1197.
3. Brinley, F.J. and L.I. Katzin. 1944. Biological
studies. Ohio River Pollution Control. Supplements
to Part 2, Report of the U.S. Public Health Service.
78th Congress, 1st Session, House Document No.
266, pp. 1275-1368.
4. California State Water Pollution Control Board.
1952. Water quality criteria. California State
Water Pollution Control Board, Publication No. 3.
Sacramento. (See also Addendum No. 1, 1954)
5. Cole, A.E. 1941. The effects of pollutional wastes
on fish life. In A Symposium on Hydrobiology, Uni-
versity of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp. 241-259.
6. Dimick, R.E. and F. Merryfield. 1945. The fishes
of the Willamette River system in relation to pol-
lution. Oregon State College Engineering Experi-
ment Station Bulletin Series, No. 20.
7. Doudoroff, P. 1951. Biological observations and
toxicity bioassays in the control of industrial waste
disposal. Proceedings of the Sixth Industrial Waste
Conference, Purdue University Engineering Exten-
sion Bulletin, Series No. 76, pp. 88-104.
8. Doudoroff, P. In Press. Water quality require-
ments of fishes and effects of toxic substances. In
The Physiology of Fishes (M.E. Brown, Editor).
The Academic Press, New York.
9. Doudoroff, P. and M. Katz. 1950. Critical review
of literature on the toxicity of industrial wastes and
-------
40
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
their components to fish.
inorganic gases. Sewage
22:1432-1458.
I. Alkalies, acids, and
and Industrial Wastes,
10. Doudoroff, P. and M. Katz. 1953. Critical review
of literature on the toxicity of industrial wastes and
their components to fish. II. The metals, as salts.
Sewage and Industrial Wastes, 25:802-839.
11. Ellis, M.M. 1937. Detection and measurement of
stream pollution. Bulletin of the Bureau of Fish-
eries, 48:365-437.
12. Fjerdingstad, E. 1950. The microfloraof the river
Molleaa with special reference to the relation of
the benthal algae to pollution. Folia Limnologica
Scandinavica No. 5.
13. Gaufin, A.R. and C.M. Tarzwell. 1952. Aquatic
invertebrates as indicators of stream pollution.
Public Health Reports, 67:57-64.
14. Gaufin, A.R. and C.M. Tarzwell. 1953. Discussion
of R. Patrick's paper on "Aquatic organisms as an
aid in solving waste disposal problems." Sewage
and Industrial Wastes, 25:214-217.
15. Gaufin, A.R. and C.M. Tarzwell. 1955. Environ-
mental changes in a polluted stream during winter.
The American Midland Naturalist, 54:78-88.
16. Gaufin, A.R. and C.M. Tarzwell. 1956. Aquatic
macro-invertebrate communities as indicators of
organic pollution in Lytle Creek. Sewage and In-
dustrial Wastes, 28:906-924.
17. Harnisch, O. 1951. Hydrophysiologie der Tiere.
Schweizerbart'sche, Stuttgart. (Die Binnengew'as-
ser, Vol. 19)
18. Hasler, A.D. 1947. Eutrophication of lakes by do-
mestic drainage. Ecology, 28:383-395.
19. Johnson, J.W.H. 1914. A contribution to the biology
of sewage disposal. Journal of Economic Biology,
9:117-121.
20. Katz, M. and A.R. Gaufin. 1953. The effects of
sewage pollution on the fish population of a Mid-
western stream. Transactions of the American
Fisheries Society, 82:156-165.
21. Katz, M. and W.C. Howard. 1955. The length and
growth of O-year class creek chubs in relation to
domestic pollution. Transactions of the American
Fisheries Society, 84:228-238.
22. Kolkwitz, R. 1911. Biologie des Trinkwassers,
Abwassers und der Vorfluter, Rubner, Gruber
und Ficker's Handbuch des Hygiene. II. S. Hirzel,
Leipzig.
23. Kolkwitz, R. and M. Marsson. 1908. Oekologie der
pflanzlichen Saprobien, Berichte der Deutschen
Botanischen Gesellschaft, 26a:505-519.
24. Kolkwitz, R. and M. Marsson. 1909. Oekologie der
tierischen Saprobien. Internationale Revue der
gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie, 2:126-
152.
25. Needham, P.R. and R.L. Usinger. 1956. Variabil-
ity in the macrofaunaof a single Riffle in Prosser
Creek, California, as indicated by the Surber
sampler. Hilgardia, 24:383-409.
26. Patrick, R. 1949. A proposed biological measure
of stream conditions, based on a survey of the
Conestoga Basin, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia, 101:277-341.
27. Patrick, R. 1950. Biological measure of stream
conditions. Sewage and Industrial Wastes, 22:926-
938.
28. Patrick, R. 1953. Biological phases of stream
pollution. Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Acad-
emy of Science, 27:33-36.
29. Patrick, R. 1953. Aquatic organisms as an aid in
solving waste disposal problems. Sewage and In-
dustrial Wastes, 25:210-214.
30. Patrick, R., M.H. Hohn, and J.H. Wallace. 1954.
A new method for determining the pattern of the
diatom flora. Notulae Naturae, No. 259.
31. Richardson, R.E. 1928. The bottom fauna of the
Middle Illinois River, 1913-1925. Illinois Natural
History Survey Bulletin, 17:387-475.
32. Ricker, W.E. 1934. An ecological classification
of certain Ontario streams. University of Toronto
Studies, Biological Series No. 37.
33. Southgate, B.A. 1948. Treatment and disposal of
industrial waste water. Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research (Gr. Brit.), London.
34. Steinmann, P. 1915. Praktikum der Siisswasser-
biologie. Verlag Borntraeger, Berlin.
35. Suter, R. and E. Moore. 1922. Stream pollution
studies. Bulletin, New York State Conservation
Commission.
36. Tarzwell, C.M. and A.R. Gaufin. 1953. Some
important biological effects of pollution often dis-
regarded in stream surveys. Proceedings of the
Eighth Industrial Waste Conference. Purdue Uni-
versity Engineering Extension Bulletin, Series No.
83, p. 295-316.
37. Thienemann, A. 1925. Die Binnengewasser Mit-
teleuropas. Schweizerbart'sche, Stuttgart. (Die
Binnengewasser, Vol. 1)
38. Wurtz, C.B. 1955. Stream biota and stream pol-
lution. Sewage and Industrial Wastes, 27:1270-1278.
-------
Bioaccumulation of Radioisotopes Through Aquatic Food Chains
41
Reproduced With Permission From:
ECOLOGY
39(1958): 530-535
BIOACCUMULATION OF RADIOISOTOPES
THROUGH AQUATIC FOOD CHAINS*
J. J. Davis and R. F. Foster
Hanford Laboratories Operation, General Electric Company, Richland, Washington
INTRODUCTION
With an increasing number of atomic energy instal-
lations and their associated problems of disposal of
liquid wastes, we recognize that more and more aquatic
environments are going to be exposed to at least low
concentrations of radioactive materials. For the safety
of human populations who may be drinking water which
contains such radioactive materials, a set of maximum
permissible concentrations has been recommended
(International Commission on Radiological Protection,
1955). By themselves, however, such recommenda-
tions are inadequate to define completely the radio-
logical hazard which may develop through aquatic food
chains. Where biological systems are involved, the
organisms may accumulate certain isotopes to many
times the initial concentrations in the water. There
are many radioisotopes, however, that apparently are
not biologically concentrated.
This paper describes some of the mechanisms in-
volved in the accumulation of radioisotopes by aquatic
organisms, with special reference to food webs and
metabolic rates, and presents some examples of how
the concentration of radioisotopes in organisms can
be used to measure relationships between different
species.
THE ACCUMULATION OF RADIOACTIVE
MATERIALS
In order to interpret the reasons for, or to predict
the concentration of, radioactive substances in aquatic
forms, the biologist must appreciate that several basic
processes are involved. The most important are: (1)
the mode of uptake, which includes adsorption to ex-
posed areas, absorption into tissues, and assimilation
of ingested material; (2) retention, which is a function
of the biochemistry of the particular elements and
components involved, the site of deposition, the turn-
over rate, and the radioactive half-life; and (3) the
mode of elimination, which may involve ion exchange,
diffusion, excretion, and defecation.
MODE OF UPTAKE
The metabolism of the different radioelements and
the relative importance of the different modes of up-
take will fluctuate widely between different species,
environments, and seasons. While this paper is prin-
cipally concerned with assimilation through food
chains, the processes of adsorption and absorption of
radioactive substances directly from the water cannot
be neglected. They are primary mechanisms by which
inorganic materials are acquired by aquatic plants
which are the food sources of the animals. The ab-
sorption of radioisotopes of strontium, barium-lan-
thanum and sodium by fresh-water fish has been
demonstrated by Prosser et al. (1945). Absorption of
radio-calcium has been demonstrated by Lovelace and
Podoliak (1952) and by Rosenthal (1956). Chipman
(1956) showed that cesium readily passed through
excised pieces of tuna skin but that there was little
absorption of strontium or ruthenium from sea water.
Fish immersed in effluent from the Hanford reactors
concentrated Na24 in the tissues about 130-fold. Di-
rect absorption of other isotopes which are dominant
in the effluent, including Cr51, Cu64, F32, As18, and rare
earths, appeared to be inconsequential, however. In
fish that live downriver from the Hanford reactors,
sorption of radioactive materials directly from the
effluents accounts for only about 1.5 percent of the
total radioactivity. Consequently, sorption is of much
less importance than ingestion in the uptake of radio-
active materials by Columbia River fish.
Adsorption occurs almost instantaneously, as has
been demonstrated with yttrium on cells of the marine
alga Carteria by Rice (1956), while equilibrium by
absorption is usually reached by algal cells (Whittaker,
1953) and by vascular aquatic plants (Hayes, et al.,
1952) within a few hours. Because of the rapid uptake
of radioisotopes by these mechanisms, Columbia River
plankton, composed almost entirely of diatoms, ap-
pears to reach equilibrium about one hour after float-
ing into the zone containing effluent from the Hanford
reactors (Foster and Davis, 1955).
Assimilation of ingested materials is the dominant
means by which many radioactive materials become ac-
cumulated in animals since the bulk of their essential
elements is obtained from their food. The contribu-
tion of food webs to the concentration of radioisotopes
in aquatic animals was apparent from samples col-
lected from the Columbia River soon after the first
Hanford reactors began operation. Fish collected
downriver from the reactors were approximately 100
times as radioactive as laboratory fish that were ex-
posed to equivalent mixtures of the effluent, but fed
uncontaminated food. Bottom animals, particularly
herbivorous insect larvae, were found to be even more
radioactive than the fish. The concentrations of radio-
active materials in Columbia River organisms have
never approached hazardous levels, however.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPECIES
The relative concentrations of beta emitters in
various Columbia River organisms are shown in Fig-
ure 1. There are several reasons for the differences
-U °f Bi0l°giCal Sciences- University of Connecticut,
This paper is based'on work performed under contract No. W-31-109 Eng-52 for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The authors wish
to express their gratitude to Dr. H.A. Kornberg for stimulating interest in the mathematical expression of some of the basic concepts and
for his general guidance of the biological studies at Hanford which have furnished most of the examples used here. We are also grateful to
bU /ed 1 Operation, particularly Mr. P.A. Olson and Mr. D.G. Watson, who contributed data which has nTbeen
-------
42
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
which occur between these species.
(1) Several radioisotopes are involved and their
relative proportions are different in the various or-
ganisms. A good indication of the proportions of the
several isotopes can be obtained from curves like
those in Figure 2 which show the characteristics of
the radioactive decay of the isotope mixtures peculiar
to each species. The positions of the curves in Figure
2 at zero time approximate the relative concentrations
of radioisotopes in the water, small fish[Richardsonius
balteatus (Richardson)], caddis larvae [Hydropsyche
cockerelli, Banks], and plankton of the Columbia River
during late summer months. The predominance of
short-lived isotopes in the water is shown by the steep
slope of the bottom curve. Short-lived emitters also
contribute most of the radioactivity in the plankton but
these have virtually disappeared by the fifth day. The
remaining activity in the plankton, which is only about
20 percent of that originally present, emanates from
P32 and other isotopes with half-lives greater than
two weeks. In the caddis larvae and fish, only about
5 percent of the initial radioactivity originates from
short-lived emitters. After the first day the rate of
decay is quite uniform and characteristic of P32 (half-
life 14.3 days). The dominance of the P32 has been
confirmed by radiochemical analysis.
RELATIVE CONCENTRATION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
to
at
O
o
o
I NET PLANKTQNJ
SESSILE ALGAE
STIGEOCLONIUM
SPONGE
SPONGILLA
CADDIS LARVAE
HYDROPSYCHE
MAY FLY NYMPHS
PARALEPTOPHLEBIA
SNAIL FLESH
STAGNICOLA
SUCKERS
CATOSTOMUS
SHINERS I
RICHARDSONIUS
^ CRAYFISH
P ASTACUS
P WATER
Figure 1 - Radioactivity in different Columbia River
organisms.
The relative proportions of the several isotopes
differ from one organism to another not only because
of dissimilarities in the chemical composition and
physiological demands of the different forms but also
because of the different sorption characteristics which
vary with morphology. Food chains are also important
since they tend to "select for" isotopes of the essential
elements, in this case P32, and to "select against"
nonessential elements. During the late summer
months, the concentration of P32 in small fish of the
Columbia River maybe 165,000 time that of the water.
On the other hand, As76 is barely detectable in the fish
although it is responsible for a substantial fraction of
the radioactivity in the water.
ui
10 15 20
DAYS
25 3O
Figure 2
Radioactive decay in different organisms
and Columbia River water.
The marked variation in the relative abundance of
different isotopes whichcan occur at different trophic
levels and even between similar species has recently
been pointed out by Krumholz (1956). From data col-
lected at White Oak Lake, which received a variety of
radioactive wastes from the Oak Ridge National Labo-
ratory, Krumholz states: "Although radiophosphorus
was generally accumulated in much greater amounts
than any other radioelement by the organisms that
served as food for the fish, that element made up only
a small portion of the total radiomaterials concentrated
in the fish tissues; whereas radiostrontium, which was
present in the food organisms in only relatively small
quantities, was accumulated in high concentrations in
the fish skeletons. Furthermore, although the con-
tents of the bluegill stomachs contained more radio-
activity, on the average, than those of the black crap-
pies, the crappies accumulated considerably greater
amounts of radiomaterials in the hard tissues than the
bluegills did. The bluegills, on the other hand, accu-
mulated more radiomaterials in the soft tissues than
the black crappies. Both species concentrated radio-
strontium in quantities 20,000 to 30,000 times as great
as those in the water in which they lived."
(2) Variation in moisture content between different
organisms is a second reason for the differences in
concentration of radioisotopes shown in Figure 1.
Chemical composition is also a factor since we are
-------
Bioaccumulation of Radioisotopes Through Aquatic Food Chains
43
actually concerned with the quantity of a particular
element in a unit mass of live tissue. The percentage
of the live weight of the Columbia River plankton,
caddis larvae, and minnows which is contributed by
the inorganic ash is respectively 16, 2.2, and 3.0; and
the concentration of phosphorus in the living organisms
is about 150 ppm for plankton, 2,000 ppm for caddis
larvae, and 6,000 ppm for minnows. Even greater
differences may occur between the different tissues of
an individual. Figure 3 shows how the concentration
of radioactive materials varies between different tis-
sues of whitef ish in the Columbia River. Since virtually
all of the activity is from P32 this gives a good indi-
cation of the relative concentration of phosphate in the
different tissues.
(3) A third reason for differences in concentrations
of radioisotopes between different organisms is their
relative position on the food pyramid. Although ele-
ments are exchanged continuously between the water
and the organisms of a food web, there is a mean re-
tention time for each element in each organism. Each
trophic level thus serves as a kind of pooler reservoir
in which essential elements are retained for some
mean length of time before they are passed on to the
next level. The size of each pool will be governed by
the total amount of an element held by the entire biotic
mass making up the particular trophic level. A major
fraction of most radioactive contaminants accumulated
by aquatic life will be held by the plankton and benthic
algae because of their relatively large total mass.
Rigler (1956) found that over 95 percent of the P32
added to a lake was taken up by plankton (including
bacteria) within 20 minutes. But retention time is not
necessarily a function of the size of the pool. Indeed
it is more apt to be inversely related since most ele-
ments will remain for a longer time in the larger
organisms than in the small plant forms, although the
small plants constitute the largest pool. Since, in the
Columbia River, we are dealing with a flowing stream
where isotopes are added at a more or less constant
rate, much of the mineral exchange system can be
considered as a once-through process rather than a
cycle. Some radioactive decay will occur while the
isotopes are retained in each trophic level. This de-
cay, and thus the effective retention period, should be
measurable by a progressive decline in specific ac-
tivity — the concentration of an isotope per unit mass
of the element. For example, under certain conditions
midge larvae in the Columbia River may contain on
the order of 4 [ic P32/g of P and the small fish which
eat the midge larvae about 0.5 IAC P32/g of P • Since
the half-life of P32 is two weeks, the phophorus de-
posited in the fish must be, on the average, about six
weeks "older" than that in the midge larvae. The rel-
tive "age" of the isotope will differ between species and
differ between species and will change with the age,
sixe, and growth rate of the individual and with the
seasons. The decrease in specific activity will, of
course, be more apparent for short-lived isotopes than
for those with half-lives of several weeks or more.
The specific activity of the river biota should be
appreciably lower than that of the water not merely
because of the time required to incorporate the isotope
into the organisms but also because of the T'pools" of
elements fixed in the biota and sediments. When a
radioisotope is first introduced into a body of water it
RELATIVE CONCENTRATION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
Figure 3 - Radioactivity in different tissues of
Columbia River fish.
will be isotopically diluted with the stable form of the
element which is dissolved in the water. Soon, it also
will become isotopically diluted by exchange with the
stable form of the element which has not been in solu-
tion. With a single addition of isotope into a "static"
environment, the specific activity will eventually be-
come uniform throughout the biota. Reservoirs of
phosphates in the solids of lakes have been described
by Hutchinson and Bowen (1950) and Hayes and co-
workers (1952), who have studied phosphorus exchange
with the use of P32 .
RATE OF ACCUMULATION BY AQUATIC
ORGANISMS
The nearly instantaneous uptake of isotopes by ad-
sorption and the rapid uptake by absorption have been
mentioned. When animals are chronically feeding on
radioactive materials, the rate at which their concen-
tration of the isotopes approaches equilibrium will be
a function of the radioactive and biological half-lives
of the particular isotope involved.
Figure 4 shows the rate at which caddis fly larvae
(Hydropsychecockerelli) accumulated radioactive
materials (mostly p32 ) when fed filamentous algae
(mostly Spirogyra) that had been cultured in reactor
effluent. If there was no biological turnover of phos-
phorus in the caddis larvae, the time required to reach
some fraction of the equilibrium level would be a func-
tion of the radioactive decay constant and could be
predicted from the equation:
2l-i ,-Xf
0.
where Qe is the amount of the isotope present at equi-
librium, Qt is the amount present at some time (t)
-------
44
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
before equilibrium is reached, and X is the radioactive
decay constant.
Since true equilibrium will only be reached after
infinite time, we can consider practical equilibrium
to occur when Qt = 0.9 Q, , and solve the equation for
t.. For any isotope, t will be equal to the half-life
multiplied by ~faai . For P32 it is approximately
47 days.
The curve presented in Figure 4 shows a much
shorter time which indicates that significant biological
turnover is present. The equation is easily modified
to take this into account:
where 8 is the sum of X and 0, where P is the constant
for biological half-life. A 0.9 of equilibrium,
— In O.I
t =
From Figure 4, t is about 50 hours and
2-302
.693 + -693
T>
343
(343 is the half- life of P32 in hours).
m
s |o°
£
OACTIVE
-4
(*
O
0 50
O
I 2,
8
/
/
/
/
/
§ 1
> .
/^
/
^-
_ "
hi
TIME IN HOURS
Figure 4 - Rate of accumulation of effluent isotopes
by caddis fly larvae.
The biological half-life, Tt , is about 16 hours. Under
such conditions the specific activity of the P32 will not
diminish appreciably at this trophic level.
If laboratory tests can be carried out in conjunction
with field observations, some interesting ecological
relationships can be deduced. For example, we might
measure the concentration of P32 in small minnows
collected from a contaminated environment and find
this to be 2 X 10-* ixc/gram. If the average size of
the minnows was 5 grams, then each fish would have
a body burden of about K>-2 |xc of Ps2. From a labo-
ratory test, which duplicated field conditions as closely
as possible, we might find that 0.9 of Q. was reached
in 20 days. Then
8 =
— In O.I 2.302
t
20
= 0.115
The same test might show that half of the ingested P32
was assimilated and deposited (a = 0.5). Assuming the
concentration of P32 in the river fish to be in equilib-
rium with the environment and neglecting growth.
where q is the quantity of P32 ingested per unit time --
in this case each day. Then,
q — 2.3 X 10~3 [xc/day.
and
In order to have reached the observed concentration
of F32, each minnow must have consumed about 2.3 X
10-3 IAC of P32 each day. If, from stomach analyses,
we have found that the fish feed predominantly on
midge larvae and from field collections we have found
that the midge larvae have a concentration of P32 of
about 10~2 ixc/g , then we can surmise that each min-
now has been eating about 0.23 grams of the midge
larvae each day.
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
Since most aquatic animals are poikilothermic,
their metabolic rates, and thus their feeding rates,
change with variations in temperature and so with the
seasons. For those aquatic forms that accumulate
radioactive substances principally via ingestion, the
concentration of radioisotopes fluctuates with meta-
bolic rate. Figure 5 shows the seasonal fluctuations
which occur in the radioactivity of plankton (diatoms)
and minnows (Richardsonius balteatus) in the Columbia
River. Fluctuations in plankton are quite similar to
those in the water since the radioisotopes are acquired
by direct absorption and adsorption (Foster and Davis,
1955). On the other hand, fluctuation in the radio-
activity of the minnows is more closely related to the
temperature. The 75-fold increase in concentration
of radioisotopes in the fish between winter and late
summer does not mean simply that the fish are eating
75 times as much food. The seasonal fluctuations
result from the interaction of all of the factors men-
tioned above which influence the accumulation of radio-
active materials. As the feeding rate increases for
each organism, its intake of radioisotopes may be
disproportionately large. The consumer is not only
eating more grams of food, but each food organism
has become more radioactive, and the effective time
intervals between trophic levels have become less.
Possibly the food habits of the species in question have
also changed. A complete evaluation of the seasonal
fluctuations in any one species would require an im-
mense amount of work, not only on the food habits of
the species but also on its physiology and on the radio-
active contamination of its food organisms.
-------
Bioaccumulation of Radiosotopes Through Aquatic Food Chains
45
Not all seasonal variations are associated merely
with temperature since deviations may occur where
complex life cycles are involved. This occurs in im-
mature insects which are less radioactive during
quiescent periods than when the larvae or nymphs are
feeding. It is also true of salmon that return to the
Columbia River to spawn. The adult salmon virtually
stop feeding when they enter fresh water, and con-
sequently pick up very little radioactive material.
Krumholz (1956) also observed definite seasonal
changes in the accumulation of radiomaterials by fish
of White Oak Lake. These corresponded to some extent
with seasonal changes in temperature. He noted, how-
ever, that the accumulation of radioisotopes in black
crappie and bluegills stopped at the first of August
when the temperature reached about 80° F. He attrib-
utes the rapid loss of radioactive materials during
August and September toaperiodof summer dormancy
for these species.
SUMMARY
Some radioactive materials introduced into aquatic
environments may be accumulated by the organisms.
The amount of accumulation will vary over many or-
ders of magnitude depending upon the kinds of isotopes
involved and many physical, chemical, and biological
factors. Such concentration is of considerable im-
portance in the control of radiological hazards and
the aquatic biologist has definite responsibilities in
this area.
The processes of adsorption and absorption are of
major importance in the uptake of radioisotopes by
plants but appear to be of less importance than the
food chain in the uptake by aquatic animals. The con-
centration of radioactive substances will vary between
species and tissues and will fluctuate according to
food habits, life cycles, and seasonal changes.
Within the biotic mass, a major fraction of most
radioactive contaminants will be held by the organisms
which make up the primary trophic levels. In a flow-
ing stream, the specific activity of a radioisotope will
diminish along the food chain. Where the turnover
rates of certain isotopes can be measured, inferences
can be drawn on feeding habits.
JAN.
FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEP OCT. NOV. DEC.
Figure 5 - Seasonal fluctuations in radioactivity of Columbia River organisms.
REFERENCES
Chipman, Walter A. 1956. Passage of fission products
through the skin of tuna. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice Special Scientific Report - Fisheries No. 167.
Foster, R.F. and J.J.Davis. 1955. The accumulation
of radioactive substances in aquatic forms. Pro-
ceedings of the International Conference on the
Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 13 (P/280) :
364-367.
Hayes,F.R., J.A.McCarter, M.L.Cameron, and D.A.
Livingstone. 1952. On the kinetics of phosphorus
exchange in lakes. Jour. Ecol. 40 : 202-216.
Hutchinson, G.E. and V.T. Bowen. 1950. Limnologi-
cal studies in Connecticut. IX. A quantitative radi-
ochemical study of the phosphorus cycle in Linsley
Pond. Ecology 31 : 194-203.
International Commission. 1955. Recommendations
of the international commission on radiological
protection. British Jour, of Radiology, Suppl.
No. 6, 92 pp.
Krumholz, L.A. 1956. Observations on the fish pop-
ulation of a lake contaminated by radioactive
wastes. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 110 : 277-368.
-------
46
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
Lovelace, F.E. and H.H. Podoliak. 1952. Absorption
of radioactive calcium by brook trout. The Pro-
gressive Fish-Culturist 14 : 154-158.
Prosser, C.L., W. Pervinsek, Jane Arnold, G. Svihla,
and P.C. Thompkins. 1945. Accumulation and dis-
tribution of radioactive strontium, barium-lantha-
num, fission mixture and sodium in goldfish. USAEC
Document MDDC-496 : 1-39.
Rice, T.R. 1956. The accumulation and exchange of
strontium by marine planktonic algae. Limnology
and Oceanography 1 : 123-138.
Rigler, F.H. 1956. A tracer study of the phosphorus
cycle in lake water. Ecology 37 : 550-562.
Rosenthal, H.L. 1956. Uptake and turnover of cal-
cium-45 by the guppy. Science 34 : 571-574.
Whittaker, R.H. 1953. Removal of Radiophosphorus
contaminant from the water in an aquarium com-
munity. In Biology Research -- Annual Report
1952. USAEC Document HW-28636 : 14-19.
-------
Chapter II
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
-------
Ecology of Plant Saprobia
47
Reproduced With Permission From:
BERICHTE DER DEUTSCHEN BOTANISCHEN GESELLSCHAFT.
(REPORTS OF THE GERMAN BOTANICAL SOCIETY)
26a(1908) : 505-519
TRANSLATION BY UNITED STATES JOINT PUBLICATIONS RESEARCH SERVICE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
ECOLOGY OF PLANT SAPROBIA
R. Kolkwitz and M. Marrson
The present report contains a listing of approxim-
ately 300 plant organisms of importance for the self-
purifying capacity of our native waters. In order to
express their dependence on decomposing organic
nutrients, we introduced in 1902 (1) the term "saprobia"
for them and subdivided them into poly-, meso- and
oligosaprobia in accordance with the increasing degree
of mineralization in such waters.
Such a classification presupposes that the respective
organisms are uniquely dependent, within relatively
narrow limits, on the chemical composition of the
water for their distribution and development in situ.
The Institute mentioned has available a very large
number of analyses of the composition of a great many
different bodies and courses of water and many years
of investigation have shown that this assumption is
valid if we take into account in such a classification
an ecology which assigns a higher value to the occur-
rence of floristic constituents — insofar as these
develop typically -- than the determination of merely
isolated specimens. The present case therefore con-
cerns a classification of aquatic plants on a chemo-
physiological basis in which laboratory tests are less
decisive than the findings in situ of their presence.
Such locations are collectors or channels for raw
putrescible sewage, filtered effluents from trickle
fields or biological oxidation, settling or collecting
tanks absorbing nutrient-containing inflow as well as
overgrown ponds, cisterns and dry wells.
For reasons of lack of space, we have temporarily
omitted from consideration the organisms of pure
water (catharobia), specifically their plankton and
also because the term saprobia is hardly applicable
to them as in the case of a number of algae from pure
mountain streams and lakes. Here we should point
out that our present observations indicate that there
are very few chlorophyll-containing organisms which
refuse any organic nutriment under natural conditions
and that there are hardly any surface waters which
do not react to permanganate through their content
of organic substances.
The already mentioned extensive and definitive
influence of aquatic organisms, especially when mi-
croscopic, has already been utilized by Ferd. Conn
to a limited extent for the evaluation of the degree of
purity of these waters as a function of the organisms
existing in them. This method of biological analysis
was therefore developed in the botanical field. With its
further development must be credited Mez, Schorlein,
Lindau, Schmidmann (by founding the Institute men-
tioned), Schiemenz and Hofer among many others.
The large-scale experiments most appropriate for
testing the relation between organisms and the char-
acter of the water have steadily increased in Germany
since 1870 by reason of the increased outflow from the
sewers of the growing towns and cities and through the
increased volume of sewage from industrial agricul-
tural enterprises. Obviously, methods of purification
have been perfected at the same time which have also
lead to valuable and pertinent experimental findings.
In spite of certain differences in chemical composition,
all these effluents produce the same biological picture
in general in the collectors because a stream or lake
tends to compensate the existing differences by dilu-
tion, neutralization, oxidation, etc. and thus creates
the same similar nutritive conditions for saprobia.
A detailed discussion of the considerations in clas-
sifying the organisms contained in the attached list
into the respective zones will follow in the Reports of
the Institute, together with a discussion of the respec-
tive animals and with the addition of illustrations. In
this report here, we assume familiarity with all the
organisms listed as well as the knowledge of their
general habitat within the three typical regions of
bank, bottom (benthos) and open water (plankton) and
limit ourselves to giving a brief characteristic of the
three different zones.
I - The zone of polysaprobia is characterized from
the biological viewpoint principally through the wealth
of schizomycetes by number, species and variety.
Polysaprobia may gradually overlap into the zone of
mesosaprobia (cf. Spherotilus) but will never occur
grouped in the oligosaprobiotic zone but only in isola-
tion and then generally erratically. The overlapping
of Spherothilus into the second zone finds its reason in
the fact that Spherotilus is an inhabitant of running
water and needs aeration in addition to motion.
Designations such as "in pure and impure water"
or "Euglena viridis is found in all Euglenaceae habi-
tats" are offenses against the ecological viewpoint in
our system. The number of germs capable of devel-
opment per cubic centimeter of standard nutrient
gelatine can easily rise above 1 million. Our standard
food fishes can become easily subject to asphyxiation
in this zone.
From the chemical viewpoint, the zone of the poly-
-------
48
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
saprobia is characterized by the predominance of
reduction and cleavage processes, through absence
or low content of oxygen, through an abundance of
carbondioxide and a relatively high content of nitrog-
enous and putrescible nutrient substances. The mud
of this zone is frequently rich in ferrous sulphide.
We have no large streams of polysaprobiotic char-
acter over any great distance; even the river "Wupper"
is not polysaprobiotic.
n - In the zone of the mesosaprobia, we distinguish
sections with strong and/or weak mesosaprobiotic
character. In the former of the two, self-purifica-
tion seems to take place more aggressively than in
the latter.
From the biological viewpoint, the first part of
this zone is characterized by the predominance of
Schizophyceae and — especially in moving water —
by a more or less great abundance of Eumecytes;
Peridiniales are practically completely absent. Animal
life may be rather fully developed and thus may attract
fishes for feeding. The fishes are here subject to as-
phyxiation only infrequently. The numerical content of
bacteria per cubic centimeter is still high and may run
into hundreds of thousands.
Good examples for this formation are furnished in
particular by contaminated ponds and ditches, expe-
cially of trickle fields.
In contrast to the symbioses described so far and
in special consideration of the benthonic diatoms, we
might designate the second part of the mesosaprobiotic
zone as the formation of the Bacillariaceae, especially
if we consider the dearth of varieties in the strong
mesosaprobiotic zone. In addition to the diatoms, we
find here in general, however, a rather wide classi-
fication of the vegetation, e.g., among the Chloro-
phyceae, so that on the whole given types do not nec-
essarily predominate.
The number of bacteria developing on standard nu-
tritive gelatine normally amounts to less than 100,000.
All mesosaprobia are resistant to a minor affluence
of sewage. Many of the higher aquatic plants find,
particularly beyond the weak mesosaprobiotic zone,
adequate and often rather favorable conditions of veg-
tation. The progressive course of self-purification is
as characteristic from the chemical as from the bio-
logical viewpoint. Aeration and production of oxygen
through assimilation of carbon have made possible the
inception of oxidation processes which favor the life
of the coarser fauna as already mentioned. Especially
in the strong mesosaprobiotic part, the oxygen content
tends to decrease, however, in darkness or with a
clouded sky but rises again and often beyond the satu-
ration maximum under increased light.
Such decomposition products of protein as aspar-
agin, leucine, and glycine (all characterized by NH4-
and CCOH-groups, i.e., decomposition and oxidation
stages) appear to be widely present in this zone (but in
great dilution which makes their demonstration rather
difficult) as well as ammonia salts and -- when ap-
proaching the oligosaprobiotic formation — nitrites
and nitrates, the oxidation stages of ammonia.
When stored in flasks, normal water from this zone
does not tend to putrefy but may form a minor super-
natant layer under certain circumstances.
Normal effluent from the trickle fields which may
be designated --at least during the hot season --as
typically nitrous water should probably be counted in
the weak mesosaprobiotic region.
Ill - The zone of the oligosaprobia is characterized
by the termination of mineralization and all aggressive
processes of self-purification are normally absent
here. The biological organization is manifold. If they
exist, Peridiniales reach typical development in a few
representatives. Sensitive to sewage, Charales now
begin to show themselves but polysaprobia are absent
even in small amounts. The number of bacteria devel-
oping on standard nutritive gelatine usually is less
than 1,000 per ccm unless erratic forms have been
infused. The dearth of planktonic Schizomycetes is
also characteristic. Given benthonic forms of this
class may occur, however, typically in the organic
matting of the banks.
Chemical analysis of the waters from this zone
shows us that the consumption of permaganate is rel-
atively low and that we find only traces of organic
nitrogen. Determined in a suitable manner, the con-
sumption of oxygen is minor. Measured by immersing
a white disk, the transparency of the water is generally
high in calm weather. The mud from this region is
generally poor in reduction processes but may assume
a mesosaprobiotic character. In general, mud that
can be characterized as oligosaprobiotic, will probably
not be widely distributed.
Since the rapid decomposition of organic substances
no longer dominates the chemistry of this region, less
obviously effective substances may have an influence
on ecological composition, e.g., such minerals as
determine the differing hardness of the waters. How-
ever, there do not exist as yet any complete observa-
tions on this, not even for Phanerogam ia.
The waters of all the above zones nearly all show an
alkaline reaction; those with an acid reaction we intend
to describe similar to the above at some later time.
We intend to publish elsewhere the "Ecology of
Animal Saprobia" which is in harmony with our system.
PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF PLANT SAPROBIA
Within the individual zones, the organisms are ar-
ranged in accordance with the Engler System, except
for some deviations in the flagellate group. The fol-
lowing listing is based only on our own observations
from nature. Such organisms as we did not ourselves
observe at the main source of their development, have
not been taken into account even if pertinent notes on
them existed in literature; those have been omitted
also which have no biocenotic value for the present
purposes on the basis of our present experience (e.g.,
Bacterium cellulosae Omelianski Mig., many panto-
-------
Ecology of Plant Saprobia
49
trophic bactteria and various phanerogamia).
Doubts on the exact place of classification of some
of the organisms were resolved by allocating them to
the less nutrient of the respective zones.
I. Polysaprobia
Schizomycetes
Spirillum tenue Ehrbg.
" serpens (O. F. Muller).
Rugula (O.F. Muller).
Undula Ehrbg.
" volutans Ehrbg.
Sphaerotilus natans Ktz. )
nroseus Zopf J
Zoogloea ramigera Itzigsohn.
Streptococcus margaritaceus Schroter.
Sarcina paludosa Schroter
Beggiatoa alba (Vaucher) Trevisan
" leptomitiformis (Mengh.) Trevisan.
" arachnoidea (Ag.) Rabenhorst.
Thiopolycoccus ruber Win.
Chromatium okenii (Ehrbg.) Perty. ^
" vinosum (Ehrbg.) Win.
" minutissimum Win.
cf. Mesosaprobia
Lamprocystis roseo-persicina (Ktz.).
Schroter.
cf. Meso-
saprobia
Schizophyceae
Arthrospira jenneri Stitz., when associated with
Beggiatoa. cf. Mesosaprobia.
Euglenales
Euglena viridis (Schrank)Ehrenbg., when abundant.
Protococcales
Polytoma uvella Ehrbg.
II. Mesosaprobia
1. Strong Mesosaprobiotic
Schizomycetes
Sphaerotilus natans Ktz.
"roseus Zopf
when associated with
mesosaprobiotic
Bacillariaceae and
when in part with
Cladothrix-like
ramification.
cf. Polysaprobia.
Thiothrix nivea (Rabenhorst) Win.
when asso-
,,, ,. , /_, , \ „ , ciated with
Chromatium okenu (Ehrbg.) Perty meSosaDro
Lamprocystis roseo-persicina (Ktz.) biotica^ae
Schrbter cf. Polysa-
probia.
Thiospirillum sanguineum (Ehrbg.) Win.
Spirochaete plicatilis Ehrbg., is classed by us as
animal.
Schizophyceae
Oscillatoria princeps Vaucher
" tenuis Ag.
" chalybea Mertens.
'' putrida Schmidle.
" chlorina Kutz
" splendida Grev.
" brevis Ktz.
" formosa Bory.
Arthrospira jenneri Stitz. cf. Polysaprobia.
Phormidium uncinatum (Ag.) Gomont.
" autumnal (Ag.) Gomont.
" foveolarum (Mont.) Gom.
Cryptomonadales
Cryptomonas nordstedtii (Hansg.) Senn; probably =
Cryptoglena coerulescens Ehrbg.
Euglenales
Euglena viridis var. lacustris France.
Lepocinclis ovum Ehrbg.
" texta (Dug.) Lemm.
Cryptoglena pigra Ehrbg.
Bacillariales
Hantzschia amphioxys (Ehrbg.) Grun.
Nitzschia palea (Kutz.) W. Sm. and their variety
fonticola Grun.
Stauroneis acuta W. Sm.
Protococcales
Chlamydomonas de baryana Gorosch.
Spondylomorum quaternarium Ehrbg.
Stichococcus bacillaris Naeg F. confervoidea
Hazen. cf. weak mesosaprobia.
Chlorella infusionum (Beyerk.).
Confervales
Ulothrix subtilis Kuetz. forma.
Stigeoclonium tenue Ktz. (delimitation of variety
difficult) attenuates toward weak mesosapro-
biotic zone.
Phycomycetes
Mucor, and
Apodya lactea(Ag.) Cornu- Leptomitus lacteus Ag.
Mucor, and Zygorhynchus group.
(Ag.)
Hemiascomycetes
Endoblastoderma salmonicolor Fischer & Brebeck
and some Torula which probably belong here.
Euascomycetes
Fusarium aquaeductuum Lagerheim.
2. Weak mesosaprobiotic
Schizomycetes
Lampropedia hyalina (Ehrbg.) Schroter.
Cladothrix dichotoma Cohn.
Schizophyceae
Oscillatoria limosa Ag.
" antliaria Jurgens
Phormidium subfuscum Ktz.
Aphanizomenon flos aquae Ralfs.
Chrysomonadales
Chrysosphaerella longispina Lauterb
Synura uvella Ehrbg., when associated with Clos-
terium acerosum. Brachionus. Rotifer, acti-
nurns and isolated specimens of Euglena viridis.
cf. Oligosaprobia
-------
50
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
Cryptomonadales
Cryptomonas crosa Ehrbg.
ovata
Euglenales
luglena acus Ehrbg.
spirogyra Ehrbg.
oxyuris Schmarda.
deses Ehrbg.
pisciformis Klebs
quartana Moroff.
tripteris (Duj.) Kl.
velata Klebs.
Phacus caudata Hubner.
Trachelomonas hispida Stein.
" volvocina Ehrbg.
Colacium vesiculosum (Ehrbg.) Stein
Peridiniales
Ceratium tetraceros Schrank, occurs also associ-
ated with Lamprocystis, Chromatium okenii.
Bacillariales
Melosira varians Ag. (preferred mineralized or-
ganic substance).
Stephanodiscus hantzschianus Grun
" " var. pusillus Grun.
Diatoma vulgare Bory.
Synedra Ulna var. splendens (Ktz.) J. Brun.
" actinastroides Lem.
" radians (Ktz.) Grun.
" vaucheriae Ktz.
Microneis minutissima (Ktz.) Cleve.
Navicula brebissonii Ktz.
radiosa Ktz.
cryptocephala Ktz.
rhynchocephala Ktz.
cuspidata Ktz.
mesolepta Ehrbg.
amphisbaena Bory.
ambigua Ehbg.
atomus Naeg.
Stauroneis phoenicenteron Ehrbg.
Gomphonema tenellum W. Sm.
" olivaceum Ktz.
" parvulum Ktz.
Rhoicosphenia curvata (Ktz.) Grun.
Nitzschia parvula W. Sm.
" communis Rabh.
" stagnorum Rabh.
" dissipata (Ktz.) Grun.
acicularis (Rabh). W. Sm,
Surirella ovalis Breb. var. ovata'- S, ovata Ktz.,
also var. minuta and angusta.
Co
mjugatae
Closterium acerosum Ehrbg.
" parvulum Naeg.
" moniliferum Ehrbg.
leibleini Ktz.
Cosmarium botrytis Menegh.
Spirogyra crassa Ktz.
" porticalis (Vauch.) Cleve.
Protococcales
Carteria cordiformis Dill.
Chlamydomonas ehrenbergi Gorosch.
" brauni Gorosch.
" reinhardi Dang.
" kuteinikowi Gorosch.
" reticulata Gorosch.
Chlorogonium euchlorum Ehrbg.
Gonium sociale (Dng.yWarm. - Gonium tetras A. Br.
Stichococcus bacillaris Naeg; cf. strong Mesosa-
probia.
Chlorococcum botryoides Rabh.
Pediastrum boryanum (Turp.) Menegh., especially
when numerous young specimens exist.
Rhaphidium polymorphum var. aciculareJA.B.) Rab.
" ~ .especially
Scenedesumus auadricauda (Turp j Bre'b.jwhen
" acuminatus (Lagh.) Chodat/numerous
" obliquus (furp.) Ktz. /young
" bijugatus (Turp.) Ktz. ^specimens
'exist.
Selenastrum bibraianum Reinsch.
Dictyosphaerium pulchellum Wood.
" ehrenbergianum Naeg.
Chlorosphaera limicola Beyrk.
Confervales
Ulothrix subtilis (Ktz.); cf. Oligosaprobia.
Conferva bombycina (Ag.) Wille.
Microthamnion kuetzingianum Naeg.
Oedogonium species.
Cladophora crispata Ktz.
Vaucheria sessilis (Vauch.) D.C.
Florideae
Hildebrandia rivularis (Liebm.) Breb.
Monocotyledoneae
Holodea (Elodea) canadensis R. & Mchx.
Lemna minor L.
" polyrhiza L.
Dicotyledoneae
Ceratophyllum demersum L., when in certain forms
of growth.
HI. Oligosaprobia
Schizomycetes
Chlamydothrix ochracea (Ktz.) Mig.
Gallionella ferruginea Ehrbg.
Crenothrix polyspora Conn.
Clonthrix fusca Roze. •
Schizophyceae
Dactylococcopsis rhaphidioides Hansg.
Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum Naeg.
Gomphosphaeria lacustris Chodat.
Microsystis incerta Lemm.
Clathrocystis aeruginosa (Ktz.), Henfrey and other
Microcystis-varieties.
Merismopedia glauca (Ehrbg.) Naeg.
" convoluta Bre'b.
Oscillatoria anguina Bory.
" rubescens D. C.
" agardhii Gom.
Phormidium inundatum Ktz.
" papyraceuum (Ag.) Gom.
Microcoleus subtorulosus" (Bre'b.) Gom.
-------
Ecology of Plant Saprobia
51
Anabaena flos aquae (Lyngb.) Breb.
" spiroides Kleb.
Glaucothrix gracillima Zopf.
Calothrix parietina (Naeg.) Thuret.
Chrysomonadales
Chromulina rosanoffii Woron.
Mallomonas acaroldes Perty.
" producta (Zach.) Iwanoff.
Synura uvella Ehrbg.; cf. mesosaprobia.
Uroglena volvox Ehrbg.
Dinobryon species.
Euglenales
Euglena oblonga Schmitz.
" genlculata (Duj.) Schmitz.
" minima France'.
Phacus longicauda (Ehrbg.) Duj.
" pleuronectes Nitzsch.
" parvula Klebs.
" pyrum (Ehrbg.) St.
Peridiniales
Gymnodinium palustre Schilling.
Ceratium hirundinella O.F. Mull.
Peridinium minimum Schilling.
quadridens Stein.
cinctum Ehrbg.
tabulatum Clap. & Lachm.
berolinense Lemm.
bipes Stein.
Gonyaulax apiculata (Pen.) Entz.
Bacillariales
Melosira ambigua O. Mull.
" granulata (Ehrbg.) Ralfs.
" italica Ktz.
" binderiana Ktz.
" crenulata Ktz.
" arenaria Moore and other species
Cyclotella meneghiniana Ktz.
" kuetzingiana Thw.
" comta (Ehrbg.) Ktz.
Tabellaria flocculosa (Roth) Ktz.
Meridion circulare Ag.
Fragilaria virescens Rulfs.
" construens (Ehrbg.) Grun.
" mutabilis (W. Sm.) Grun.
Asterionella formosa Hass.
Synedra acus Ktz.
Syedra ulna (Nitzsch) Ehrbg. and varieties
Eunotia arcus (Ehrbg.) Rabh.
Achnanthes exilis Ktz.
Navicula mesolepta Ehrbg.
viridis Ktz.
maior Ktz.
gibba Ehrbg.
dicephala W. Sm.
inflata Ktz.
iridis Ehrbg.
limosa Ktz.
gastrum Ehrbg.
hungarica Grun.
per pus ilia Grun.
viridula Ktz.
clausii Gr.
Pleurosigma attenuatum (Ktz.) W. Sm.
Gomphonema acuminatum Ehrbg.
" capitatum~Ehrbg.
" constrictum Ehrbg.
" angustatum Ktz.
Cymbella ehrenbergii Ktz.
ncistula (Hempr.) Kirchn.
" lanceolata (Ehrbg.) Kirchn.
Encyonema prostratum Ralfs.
"ventricosum Ktz.
Amphora ovalis Ktz.
Epithemia turgida (Ehrbg.) Ktz.
" sorex Ktz.
" zebra (Ehrbg.) Ktz.
Rhopalodia gibba (Ktz.) O. Muller
Bacillaria paradoxa Gmelin
Nitzschia sigmoidea (Ehrbg.) W. Sm.
"linearis (Ag.) W. Sm.
" vermicular is (Ktz.) Grun.
" vitrea Norman.
Cymatopleura elliptica (Breb) W. Sm.
nsolea (Breb) W. Sm.
Surirella biseriata Breb.
splendida Ktz.
Conjugatae
Closterium lunula Ehrbg.
" dinanae Ehrbg.
" ehrenbergii Menegh.
" areolatum Wood.
Staurastrum tetracerum Ralfs.
Spirogyra irregularis Naeg.
" nitida (Dillw.) Linck.
" gracilis Ktz.
Mougeotia genuflexa (Dillw.) Ag.
Protococcales
Chlamydomonas angulosa Dill.
" intermedia Chod.
" longistigma Dill.
" pisiformis Dill.
" variabilis~Dang.
Eudorina elegans Ehrbg.
Pandorina morum Bory.
Volvox globator L.
Carteria obtusa Dill.
Lobomonas francei Danj.
Pteromonas alata (Cohn) Seligo
Phacotus lenticularis Stein.
Tetraspora gelatinosa (Vauch.) Desv.
" explanata~Ag.
Dimorphococcus lunatus A. Br.
Rhaphidium polymorphum Ktz.; parallel to Mesosa-
probia.
Richteriella botryoides (Schmidle) Lemm.
Protococcus botryoides (Ktz.) Kirchn.
Pediastrum duplex Meyen.
" kawraiskyi Schmidle.
" tetras (Ehb.) Ralfs.
" Rotula (Ehb.) A. Br.
Actinastrum hantzschii Lagerh.
Coelastrum microporum Naeg.
" reticulatum (Dang.) Senn.
Sphaerocystis schroeteri Chod.
Hydrodictyon utriculatum (L.) Lagerh.
Botryococcus braunii Ktz.
C onf e r vale s
-------
52
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
Ulothrix variabilis Ktz.
" subtilis var. variabilis (Ktz.) Kirchn.; cf.
Mesosaprobia.
" zonata (W«b. & Mohn) Ktz.
Draparnaldia glomerata (Vauch.) Ag.
" plumosa TVauch.) Ag.
Chaetophora elegans (Roth) Ag.
Bulbochaete setigera Ag.
Coleochaete pulvinata A. Br.
Rhizoclonium hieroglyphieum (Ag.) Ktz.
Cladophora glomerata Ktz.
Vaucheria species.
Florideae
Lemanea torulosa (C. Ag.) Sirodot
Batrachospermum moniliforme Roth.
Bryophyta
Fontinalis antipyretica L.
Amblystegium riparium Schimp.
Pteridophyta
Salvinia natans All.
Isoetes lacustris L.
Monocoty le done ae
Potamogeton pectinatus L.
" crispus L.
Lemna trisulca L.
Dicotyledoneae
Nuphar lutenum Sm.
Nymphaea alba L., particularly the former is re-
sistant to a great volume of sewage but does not
indicate it.
In addition to the Oligosaprobia listed here, there
are many others but these are less important
for the evaluation of water.
LITERATURE REFERENCES
1. Kolkwitz and Marsson: Reports of the Royal Insti-
tute for Water Supply and Sewage Disposal, No. 1.
1902.
2. Lindau, Schiemenz, Marsson, Eisner, Proskauer
and Thiesing: Hydrobiological and Hydrochemical
Investigations on the Collector Systems of the Bake,
Nuthe, Panke and Schwarze. Quarterly for Forensic
Medicine and Public Hygiene. Vol XXI, 1901,
supplement.
3. Kolkwitz and Marsson: Principles for the Biolog-
ical Evaluation of Water from Its Flora and Fauna.
Reports of the Royal Institute for Water Supply and
Sewage Disposal, No. 1, 1902.
4. Marsson: Flora and Fauna in Some Sewage Treat-
ment Installations of Berlin and Their Significance
for the Purification of Municipal Sewage. Ibid.,
No. 4, 1904.
5. Kolkwitz: Biological Self-Purification of Water in
Nature and Mycology and Treatment of Sewage.
Lafar, Manual of Technical Mycology, Vol. HI,
Chap. 14/15, 1906.
Further literature references and historical data
will be found in these publications and further
issues of the Institute.
Reproduced With Permission From:
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
23(1931) : 75-78
EFFECT OF SUNLIGHT AND GREEN ORGANISMS*
ON RE-AERATION OF STREAMS
Willem Rudolfs and H. Heukelekian
New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, New Brunswick, N. J.
The diurnal changes of dissolved oxygen in running
streams were studied. The oxygen increased rapidly
during the morning hours, reaching a maximum in
the afternoon and a minimum at the early morning
hours just before sunrise. The variations were similar
in a tidal section of the Delaware, but were somewhat
affected by the changes in tides.
Laboratory experiments with river water containing
green algae showed that small temperature changes
had practically no effect, the dissolved oxygen increas-
ing or decreasing depending upon light and darkness.
Direct sunlight was not an important factor, because
increases were equally great with diffused light and
with direct sunlight. The dissolved oxygen in water
containing large quantities of blue-green and green
algae could be decreased from supersaturation to 17
per cent saturation by placing the water in darkness,
and could also be increased to 282 per cent saturation
by subjecting it to diffused light. Changes in pH values
followed changes in oxygen saturation. Under similar
conditions the oxygen dissolved could be decreased by
' Received September 27, 1930. Presented by Willem Rudolfs before the Division of Water, Sewage, and Sanitation at the 80th Meeting of
the American Chemical Society, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 8 to 12, 1930.
Journal Series paper of the Department of Sewage Research, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, New Brunswick, N.J.
-------
Effect of Sunlight and Green Organisms on Re-aeration of Streams
53
half when the number of organisms was decreased by
half. Sampling during the afternoon of polluted rivers
containing green organisms leads to erroneous results.
In stream-pollution surveys all factors must be taken
into consideration.
Organisms containing the green pigment chlorophyll
are capable of synthesizing complex organic com-
pounds from carbon dioxide and water and giving off
oxygen. This process, photosynthesis, takes place
only in the presence of light. The first product of the
process is presumably formaldehyde, from the con-
densation of which sugars and starches are formed.
Aquatic plants capable of synthesizing their own food
in this manner, and encountered in the streams, are
mostly algae.
Some of the factors that influence photosynthesis
are light intensity, temperature, partial pressure of
carbon dioxide, and aeration. Light, especially the
ultra-violet rays, stimulates the growth and activities
of the green and blue-green algae. In turbid waters
the penetration of light is reduced and hence photo-
synthesis is reduced. On the other hand, in a clear
stream penetration of light is much greater and photo-
synthesis can take place at considerable depths.
The presence of carbon dioxide is also essential
for photosynthesis. This may be replenished from the
air or from the carbon dioxide produced as a result of
respiration and bacterial activity. In the absence of
free carbon dioxide plants may utilize the bicarbonates.
If conditions are favorable for photosynthesis, the
oxygen content of the water will increase sometimes
far beyond saturation. During the dark hours oxygen
is consumed and carbon dioxide given off. During
daylight the process is reversed. Actually during the
day, then the oxygen concentration in a stream is the
balance between these two processes -- the rate at
which oxygen is liberated by the activities of green
organisms and the rate at which it is consumed by
respiration and oxidation. During the night, however,
there will not be any liberation of oxygen, but the con-
sumption will go on unabated with the result that the
oxygen saturation will be lower. If the pollution in a
stream is relatively great, the consumption of oxygen
will overbalance its production and there will be deple-
tion of oxygen. If, on the other hand, the pollution is
slight, there may be a supersaturation of oxygen.
The green algae are most abundant in water during
the summer. Their development follows the curve of
the temperature of water, and maximum growth occurs
in July and August. The optimum temperature for their
growth is between 15° and 25° C., although some species
can tolerate extreme heat or cold. The blue-green
algae are also abundant during the summer months,
although their maximum growth often occurs a little
later in the season and some of them can tolerate
somewhat higher temperatures than the green algae.
Although these changes in algal growth and the
subsequent changes in dissolved gases in the water
have been known for a long time, actual observations
and determinations of diurnal changes in running
streams have been reported only in a few instances.
An observation made on the Illinois River (1909) was
reported without much comment. Butcher, Pentilow,
and Woodley (2) have given detailed studies on two
polluted rivers in England. The studies by Birge and
Juday (1) on the inland lakes of Wisconsin, although
dealing with the changes taking place, were not con-
cerned with running river water. Duvaux (4) and Duval
and Dumarand (3) have discussed the mechanism and
the rate of reaction changes in connection with the
gaseous exchange of submerged aquatic plants. Moore
(E>) has published some observations on certain marine
organisms in reaction to light, and Saunders (6) has
published a note on photosynthesis and hydrogen-ion
concentration. Several other investigators have dealt
more remotely with the subject in hand, but none made
an attempt to correlate the changes observed in the
laboratory with actual conditions in streams.
It was with the purpose of evaluating the role of these
green organisms in the re-aeration of the Delaware,
Connecticut, and Raritan rivers that these studies were
undertaken, but only some results obtained with the
Delaware River water are here presented.
METHODS
Data obtained by sampling the river at definite
places for 24-hour periods included temperature,
dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, and
B. coli. Samples were taken in the middle and two
quarter points of the river at mid depth. For the
laboratory experiments large samples were obtained
from different points in the Delaware River. Some
samples were exposed to light or kept in the dark in
open containers with uniform depth. Others were
distributed into glass-stoppered bottles, which were
immersed in a water bath and the temperature regu-
lated with hot and cold water. At frequent intervals
(1 to 1-1/2 hours) the temperature and dissolved oxy-
gen content were determined. All transfers of the
water were made by a siphon immersed under water
to avoid bubbles. Analyses were made to complete
24-hour cycles; time is given as Eastern Standard
Time. Analyses made according to the standard
A.P.H.A. methods.
EFFECT OF SUNLIGHT ON RUNNING STREAMS
The dissolved oxygen determinations obtained in
the tidal section of the Delaware River below Trenton,
N. J., are given in Figure 1. The dissolved oxygen
increased rapidly during the morning hours, with a
maximum between noon and 4p.m. During this period
the tide was outgoing, so that the pollution, which is
discharged by Trenton and the cities below, had no
effect. With the turn of the tide the dissolved oxygen
decreased rapidly during the next few hours, with the
decrease slowing up when the maximum flood tide ap-
proached. During daylight hours the dissolved oxygen
increased rapidly with outgoing tide, but during the
night with outgoing tide it decreased still further until
the lowest was reached at about 3 a.m. As daylight
increased the dissolved oxygen increased. The tem-
perature of the water was constant between 8 a.m. and
6 p.m., and in spite of the decrease in temperature
the dissolved oxygen decreased rapidly during the
night. This is contrary to the solubility of oxygen at
-------
54
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
..too
temperature, but the continued rise during the rest of
the day must be due to the activities of the green or-
ganisms. In this case re-aeration was confined to the
green organisms, since wind and rippling of the sur-
face of the water were eliminated.
Figure 1 - Dissolved Oxygen in the Tidal Section of
Delaware River.
different temperatures; an increase in dissolved oxy-
gen rather than a decrease could be expected. These
changes were not peculiar to the water in the tidal
section. For example, the results obtained during
daylight hours in the river about 50 miles above Trenton
(the river is subject to tide up to Trenton) 2 days pre-
vious are given in Figure 2. The temperature fluctu-
ation during the day was 1° C. The rapid increase
in dissolved oxygen continued until a maximum was
reached at 3 p.m. The increase and decrease in satu-
ration occurred irrespective of any small temperature
fluctuations. Similar results were obtained in a num-
ber of instances, which will be published elsewhere.
This paper deals mainly with some of the factors which
seem to be responsible for the fluctuations.
A set of results obtained with Delaware River water,
brought to the laboratory, is given in Figure 3. The
experiment was conducted on August 6, 1929, and the
days following. The dissolved oxygen decreased grad-
ually until 3:15 a.m., after which it began to rise
slowly but did not reach the original value. The dis-
solved oxygen was practically constant during the
afternoon with a constant temperature, decreased with
a rapidly decreasing temperature, followed again by a
slow rise in dissolved oxygen in spite of a further
decrease in temperature. The decrease of dissolved
oxygen at night, in spite of the decreasing tempera-
ture, was undoubtedly due to the consumption of oxygen
by microorganisms in the process of respiration and
decomposition. The rise in dissolved oxygen in the
early morning hours before the action of light became
effective was probably due to the further decrease in
110
Figure 2 - Dissolved Oxygen during Daylight above
Trenton, N. J.
The samples of water were kept in diffused light,
and it was thought that the re-aeration due to the or-
ganisms might have been more intense if the water
was kept indirect sunlight. The samples were exposed
for 6 hours to direct sunlight and analyses made at
intervals. An exposure of 1-1/2 hours increased the
dissolved oxygen from 7.2 to 7.5 p.p.m., while the
temperature increased from 20° to 24.5° C. No further
increase in dissolved oxygen occurred, but the tem-
perature of the water continued to rise so that the
dissolved-oxygen saturation increased from 80 to 93
per cent. Thus the intensity of the light (direct sun-
light with higher temperature as compared with light
from an overcast sky) did not increase the degree of
re-aeration, but hastened the time in which maximum
oxygen production was possible.
Two other series of samples were subjected to light
and darkness, while another series was kept in the
dark. Those exposed to the light increased in dissolved
oxygen while the temperature decreased; those kept in
the dark decreased gradually in dissolved oxygen. The
difference caused by the action of light amounted to
15 per cent.
Other samples were placed in stoppered glass bot-
tles and submerged in water. In these instances no
surface aeration could take place and the light had to
penetrate not only a depth of 6 inches (15 cm.) of water
but also the glass. The results are shown in Figure 4.
An increase in dissolved oxygen took place until be-
tween 7 and 8 p.m., when a maximum was reached of
9.5 p.p.m. During the afternoon the saturation in-
creased to 112 per cent, decreasing to about 100 per
cent at 4:30 a.m. and again increasing to 118 per cent
at 11 a.m. In these instances the oxygen liberated
could not escape from the bottles, which accounts for
the saturated condition even in the early morning
-------
Effect of Sunlight and Green Organisms on Re-aeration of Streams
55
hours. The water kept in the dark decreased from
8.4 to 7.5 p.p.m. in a straight line, while the satura-
tion decreased from 101 to 90 per cent as compared
with the increase to 118 per cent.
FigureS - Dissolved Oxygen in Delaware River Water
as Tested in Laboratory.
Experiments made with distilled water to find out
whether daily fluctuations took place when exposed to
similar conditions in open beakers and stoppered bot-
tles showed that the dissolved oxygen of the water did
not increase in the dark and decreased slightly in
the light.
The most abundant green organisms were Closter-
ium, Pleurococcus, Eremosphora, Scenedesmus,
Protococcus, Raphidium, and Botrycoccus. The num-
ber of algae were as high as 5200 per cc.
DIURNAL CHANGES IN WATER CONTAINING
GREEN ALGAE
The diurnal changes in dissolved oxygen are similar
from day to day, except that the dissolved oxygen may
gradually increase. During the summer of 1930 labo-
ratory experiments were conducted in an effort to de-
termine the relation of the number of organisms to the
chemical changes taking place.
Large samples of water, densely green with organ-
isms, were collected from a creek tributary to the
Delaware, receiving the effluent from some small
sewage-disposal plants. The water was placed in car-
boys and subjected to alternating light and darkness
for varying lengths of time.
The dissolved oxygen results of a part of the ex-
periments, together with the changes in pH values, are
given in Figure 5. The water when collected had a
dissolved-oxygen content of 12.9 p.p.m. or a saturation
of 154 per cent. After having been kept for 1 day in
semi-darkness, the water was placed in an incubator
for 18 hours, then placed in daylight for 10 hours, and
so on. The dissolved oxygen dropped during the time
the water was kept in semi-darkness from 12.9 to 2.2
p.p.m. and after having beenplaced in the incubator to
n,
8 iz
Figure 4 - Dissolved Oxygen in Samples Placed in
Stoppered Bottles Submerged in Water.
1.2 p.p.m. During the next 7 daylight hours the dis-
solved oxygen increased to 14.7 p.p.m., decreased
again during the night, and rose the following day to
21 p.p.m. Again during the next dark period it dropped
to 10.9 p.p.m., from which it rose in 8 hours to 23.8
p.p.m. or a saturation of 282 per cent. The water was
then subjected to a prolonged period of darkness of 63
hours, after which time the dissolved oxygen dropped
to 3.2 p.p.m. During these periods the temperature
was kept constant in the incubator at 21° C. As soon
as the water was put back into daylight, the dissolved
oxygen increased in 9 hours from 3.2 to 15.4 p.p.m.
The pH values fluctuated directly with the dissolved
oxygen as may be seen from Figure 5. They rose by
steps from 6.9 to 9.6+, while during the prolonged
period of darkness this figure decreased to pH 7.1.
The changes in carbon dioxide and carbonates were
far less pronounced.
It is evident that the action of light has a cumulative
effect, reaching under ordinary conditions its maxi-
mum at mid-day or thereafter. It seems to be more
a time factor than merely an intensity effect, because
the effects were the same when radiation was through
glass or on cloudy days.
The numbers of blue-green and green organisms
(photosynthetic) in the water were very high and mainly
of the following species: Oscillatoria, diatoms (about
six genera, particularly filamentous forms), Scenedes-
mus, and a few Microcytis, Pediastrum, and Desmids.
Among the green flagellate protozoa Trachilomonas
was most abundant. Most of the organisms were the
blue-green Oscillatoria. The photosynthetic organisms
slowly decreased during the 8 days of the experiment
here reported — namely, from 45, 400 to 32, 700 per
cc. Bacterial eaters gradually increased.
-------
56
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
Figure 5 - Changes in Dissolved Oxygen and pH.
EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION OF ORGANISMS
The water with the large number of organisms was
diluted by half with a mixture of river and tap water.
The effect on the oxygen dissolved in the water was
very pronounced, as may be seen from the following
figures:
Time
Days
1
2
3
6
Dissolved Oxygen
Concentrated
P.p.m.
14.7
21.0
23.8
15.4
Diluted
P.p.m.
10.4
10.0
11.1
7.4
In the "diluted" water there were approximately half
as many organisms as in the "concentrated" water,
while the dissolved oxygen was also approximately half.
DISCUSSION
In dealing with the pollution of a stream the role of
re-aeration by green organisms must be properly
evaluated. If the pollution is not excessive so that the
production of oxygen is overbalanced by the consump-
tion, a marked increase in dissolved oxygen will re-
sult. With a more heavily polluted stream the dissolved
oxygen might show from day today, when samples are
taken in the afternoon, complete saturation leading to
erroneous conclusions because the temporary condi-
tion in the afternoon is by no means the daily average
condition. Moreover, these erroneous results are
usually obtained in the spring and especially in July
and August with low stream-flow conditions and higher
temperatures. From the reported and other results
obtained it is believed that results for dissolved oxygen
have been interpreted as meaning far more than was
actually warranted. In stream-pollution surveys sev-
eral more factors must be taken into consideration.
From the high pH values obtained during the afternoons
the deduction could have been made that either the
water was alkaline or that large quantities of strongly
alkaline trade wastes had been discharged.
LITERATURE CITED
1. Birge and Juday, WisconsinGeol. Natl. Hist. Survey,
Bull. 22 (1911).
2. Butcher, Pentilow, and Woodley, Biochem.J., 21,
945, 1423 (1927); 22, 1035, 1478 (1928).
3. Duval and Dumarand, Compt. rend. soc. biol., 89,
398 (1923).
4. Duvaux, Ann. sci. nat., 9, 286 (1889).
5. Moore, Biochem. J., 4, Nos. 1 and 2 (1908).
6. Saunders, Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc., 19, 24
(1920).
-------
The Plankton of the Sangamon River in the Summer of 1929
57
Reproduced With Permission From:
ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY BULLETIN
19(1932) : 469-486
THE PLANKTON OF THE SANGAMON
RIVER IN THE SUMMER OF 1929
Samuel Eddy
The Sangamon River, a small river in the central
part of Illinois, has special interest to students of
aquatic biology because it exhibits in a remarkable
way the effects of the installation of a sewage treat-
ment plant in alleviating pollution and at the same
time the effects of the erection of a dam to impound
water for municipal and industrial uses. The present
study is an attempt to determine to what extent these
effects are reflected by changes in the abundance of
certain kinds of microscopic organisms, collectively
called plankton, which live suspended in the water. As
is well known, some kinds of plankton organisms, if
present in sufficient numbers in reservoirs, may give
disagreeable flavors to the water; other kinds may aid
in the natural purification of polluted waters; and in
streams and lakes generally plankton plays a role of
more or less importance as food for larger organisms,
including fishes. In our larger streams, such as
the Rock River and the Illinois River, the plankton
may be an important factor in fish production. In the
Kaskaskia River, as an example of our smaller
streams, the plankton is so scanty that it can have
very little importance. The Sangamon River illus-
trates an intermediate stage in which the plankton is
abundant enough to enter into the food chains of fishes
to some extent but does not result in a yield of fishes
appreciably greater than in the Kaskaskia. The writer's
observations of plankton development in the upper part
of the Sangamon from 1923 to 1929 were included in a
general study on "Fresh-water Plankton Communities,"
submitted as a thesis in the Graduate School of the
University of Illinois but not yet published. Further
collections, made during the summer of 1929, showing
the variety and abundance of organisms present at
selected stations along the lower part of the river as
well as the upper part, are reported in this paper.
The Sangamon River rises in McLean County and
at first flows eastward into the northwestern part of
Champaign County, where it turns southward and passes
the villages of Foosland, Fisher, and Mahomet. It
then flows in a general southwestward direction across
Piatt County, passing Monticello, and across Macon
County, passing Decatur. In Sangamon County, it re-
ceives its first large tributary, the South Fork, and
passes Riverton and Springfield. It flows northward
across Menard County, passing Petersburg. At its
junction with Salt Creek it turns westward. It continues
in a generally westward direction, forming the bound-
ary between Mason County and Cass County, passing
the village of Chandlerville, and finally emptying into
the Illinois River about ten miles above Beardstown.
The length of the river is about 237 miles. The
distance from the source to Decatur is about 103 miles,
from Decatur to Springfield about 59 miles, and from
Springfield to the mouth about 75 miles. The total
drainage area is about 5, 390 square miles, of which
1,940 square miles belong to Salt Creek, and 846
square miles belong to South Fork.
The current of the river at normal levels is never
very great, since it flows through glacial till and
occupies a well-worn valley. The river falls 120 feet
in the first 10 miles and 300 feet in the balance of its
course, or less than 2 feet per mile. The fall is far
from regular, however, and there are many stretches
where the gradient is very slight. The bottom is usually
sand or fine silt, the latter predominating over most
of the river.
Previous to 1923, no obstructions were encountered
in the upper course of the river except several small
ruined mill-dams. At Decatur a small dam raised the
water level a few feet and held back a small supply for
municipal purposes. Below this dam the city of Decatur
discharged all its sewage, which usually was greater
in volume than the water flowing over the dam. During
times of low water, the sewage constituted the entire
flow of the river below the dam, as all of the water
above the dam was then diverted through the city water
supply system. As a result of the pollution, the river
below Decatur was devoid of normal aquatic life.
Jewell (1920) reported no living organisms immedi-
ately below Decatur except those accustomed to con-
ditions of pollution. Thirty miles below Decatur
conditions were found to be improving, but even at
Springfield, almost 60 miles downstream, the normal
life was not completely restored. The writer was well
acquainted with the river previous to 1920 and clearly
remembers the extreme condition of pollution existing
for at least 20 miles below Decatur. The bottom was
covered with a thick layer of foul sludge, and the
opaque water, which varied in color from inky black
to milky white, depending on the season, contained
large quantities of floating mouldy wastes.
At Springfield a second dam has obstructed the river
for many years, raising the level of the water about
six feet and forming a narrow pool that extends up-
stream several miles. Pollution below Springfield has
been largely eliminated since the city's sewage treat-
ment plant was put into operation, July 10,1929. The
wastes from Petersburg and Chandlerville are not
sufficient to pollute the river to an appreciable extent.
In 1923 the city of Decatur, in order to increase its
water supply, completed a large dam across the river
just above the site of the old one, creating a lake one-
half mile wide and 12 miles long. Later, in 1924, a
-------
58
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
sewage disposal plant was put into operation, handling
one-third of the city wastes, and in 1928 the plant was
enlarged to accommodate all the wastes. This relieved
the extreme condition of pollution. The dredging of a
new channel from Harristown for 20 miles downstream
has aided by furnishing a new bed, free from the accu-
mulated bottom sludge. These changes have resulted
in a fairly clean stream, flowing through a lake-like
reservoir in its upper region.
In the writer's previous study of the plankton of the
upper river from 1923 to 1928, inclusive, weekly or
semi-monthly collections were made from the river
at Decatur and above. Very little plankton was found
above Lake Decatur in those years. At Mahomet, about
50 miles from the source, no plankton forms occurred,
though bottom organisms, especially diatoms and pro-
tozoans, occasionally appeared in the collections. The
same was true at Monticello during the greater part of
the year, but in mid-summer or early autumn, when
the water was low, a scanty population of plankton
organisms was found there. This was the first point
in the course of the stream where plankton ever ap-
peared. At Rhea's Bridge on the upper end of Lake
Decatur, plankton was present in the water during
most of the year but was never as abundant as at Lost
Bridge, one mile above the dam, where many plankton
species were abundant from March until December.
During January and February the plankton of the lake
was scanty and consisted chiefly of protozoans.
In 1929, trips were made in June, July, and Sep-
tember, for the purpose of collecting samples at
intervals of about 20 miles over the entire river.
The collections were made from bridges at or near
Mahomet, Monticello, Lake Decatur, Harristown,
Illiopolis, Riverton, Springfield, Petersburg, and
Chandlerville. The method was to dip the water from
mid-channel by lowering a ten-liter bucket on a rope.
No stratification of plankton was noticed except at
Lake Decatur, where the current was negligible and
the plankton was much heavier near the surface.. The
principal collecting station on the lake was at Lost
Bridge, and at this station a series of collections was
made from bottom to surface and averaged. Each set
of collections made at the other stations consisted of
a 100-liter silk-net collection and a one-liter collec-
tion which was preserved with formalin and allowed to
settle and then decanted in order to obtain the nanno-
plankton. The organisms were counted by the usual
method in a Sedgwick-Rafter slide. All data were
computed per cubic meter. The volume of the plankton
in the silk-net collections was obtained by centrifuging
for 3 minutes at 2000 revolutions per minute. The
volume of the decanted plankton was not determined
because of the large amount of silt present.
At the times of collecting, the river was 1-2 feet
deep and 25-40 feet wide at Mahomet, the uppermost
station, and 8-10 feet deep and 200-210 feet wide at
Chandlerville, the lowermost station. The deepest
portion from which collections were made was in Lake
Decatur where the depth in the channel ranged from
10 to 18 feet. Below Decatur the river was quite shal-
low. It was 2-4 feet deep and 60-75 feet wide at the
Harristown and Illiopolis bridges. At Riverton, after
the union with the South Fork, the river was 4-6 feet
deep and 100-114 feet wide. At the bridge north of
Springfield the water (backed up by the dam) was 5-7
feet deep and 100-110 feet wide. At Petersburg the
river was 100-150 feet wide and 7-10 feet deep in
mid-channel.
The current, which was moderate at most places,
was very slow in some stretches of the river and
somewhat swifter in others with a greater fall. At
Mahomet and Monticello, the current averaged about
one-half mile per hour during the summer. In the main
part of Lake Decatur no current could be detected. At
Harristown and Illiopolis the current averaged about
one mile per hour; at Riverton one-half mile per hour;
and at Springfield just above the dam it was too slow
to estimate. At Petersburg and Chandlerville it aver-
aged a little more than one-half mile per hour.
The river level was slightly above normal when the
plankton collections were made in June and July. The
readings of the gage at the Decatur sewage disposal
plant averaged 587.3 feet for June 25-27 and 587.6 feet
for July 26-28. April and May were the highest months
for the year 1929, the gage at the disposal plant reach-
ing a maximum of 593.5 feet in those months. The
lowest stage for the year was in September, although
the gage readings on the dates of collections, September
10-12, averaging 584.0 feet, were not the lowest of the
month. Thus the river was about 3-1/2 feet lower in
September than it was when the June and July collec-
tions were made. The Decatur lake, however, did not
fluctuate much, as the gage reading above the dam was
610.25 in June and July and 609.95 in September.
The temperature of the water at the time of col-
lecting was about what would be expectedunder normal
summer conditions. In June it ranged from 24° to 25° C.
and in July from 25° to 28° C. No temperature data
were obtained on the September trip, as the thermo-
meter was broken in the field.
Hydrogen ion determinations were made at all sta-
tions and were found to run consistently about pH 7.6.
This seemed normal for the river, as the readings
agreed with those obtained by the writer in previous
observations. On the upper river from 1923 to 1929,
the readings in summer always ranged around pH 7.6,
dropping to pH 7.0 or lower in winter.
Determinations of dissolved oxygen in the water at
each station on the June trip we re as follows: Mahomet
4.75 cc. per liter, Monticello 4.06, Decatur 4.62,
Harristown 4.06, Illiopolis 4.62, Riverton 4.25,
Petersburg 4.25, and Chandlerville 6.47. No deter-
minations can be given for Springfield, as the June
collections and data from that station were accidently
lost. There was only a slight fluctuation in the amount
of dissolved oxygen in the water at the various stations.
At all points examined, the supply seemed sufficient
for the support of abundant aquatic life.
A summary of the plankton collections is given in
Table I, and the constituent organisms are listed in
Tables H, HI, and IV.
The general taxonomic composition of the plankton
found in the river below Monticello was the same as
that observed in most shallow lakes and larger streams
-------
The Plankton of the Sangamon River in the Summer of 1929
59
of North America. Certain typical forms were con-
spicuous in their proper seasons, namely: two pro-
tozoans, Codonella cratera and Ceratium hirundinella;
rotifers of the genera Brachionus, Synchaeta, Poly-
arthra, and Keratella; various cladocerans, particu-
larly Moina affinis. Daphnia longispina, and Bosmina
longirostris; and two copepods, Diaptomus siciloides
and Cyclops bicuspidatus. A few bottom organisms,
usually diatoms and protozoans, were often conspicuous
in the plankton collections from the shallow portions of
the river where the current could easily sweep them
up from the bottom. They did not often appear in the
collections from Lake Decatur but were quite common
in the collections from the other stations, especially
at Monticello, Harristown and Illiopolis.
The collections made in June showed no plankton at
Mahomet and only a very scanty plankton at Monticello.
The first heavy plankton occurred at Lost Bridge in
Lake Decatur. Both the volume of the plankton and
the number of species in the collections decreased
downstream as far as Petersburg and Chandlerville,
where the number of species increased slightly, though
the volume of the plankton continued to decrease. Of
the 50 species observed in the collections from the
entire river in June, 36 appeared in Lake Decatur and
12 appeared farther downstream in relatively small
numbers. Evidently a large amount of the downstream
plankton owed its origin to the increase in Lake Decatur.
Characteristic species which were most conspicuous
in Lake Decatur and showed a decrease downstream
were Difflugia lobostoma, Codonella cratera, Brachi-
onus angularis, Polyarthra trigla, Keratella cochle-
aris. Moina affinis. Daphnia longispina, Bosmina
longirostris, Cyclops bicuspidatus, and Lysigonium
(Melosira) granulatum. Several other members of the
plankton conspicuous in the lake did not appear at all
below. The flagellates, Trachelomonas volvocina and
Euglena viridis, decreased downstream to Petersburg
and then started to increase. The only form that showed
a decided increase below the lake was one of the algae,
Actinastrum hantzschi.
The collections made in July showed that the plank-
ton then had a distribution very similar to that of the
preceding month. At Mahomet there was no plankton
at all, and at Monticello it was very scanty. Of the 58
species found in the July collections, 47 first became
abundant in Lake Decatur. Only 8 species occurred
downstream which did not occur in the lake, and these
were usually rare or inconspicuous, never forming an
important part of the plankton. Many forms which were
conspicuous in Lake Decatur showed a decided decrease
below Decatur and apparently had their origin in the
lake. Examples of these were the following: Pandorina
morum, Pleodorina illinoisensis, Codonella cratera,
Difflugia lobostoma, Trachelomonas ensifera, Euglena
viridis. Ceratium hirundinella. Eudorina elegans,
three species of the genus Brachionus and species of
Filinia (Triarthra), Asplanchna, Polyarthra, Syn-
chaeta, Pedalia, and Trichocerca (Rattulus), and Lysi-
gonium (Melosira) granulatum. Only a few forms which
decreased below Decatur showed a slight increase at
Chandlerville. A peculiar feature was an increase in
the number of Cyclops bicuspidatus, Keratella cochle-
aris, Diaphanosoma brachyurum7~and Brachionus
angularis at Harristown and Illiopolis. In general,
the July plankton showed a decided decrease below
Decatur. Just as in June, the lake apparently was act-
ing as a reservoir, developing an abundant plankton
which was then carried downstream and gradually
thinned out in the lower river as the water was diluted
by tributaries.
The September collections were made under some-
what different conditions from those in June and July,
for the level of Lake Decatur was slightly below the
crest of the dam, so that little or no water passed over,
and the chief source of the water in the river below
Decatur was the effluent from the city's sewage dis-
posal plant. The current in the river was not as swift
as at higher river levels, and under such conditions
the larger tributaries, particularly the South Fork and
Salt Creek, might be expected to add a small amount
of plankton. While there still were no plankton organ-
isms found at Mahomet, the plankton was more abun-
dant at Monticello than previously. In Lake Decatur
the collections were found to have a somewhat smaller
volume and to include fewer species than previously.
Downstream from the lake, however, many species,
apparently originating in it, especially protozoans and
algae, showed a steady increase in abundance; and
several species additional to the lake list make their
first appearance just below Decatur. Many conspic-
uous members of the plankton, particularly rotifers,
appeared first at Riverton after the union with the
South Fork and were abundant downstream from there.
A decided increase in both abundance and species was
noted at Springfield, which may in part be due to
slack water above the dam. A further increase at
Petersburg indicated that other conditions were favor-
able for greater plankton production.
Only a few species abundant in Lake Decatur showed
a tendency to decrease rather than increase down-
stream. These were Difflugia lobostoma, Codonella
cratera, Brachionus angularis, Keratella cochlearis.
and some of the cladocerans and copepods. Of the 66
species found in the September collections, only 25
occurred in Lake Decatur, and 33 species occurred
in the downstream collections which did not appear in
the lake. Many of the latter showed a tendency to
increase downstream. The increase was marked at
Springfield and Petersburg, indicating that the lower
river was maintaining a plankton population due in
part to the low water stage and the reduction of the
current. Such conditions in the river approach lake
conditions, the waters remaining longer in the pool-
like stretches. Since no water was then coming directly
downstream from the lake, all the water in the river
was effluent from the sewage disposal plant. Ager sborg
(1929) found this effluent to be teeming with annelids,
rotifers, copepods, protozoans and algae, and states
that these are organisms such as live in small ponds,
though failing to mention any species which are typical
of either clean-water or sewage plankton. It is doubtful
if many, or any at all, of the lake forms survive pas-
sage through the sewage disposal plant, comprising
as it does both sand filters, tanks and Dorr separators;
and still more doubtful that there is any important
development of additional plankton species until after
the passage through the plant is completed.
Sphaerotilus natans, although very abundant in the
-------
60
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
sewage disposal plant, did not appear at any time in
the collections. It is probable that the origin of many
of the downstream plankton species at this period was
in the quieter stretches of the river, which were seeded
by the plankton originating in the lake at times when
the water was passing over the dam.
The question of ten arises whether the plankton in a
given part of a stream is developed there under local
conditions or whether it is carried down from upstream.
This survey indicates that, at times, part of the plank-
ton, at least, is carried downstream. Wiebe (1928)
and the Minnesota State Board of Health (1928) show
that clean plankton from upstream is carried through
polluted areas in the Mississippi below Minneapolis
and St. Paul. In the Sangamon the downstream decrease
observed in June and July may be due partly to the fact
that local development was not sufficient to counter-
balance the dilution from tributaries. In September,
when the low stage of the water cut off the direct supply
from the lake, local conditions downstream became
more favorable for the development of plankton. When
the current becomes very slow, the development of
plankton becomes local and is governed by local con-
ditions. If the current averaged one-half mile per
hour, the time required for water to flow from the
source to the mouth would be about 20 days. However,
at normal stages the river has many pool-like stretches
which retard part of the water, and rough estimates
of the period of detention in the lake at Decatur range
from two weeks to two months, depending on the river
level. Thus the water remains in the lake at least
twice as long as in the rest of the river. The water
and the plankton it bears as it flows over the dam at
Decatur will ordinarily be in the neighborhood of
Chandlerville about a week later. In this way, at
normal levels, there is a continual stream of water
carrying plankton from the lake and passing down-
stream. Even though the downstream conditions are
not favorable for plankton development, it seems
possible for the water to retain part of the original
plankton load for a week or more, so that a series of
collections made at various points in the lower course
of the river do not represent the development of plank-
ton at each point but give glimpses of various stages
of senescence as the plankton moves away from its
source. It may be possible that the plankton observed
downstream in September had originated from the lake
when the water was still flowing over the dam, and
that it was still progressing downstream. This, how-
ever, would hardly explain the origin of the plankton
observed in the river immediately below Decatur.
No evidence of the former pollution was observed
in the plankton of the Sangamon River. No pollutional
organisms were found at Harristown, about eight miles
below Decatur, where Jewell ten years earlier had
found the plankton to be characterized by Sphaerotilus
natans, nematodes, ciliates, and creeping rotifers,
with desmids and phytoflagellates common when the
water was high. In this area in 1929 the plankton was
typical of clean water and was characterized by Codo-
nella cratera. Polyarthra trigla, rotifers of the genus
Brachionus, Cyclops bicuspidatus, cladocerans, and
Lysigonium (Melosira) granulatum. Jewell found the
dissolved oxygen usually low in that part of the river,
especially during periods of low water. The determi-
nations of dissolved oxygen made in 1929 showed an
abundant supply. The sludge which was formerly so
abundant had nearly disappeared, the water was clear,
and a number of fishes were observed.
Very little is known regarding the former condition
of the plankton below the polluted part of the river.
Jewell's studies in 1918-1919, which extended only as
far as Springfield, showed that the influence of pollu-
tion had partly ceased there and that a few typical
clean-water plankton organisms were present in the
river at that point. The abundant clean-water plankton
now found in that part of the stream, including many
more species than were reported by Jewell, indicates
that the plankton population in the lower river is much
greater than formerly, and this is due, no doubt, to
the creation of the lake at Decatur and to the removal
of the pollution barrier.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Agersborg, H. P. K. 1929. The Biology of Sewage
Disposal. A Preliminary Study. Trans. Am. Micros.
Soc., Vol. 48, pp. 158-180.
Greeley, S.A., and Hatfield, W.D. 1928. The Sewage
Disposal Works of Decatur, Illinois. Proc. Am. Soc.
Civil Eng., Vol. 92, pp. 2237-2286.
Jewell, M.E. 1920. The Quality of Water in the
Sangamon River. 111. State Water Surv. Bui. No. 16,
pp. 230-246.
Minnesota State Board of Health. 1928. Report of the
Investigation of the Pollution of the Mississippi River
from Minneapolis to LaCrosse. Metropolitan Drain-
age Commission of Minneapolis and St. Paul, 2nd
Annual Report, pp 90-102.
Wiebe, A.H. 1927. Biological Survey of the Upper
Mississippi River with Special Reference to Pollution.
U.S. Bur. Fish. Bui., Vol. 43, pp. 137-167.
-------
The Plankton of the Sangamort River in the Summer of 1929
61
TABLE I.
SUMMARY OF PLANKTON COLLECTIONS, SANGAMON RIVER, 1929.
Station
Monticello
Lake Decatur
Harristown
Illiopolis. .
Riverton ....
Springfield
Petersburg
Chandlerville
Volume
(cc. per cubic meter)
June
25-27
.08
15.20
6.00
9.00
3.00
2.20
.50
July
26-28
.08
9.50
8.00
8.00
3.90
.80
.40
.30
Sept.
10-12
.05
9.60
10.00
8.40
3.60
12.60
17.00
6.00
Number of species
represented
June
25-27
9
36
22
23
17
22
24
July
26-28
8
47
34
31
35
28
22
22
Sept.
10-12
16
25
27
26
35
36
39
30
-------
Oi
to
TABLE II.
NUMBERS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PER CUBIC METER IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, JUNE 25-27, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
PROTOZOA
nrintinrnrHnin flnvifltilp Stein
pprfltinm hiriinrHnplla OFM
Euglena, viridis Elir
ROTATORIA
Polyarthra trigla Ehr
Monticello
86,820
43,000
40,000
42,000
240
200
Lake
Decatur
100,000
50,000
6,000,000
750,000
500
1,000
50,000
50,000
100,000
15,000
10,000
10,000
3,000
1,500
15,000
500
500
15,000
90,000
Harristown
86,658
288,860
28,850
28,000
15,000
2,000
25,000
500
15,000
Illiopolis
60,000
280,000
580
1,100
27,000
55,000
11,600
2,200
28,000
25,000
580
8,700
Riverton
25,000
290,000
14,000
28,000
16,000
1,000
550
510
500
1,100
Petersburg
22,000
440,000
11,500
400
800
20,000
22,200
1,600
800
2,400
700
400
1,200
12,000
ville
20,000
888,000
660,000
60,000
220,000
2,500
84,000
110,000
250
250
500
120
110,000
2,500
500
1,000
pd
5
O
a
H- 1
"d
1-3
O
^
O
f
s
I
O
§
-------
TABLE II—Concluded.
NUMBEKS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PER CUBIC METER IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, JUNE 25-27, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
Monticello
Lake
Decatur
Harristown
Illiopolis
Riverton
Petersburg
Chandler-
ville
Keratella cochlearis (Gosse)
Lecane spinifera (Western)
Rotaria neptunia (Ehr.)
Pedalis mira (Hudson)
CLADOCERA
Moina affinis Birge
Diaphanosoma brachyurum (Lieven)..
Daphnia longispina (O.F.M.)
Bosmina longirostris (O.F.M.)
Scapholeberis mucronata (O.F.M.)
Chydorus sphaericus (O.F.M.)
COPEPODA
Cyclops bicuspidati-3 Glaus
Cyclops viridis Jurine 240
Immature copepods ,
ALGAE
Undetermined diatoms 1,736,460
Gyrosigma spp 43,411
Lysigonium granulatum (Ehr.)
Closterium acutum (Lyngb.)
Coelastrum microporum (Nagel)
Ankistrodesmus falcatus (Corda)
Actinastrum hantzschi Lager
Scenedesmus quadricauda (Turp.)
Pediastrum duplex Meyen
Scenedesmus dimorphus (Turp.)
Synedra tenuissima Kiitz
50,000
1,000
250
30,000
2,500
15,000
10,000
500
500
75,000
150,000
2,500,000
50,000
25,000,000
50,000
40,000
60,000
35,000
2,500
1,000
500
15,000
1,000
1,000
25,000
190,000
2,880,000
25,000
8,665,800
288,860
28,000
1,000
1,200
2,000
1,100
5,800
47,200
92,000
1,728,000
2,800,000
884,000
58,000
5,800
26,000
1,080
540
2,700
1,800,000
1,450,000
56,000
5,400
28,000
8,000
12,000
1,200,000
1,834,000
22,000
2,000
800
2,400
3,700
250
2,500
1,000
5,000
1,110,000
2,220,000
22,000
21,200
-------
TABLE III.
NUMBERS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PER CUBIC METER IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, JULY 26-28, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
PROTOZOA
Difflugia acuminata Ehr
Pandorina morum Bory
Platydorina caudata Kofoid
Pleodorina illinoisensis Kofoid
Codonella cratera (Leidy)
Difflugia lobostoma Leidy
Trachelomonas ensifera I>aday
Trachelomonas hispida (Perty)
Phacus longicaudus (Ehr.) ,
Euglena viridis Ehr
Euglena acutissima Lemm
Ceratium hirundinella O F.M
Phacus pleuronectes (OF M. )
Tintinnidium fluviatile Stein
Eudorina elegans Ehr
Euglena oxyuris Schmarda
Dinobryon sertularia Ehr
Trachelomonas volvocina Ehr
Centropyxis aculeata Stein
Arcella vulgaris Ehr
Gonium pectorale OFM
Monti-
cello
15,000
Lake
Decatur
400,000
75,000
125,000
1,600,000
650,000
220,000
7,500
250
210,000
750
8,700
250
120.000
410,000
21,000
12,500
30,000
Harris-
town
660
490,000
98,000
95,000
650
25,500
19,800
49,000
600
Illiopolis
966,000
644,000
32,200
7,100
30,000
32,000
32,000
5,400
2,160
4,320
Riverton
187,200
220
880
1,248,000
624,000
62,000
30,000
125,000
1,320
60,000
31,000
30,000
62,000
850
220
Spring-
field
800
24,000
1,470,000
26,000
73,500
98,000
122,500
12,000
245,000
400
Peters-
burg
25,500
357,000
51,000
12,000
220
76,500
51,000
76,500
440
Chandler-
ville
69,600
70,000
1,260
70,000
420
139,200
46,500
2,520
140,000
70,000
11,000
33
M
M
M
I
a
»d
H
O
s
H
1
O
F
i
-------
TABLE III—Continued.
NUMBERS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PER CUBIC METER IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, JULY 26-28, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
ROTATORIA
Brachionus calyciflorus Pallas
Brachionus capsuliflorus Pallas
Brachionus budapestinensis Daday. . .
Brachionus angularis Gosse
Trichocerca pusilla (Jennings)
Pilinia longiseta (Ehr.)
Trichocerca gracilis (Gosse)
Asplanchna sp
Polyarthra trigla Ehr
Keratella cochlearis (Gosse)
Synchaeta pectinata (Ehr.)
Pedalia mira (Hudson)
Brachionus patulus O.P.M
Diurella stylata Eyferth
Conochiloides natans (Seligo)
Schizocerca diversicornis Daday
CLADOCERA
Diaphanosoma brachyurum (Lieven)
Moina affinis Birge
Daphnia longispina (O.F.M.)
Bosmina longirostris (O.P.M.)
Monti-
cello
260
250
500
Lake
Decatur
112,500
5,000
187,500
10,000
5,000
62,500
12,500
70,000
75,000
2,500
225,000
87,500
250
250
250
9,900
650
660
650
Harris-
town
28,400
650
6,600
13,200
660
9,900
1,980
33,000
13,200
2,640
27,000
2,700
540
540
Illiopolis
48,600
540
32,400
21,600
550
37,800
5,400
16,200
64,800
81,000
2,700
43,200
270
1,620
Riverton
400
1,200
890
13,200
1,300
880
4,400
35,200
2,200
1,760
Spring-
field
400
400
1,600
6,000
800
400
450
8,000
2,000
Peters-
burg
220
440
400
1,320
8,800
450
Chandler-
ville
1,260
1,300
12,600
420
-------
en
O5
TABLE III—Concluded.
NUMBERS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PEK CUBIC METEB IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, JULY 26-28, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
COPBPODA
Cyclops bicuspidatus Glaus
Diaptomus siciloides Lillje
Immature copepods
ALGAE
Undetermined Diatoms
Gyrosigma sp
Closterium acutum (Lyngb.)
Lysigonium granulatum (Ehr.)
Scenedesmus quadricauda (Turp )
Scenedesmus dimorphus (Turp.)
Pediastrum duplex Meyen
Synedra tenuissima Kiitz
Pediastrum simplex Meyen
Actinastrum hantzschi Lager . ...
Coelastrum microporum Nagel
Surirella robusta Ehr
Sphinctocystis librilis (Ehr )
Closterium moniliferum (Bory)
Aphanocapsa sp
Monti-
cello
260
986,000
15,500
250
Lake
Decatur
5,500
120
37,500
5,000
10,000,000
40 ooo
20,000
2,500
12,500
240
20000
230
Harris-
town
5,200
650
19,800
735,000
980,000
4,900,000
25,500
980,000
24,000
650
Illiopolis
5,400
550
5,500
322,000
1,620
644,000
2,160
32,000
Riverton
880
440
2,200
1,560,000
450
1,812,000
31,200
870
880
30,000
31,000
Spring-
field
800
800
490,000
24,500
49,000
24,000
23,000
1,600
2,400
24,500
Peters-
burg
880
880
25,000
127.,500
25,500
440
880
26,000
Chandler-
ville
3,800
25,200
3,480,000
139,200
2,520
70,000
1,260
1,300
u
a
M
M
a
i
8
a
i
i
-------
TABLE IV.
NUMBERS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PER. CUBIC METER IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, SEPTEMBER 10-12, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
PROTOZOA
Difflugia acuminata Ehr
Eudorina elegans Ehr
Ceratium hirundinella O.P.M
Euglena viridis Ehr
Pleodorina illinoisensis Kofoid. . .
Euglena oxyuris Schmarda
Difflugia lobostoma Leidy
Codonella cratera (Leidy) ....
Phacus longicaudus (Ehr.)
Trachelomonas hispida (Perty)
Chlamydomonas spp
Arcella vulgaris Ehr
Centropyxis aculeata Stein
Trachelomonas volvocina Ehr
Phacus acuminata Stokes
Trachelomonas ensifera Daday
Phacus pleuronectes (O.F.M.)
Euglena acutissima Lemm
Glenodinium sp
Tintinnidium fluviatile Stein ....
Pandorina morum Bory
Gonium pectorale O.P.M
Platydorina caudata Kofoid
Monti-
cello
250
250
250
62,000
Lake
Decatur
220
880
1,222,100
200
60,000
288,000
489,000
24,400
440
488,840
Harris-
town
27,000
1,310,000
30,000
32,000
27,000
14,000
27,700
28,000
480
1,668,000
13,000
Illiopolis
1620
1,400,000
35,000
12,000
14,000
540
5,500
1,080
1,750,000
70,000
250
70,000
Riverton
920
97,600
24,000
25,000
10,000
1,380
3,060
1,220,000
25,000
20,000
45,000
976,000
24,400
Spring-
field
500
1,385,000
500
28,000
27,000
500
2,770,000
6,925,000
5,000
48,475,000
1,385,000
500
28,000
21,930,000
14,000
Peters-
burg
480
400,000
160,000
20,000
40,000
1,920
1,600,000
6,400,000
34,000
4,000,000
80,000
75,000
4,000,000
480
2,880
Chandler-
ville
5,600
534,000
2,800
280
2,670,000
26,700
-------
TABLE IV—Continued.
NUMBERS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PER CUBIC METER IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, SEPTEMBER 10-12, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
ROTATORIA
Brachionus angularis Gosse
Brachionus budapestinensis Daday...
Brachionus calyciflorus Pallas
Distylla spinifera Western
Polyarthra trigla Ehr
Synchaeta pectinata (Ehr.)
Asplanchna sp
Keratella cochlearis (Gosse)
Brachionus capsuliflorus Pallas
Synchaeta stylata Wierz
Trichotria tetractis (Ehr.)
Diurella stylata Eyferth
Trichocerca pusilla (Jennings)
Trichocerca gracilis (Gosse)
Asplanchna sp
Rotaria neptunia (Ehr.)
Trichocerca stylata (Gosse)
Annureopsis flssa (Gosse)
CLADOCERA
Diaphanosoma brachyurum (Lieven)
Daphnia longispina (O.F.M.)
Monti-
cello
250
250
250
250
250
250
120
Lake
Decatur
2,640
850
8,800
860
450
4,500
Harris-
town
240
480
480
Illiopolis
250
Riverton
1,840
1,600
500
980
230
9,200
13,800
5,060
Spring-
field
375,000
15,000
80,000
1,050,000
500
5,000
10,000
1,000
Peters-
burg
960
196,800
1,920
9,600
950
2,400
384,000
480
450
Chandler-
ville
1,400
560
67.200
1,400
2,800
8,400
2,100
270
-------
TABLE IV—Concluded.
NUMBERS OF PLANKTON ORGANISMS PER CUBIC METER IN THE SANGAMON RIVER, SEPTEMBER 10-12, 1929.
Italics indicate decantation collections.
Organisms
COPEPODA
Diaptomus siciloides Lillje
Cyclops viridis Jurine
Immature copepods
ALGAE
Undetermined diatoms
Gyrosigma spp
Sphinctocystis librilis (Ehr.)
Schroederia setigera (Schroder)
Cyclotella spp ...
Pediastrum duplex Meyen
Lysigonium granulatum (Ehr )
Scenedesmus quadricauda (Turp:)
Closterium acutum (Lyngb.)
Selenastrum gracile Reinsch
Closterium acerosum (Schrank)
Closterium moniliferum (Bory)
Ankistrodesmus falcatus (Corda)
Scenedesmus dimorphus (Turp.)
Synedra tenuissima Kiitz
Coelastrum microporum Nagel
Cosmarium sp . .
Actinastrum hantzschi Lager
Micratinium pusillum
Surirella robusta Ehr
Pediastrum simplex Meyen
Monti-
cello
110
3,120,000
936,000,
15,000
31,200
Lake
Decatur
6,600
450
52,800
1,222,100
2,444,800
440
3,660,300
2,200
122,000
220
Harris-
town
4,800
9,600
55,550,000
277,750
960
7,200
22,220,000
111,100
277,750
960
480
84,713,750
55,550
416,625
Illiopolis
600
1,200
35,000,000
350,000
16,200
17,500,000
1,050,000
350,000
14,000,000
35,000
700,000
10,000
10,800
700,000
Riverton
250
50
3,660,000
732,000
9,200
244,000
122,000
24,000
45,000
46,000
125,000
12,000
1,820
24,000
4,600
Spring-
field
500
11,080,000
28,000
27,700,000
45,000
11,080,000
1,662,000
13,000
554,000
210MO
1,108,000
25,000
12,465,000
Peters-
burg
900
10,000,000
160,000
192,000
4,000,000
9,600,000
800,000
480
800,000
800,000
70,000
75,000
3,200,000
1,440
450
Chandler-
ville
2,900
53,400,000
1,602,000
550
26,700,000
56,000
1,335,000
2,136,000
276,000
540
1.602.000
560,000
534,000
26,000
1,835,000
5600
-------
70
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
Reproduced With Permission From:
PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTS
54(1939) : 740-746
AQUATIC LIFE IN WATERS POLLUTED
BY ACID MINE WASTE*
James B. Lackey
Cytologist, United States Public Health Service, Stream Pollution Investigations
Cincinnati, Ohio
A visitor to coal mining regions for the first time
usually remarks the colored water of the streams or
strip pits there. Clear red or copper colored, they are
much more attractive, from an aesthetic viewpoint,
than the black or milky waters produced by industrial
or domestic pollution in densely populated areas.
Such copper colored waters, however, represent
an extreme of industrial pollution. Coal seams con-
tain sulfur, which, when exposed to air, oxidizes in
the presence of water, and so the streams or strip
pits have a very high sulfuric acid content; pH values
as low as 1.8, representing 35,000 p.p.m. of acid,
have been noted. Such acidities are very damaging;
water works superintendents or industrial engineers
needing boiler water find mine water almost useless;
cattle will not drink it, and fish and most plants are
quickly killed by it.
These mine runs and pits also represent an environ-
mental extreme. Extreme environments, however,
often have their inhabitants, and such is the case with
the acid mine waters. One of the higher plants, the
cattail, Typha latifolia, grows well in the most acid
waters; and several insects, such as Chironomous,
the bloodworm, caddis flies, mosquitoes, and a few
beetles thrive therein. The most abundant population,
however, consists of protozoa and algae, unless the
bacteria, insufficiently investigated, might be more
abundant.
In the past year more than 200 mine runs or pits
have been personally visited and samples taken there-
from to determine their microscopic flora and fauna.
The general features were noted of each location
visited, the pH was determined, and, if the water was
acid, a sampling station was selected which showed
some pooling, if in a stream, and with an accumula-
tion of debris in which small organisms might find
lodgment. Early samples showed that suspended forms
were extremely rare, and an effort was thereafter
made to get those forms which might crawl or burrow
into debris and bottom films. Samples taken from such
situations also tended to include swimming forms,
because they had been taken in still water. In April
and October 1938, West Virginia mine streams and
Indiana strip pits were sampled. In general, the tem-
peratures of mine streams tend to approximate 21°C.
on issuing from the mines, for mine tempetatures are
fairly uniform throughout the year. Strip pits, of
course, tend to conform to atmospheric temperatures.
Frequently, two samples were taken — one as close
to the mine mouth as possible, yet at a sufficient dis-
tance to have been seeded by surface run-off, and an-
other from the same stream or the stream system
several miles below. These two samples thus afforded
opportunity to show whether animals and plants grad-
ually invaded the stream or strip pits as acidity
decreased, and also tended to show how extensive a
seeding was necessary to establish life in such waters.
The pH of nearby pools, streams, and swamps, not
polluted by mine wastes, was determined and their
flora and fauna were listed for comparison. By exam-
ining widely separated points, it was ascertained that
the paucity of living species was not a local condition,
but was general for acid mine waters.
Field examination of mine streams in theSpring(l)
indicated abundant growths of some algae. Most usual
was a green coating along banks, on debris, on rocks
in the swiftest currents, and even on vertical moist
rock faces. A thin brown coating was also evident at
times. Aheavy white growth which was common usually
proved to be bacterial zooglea. Fungi were scarce,
rarely forming extensive growths.
Nonbacterial microscopic organisms were com-
posed principally of protozoa, algae, and rotifers.
Table 1 shows the distribution in the plant and animal
kingdoms of species found in the samples within the
pH range 1.8 to 3.9. All of the commonly occurring
ones were identified, but perhaps an additional 10
percent of rarely occurring species could not be rec-
ognized. Some identifications may be questionable,
especially of very small forms such as the smaller
chlamydomonads, which might be zoospores of Sticho-
coccus or Ulothrix. Species definitions had to be based
on rather hurried determination of morphological
characters, but were usually satisfactory.
A total of 99 species of plants and animals was found
living at or below pH 3.9, 85 or which were microscopic
types, 76 being algae or protozoa; but the list of com-
monly occurring microscopic forms included only 17
species. Figure 1 shows the percentage of occurrence
in all samples in which these 17 species were found.
An organism was arbitrarily termed "common" if it
appeared in 15 percent of the samples, "tolerant" if
it appeared in 5 percent of the samples, and "adven-
titious" if it appeared in less than that number. This
* Presented at meeting of the Limnological Society of America, Richmond, Va., December 27-31, 1938.
-------
Aquatic Life in Waters Polluted by Acid Mine Waste
71
TABLE 1.—Distribution of recognized genera and species of plants and animals
occurring at or below pH 8.9
Plants
Thallophyta:
Fungi
Algae:
Myxophyceae
Chrysophyceae:
Chrysomonadales
Chrysotrichales
Bacillarieae:
Pennales
Chlorophyceae:
Volvocales
Ulotrichales
Chlorococcales
Zynematales
Dinophyceae
Bryophyta
Pteridophyta
Spermatophyta
Number
of species
2
3
3
1
5
1
2
1
6
2
1
1
1
Animals
Protozoa:
Mastigophora'
Euglenidae
Protomastigina
Sarcodina:
Rhizopoda .
Heliozoa—
Infusoria:
Ciliata . . . .
Trochelminthes:
Rotatoria . - - - -
Gastrotricha _______
Nemathelminthes •
Nematoda
Arthropoda*
Crustacea:
Isopoda
Copepoda
Arachnida:
Tardigrada
Insecta
Amphibia
Number
of species
7
7
15
2
19
6
1
1
1
1
1
8
1
Table 1 - Distribution of recognized genera and species of plants and animals
occurring at or below pH 3.9.
Cfiromu//no ora/fi
OcrtfOrnorras ' sp.
Cryptomonas erosa
Euy/eno mufabi/ts
ChlamydO">onas 3pp.
fifonoi sp-
dmorAo spft.
YaMkompf/o gi/ttuh
Acf/nopJrrys soi
^ Cyc//di'vm jpf>-
;> Oxytr/c/Ht jp.
^ lfarficr//o sp/>.
*ft
^ Navicu/o spp.
(//oMrli zonofa
Funfi
Dis/y/a s/>.
ffof/fera
C
1 1 ' 1 ' 1 U 5. Pui//e Hra/M Strr/cf
Stream fi}//t///on J/tvfstifaf/onsSfa
^^^^f' £34 ' C/fjcmnaftt 0h/o
1 Sf.4S
<3°-6* _.._ --,--,
f 33.87
1 4355
i^a^&BB n .11-
1 38.7/ .. f*
• 1 2f.8l
-i 3O.7/ _.._
1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1
J ZO 4O 6O SO IOO
Pence NT Occun RfNcc
Figure 1 - Percentage of occurrence of the 17 most common organisms in all
samples.
-------
72
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
arbitrary classification is, of course, open to criti-
cisim, but it serves as a working basis. One of its
worst features is that occasionally an organism might
be found in but a single sample, yet occur in such
large numbers in that sample as to leave no doubt of
its tolerance for that particular environmental niche.
As an example of this might be mentioned the large
numbers of Lepocinclis ovum which were present in
Crab Orchard Creek (pH 2.5), where it was the domi-
nant one of six species of microorganisms; or the
large number of Raphidiophrys pallida in Riverdale
(pH 3.0). Both of these would normally be listed as
adventitious forms, but in the particular samples under
consideration they were decidedly not. Amoeba radiosa
is also listed as an adventitious form, but in laboratory
cultures of this mine water it may attain large numbers.
Because of the seasonal differences between the
first and last sampling periods (early spring and late
summer, respectively), considerable differences in
the flora and fauna were anticipated. Actually, very
little difference was found. Ochromonas sp., common
in later summer, was not found in spring, and the
same is true for the small amoeba, Vahlkampfia gut-
tula. Chromulina ovalis, common in spring, was found
in 11 of the early samples and in only 6 of the later
ones. Frequently, however, it was found impossible
to distinguish between this creature and Ochromonas,
and it seems probable that some of those listed as
Chromulina in the spring samples were Ochromonas.
The 17 varieties of common forms appeared in more
samples in the late summer, except for Pleuromonas
jaculans and Urotricha farcta. Even for the adventi-
tious species the two sets of samples showed largely
the same forms, the greatest difference being among
the ciliates and rhizopods.
Nor can the species which were encountered be
termed rare. Euglena mutabilis (Fig. 2) is far from
common unless in an acid situation, but has been re-
corded by the writer (2) 11 times in 165 samples over
a period of several years, while Prof. W. J. Kostir (3),
of Ohio State University, has maintained a pure culture
of it over a long period. Neither the Chromulina (Figs.
3, 4) nor the Ochromonas (Fig. 5) fit exactly into those
species given by Pascher and Lemmermann (4), but
they hardly exhibit sufficient differences to be called
new species. Three of the ciliates, Chilodonella,
Cinetochilum. and Glaucoma, have been shown else-
where (2) to tolerate wide differences of environment.
Probably it is just such species, i.e., those with a
wide tolerance, which we might expect to find in these
acid waters. The condition has been created largely
by man and is, therefore, relatively recent; such
AQUATIC LIFE IN ACID WATERS
Figure 2 - Euglena mutabilis, showing two or three heavy chloroplastids, conspic-
uous stigma, small rod-like paramylum bodies, and apparent absence
of flagellum.
like paramylum bodies, and apparent absence of flagellum.
Figures 3 and 4 - Chromulina sp., showing one or two chromatophores, stigma,
and large posterior granula.
Figure 5 - Ochromonas sp., showing band-like chromatophore and absence of stigma.
-------
Aquatic Life in Waters Polluted by Acid Mine Waste
73
species as could occupy the environment have done
so, but few, if any, new ones have developed. The
absence of acid-tolerant forms is marked for the des-
mids and shelled rhizopodsof bog habitats; but we are
dealing here with higher acidities than those of bogs
and with a mineral acidity rather than organic acidity.
There is a very large difference between the total
number of species found in one of these highly acid
samples and in a sample from a stream of stagnant
pool or strip pit immediately adjacent to the mine
water sample, but whose pH is near neutrality. Any
mine water sample could be repeatedly examined with
great care day after day and never show more than a
few species of microorganisms. Figure 6 shows the
average number of species per sample at observed pH
values up to and including3.9. Between pH 3.9and4.8
very few samples were obtained; but at 4.8 and above,
the number of species which could be counted increased
greatly. Thus, 15 samples from pH 4.8to7.2, secured
for comparison in the early spring trip to the mine
fields, showed an average number of 23 microscopic
species per sample, and the notation was made for
each of these samples: "A complete list * * * not
compiled * * *." Almost any 100-ml sample of
Scioto River (Ohio) water, taken at the same time of
year, will show from 60 to 120 plankton species
alone. It is an inevitable conclusion that the highly
acid waters greatly diminish the number of possible
inhabitants therein.
A number of Indiana and Illinois strip pits have
been dammed at various times, raising the water
above the exposed coal seams and creating long and
often deep and beautiful lakes. Here there is little or
no chance for the oxidation of sulfur to sulfuric acid.
The result is a very slow decrease in acidity and a
subsequent slow repopulation of the lake by microor-
ganisms, then by fish and other animals. The Tygart
River at Phillipi, W. Va., gave a sample whose pH
was 6.0 and which yielded 44 microscopic species on
an incomplete examination. The river was clear and
green at that point because of algae growing on sub-
merged objects, yet a few years ago, before the seal-
ing of mines in this region, it was a highly acid stream,
"red and nothing would growinit." Nodatawere avail-
able on the succession of forms reinvading gradually
improving streams or lakes, but copepod Crustacea
were found in enormous numbers in two lakes, one
with a pH of 6.6, and in the Tygart River. Because the
strip pit lake is usually surrounded by high, steep
banks and its total watershed area is hardly greater
than the lake area, it must depend on photosynthetic
protozoa and algae for fertility. The high, steep banks
can contribute no humus for feeding the organisms
initiating food chains, and either there are no shallow
areas for growth of higher plants, or else the acid
tolerant Typha preempts such areas and is, apparently,
a poor "fertilizing" plant. The general impression is
that recovery of a highly acid strip pit to a productive
body of water is a slow process if left to nature.
M
12
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5 2.6 27 2.6 2.9 3.O 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.S 3.6 37 3.8 3.9
pH of Samp/e
Figure 6 - Average number of species per sample within the pH range 1.8 to 3.9.
-------
74
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
SUMMARY
Two coal mining regions, shaft mining areas in
West Virginia, and strip mining areas in Indiana and
Illinois, were visited and biological surveys twice
made of their highly acid streams and strip pit lakes.
A few adjacent almost neutral streams and lakes were
surveyed for comparison.
A total of 86 species of microscopic forms was
recognized. Besides Thallophyta, Protoza, and Tro-
chelminthes, only one of the remaining phyla of plants
and animals, the Arthropoda, was represented by
more than one commonly occurring species in these
acid waters.
At or below pH 3.9, the number of species found in
any given habitat was very small. The largest number
was 11 at pH 2.6 and several samples showed no life
on examination.
Practically the same forms were common in April
and October, but there was quite a difference in the
species termed adventitious which were found at the
two different times.
Seventeen species occurred in 15 percent or more
of the samples and are termed "common." The most
frequently occurring ones were as follows: Euglena
mutabilis, Naviculoid diatoms, Chlamydomonas spp.,
Distyla sp., Actinophrys sol., Oxytricha sp., Ochro-
monas sp., and Ulothrix zonata.
Because the most sharply definitive factor, sulfuric
acid acidity, remains relatively constant, the relative
constancy of species occurrence indicates that this one
factor outweighs all others.
After the strip pit lakes have been sealed to reduce
acid production there appears to be little chance for
them to become productive except by the initial de-
velopment of a large flora and fauna of chlorophyll-
bearing organisms. Inasmuch as seven of the 17
organisms most common in this environment belong
to this category, this initial process is apparently
already under way.
REFERENCES
Lackey, James B.: The flora and fauna of surface
waters polluted by acid mine drainage. Pub. Health
Rep., 53 : 1499-1507 (August 26, 1938). Reprint
No. 1976.
Idem: A study of some ecologic factors affecting
the distribution of protozoa. Ecologic Monographs,
8 (4) : 501-527 (October 1938).
3.
Kostir,
writer.
W. J.:
1938.
Personal communication to the
Pascher, A., and Lemmermann, E.: Die Suss-
wasser-flora Deutschlands, Osterreichs und der
Schweiz. Gustave Fischer, Jena, 1913.
-------
A Heavy Mortality of Fishes Resulting from the Decomposition of Algae in the Yahara River, Wisconsin 75
Reproduced With Permission From:
TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY
75(1945) : 175-180
A HEAVY MORTALITY OF FISHES RESULTING
FROM THE DECOMPOSITION OF ALGAE IN THE
YAHARA RIVER, WISCONSIN
Kenneth M. Mackenthun and Elmer F. Herman
Department of Conservation, Madison, Wisconsin
and
Alfred F. Bartsch
State Board of Health, Madison, Wisconsin
ABSTRACT
PROGRESS OF THE MORTALITY
A heavy loss of fish occurred in the Yahara River
below Lake Kegonsa, Wisconsin, during the latter part
of September and the early part of October, 1946. All
species of fish in the river were affected in the mor-
tality. The fish, crowded close to shore, were breath-
ing at the surface and showed marked signs of distress
before expiring.
Chemical analyses of the water were made in suc-
cessive periods, and experiments were performed to
determine the toxicity of the river water to experi-
mental fish. Death was attributed primarily to the
depletion of the oxygen supply by the decomposing
algal mass consisting of almost a pure culture of
Aphanizomenon flos aquae. Secondarily, toxic sub-
stances liberated into the water by the decomposing
algae probably contributed to the death of the fish.
INTRODUCTION
A huge algal mass estimated between three and
four acres in area and several inches thick was moved
into the bay above the Lake Kegonsa Lock by westerly
winds and accompanying wave action on September 25,
1946. To prevent undesirable odors, the mass was
permitted to pass through the lock by the lock tender
over a 6-hour period. On September 28, 1946, it was
reported that a heavy fish mortality was occurring at
Stoughton, Wisconsin, 3-1/2 miles below the lock.
Upon investigation many dead and dying fish were seen
at Station 2. The fish that were still alive showed signs
of acute distress and were packed close to the shore,
gasping at the surface. The bay at this location pro-
vided a concentration point for fish which undoubtedly
were driven out of deeper water by the oxygen defi-
ciency caused by decomposition of the algal mass
(Fig. 2). Dead fish were seen floating through the lock
at Stoughton, Wisconsin, located at Station 3.
A heavy loss of fish occurred in that portion of the
Yahara River from the Lake Kegonsa Lock down-
stream to its confluence with the Rock River during
the latter part of September and the early part of
October, 1946. Although many thousands of fish were
observed, no estimate was made of the number. Carp
(Cyprinus carpio) were the predominant fish affected.
Other species observed were northern pike (Esox
lucius), yellow pike perch or walleye (Stizostedion v.
vitreum), black crappies (Pomoxis nigro-maculatus),
bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus), suckers (Catostomus
commersonnii). black bullheads (Ameiurus m. melas).
buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus), hog suckers (Hypentelium
nigricans), and an eel (Anguilla bostoniensis).
A series of eight representative stations was es-
tablished in the 17 miles of river between the Lake
Kegonsa Lock and the Rock River to study the progress
of the mortality (Fig. 1).
On October 1, 1946, mortality was apparent at
Station 4 which is 2-1/2 miles below the previous
station. Over 8, 000 carp, averaging 4 pounds each,
were crowded into a shallow, spring-fed stream about
500 feet long and 4 feet wide which empties into the
Yahara River near this station. Above a natural fish
barrier in the stream the water contained 9.6 p.p.m.
of dissolved oxygen but in the lower portion there was
no oxygen. The carp lived in the section of the stream
where the oxygen supply remained adequate for their
needs (Fig. 3).
On October 3, 1946, the mortality had reached
Stations 5 and 6, located 8 miles down the river. The
conditions found here were similar to those at the
previous stations.
-------
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
YAHARA RIVER
SAMPLING STATIONS
Figure 1 - Station locations on Yahara River, Wisconsin.
-------
A Heavy Mortality of Fishes Resulting from the Decompositon of Algae in the Yahara River, Wisconsin. 77
Figure 2 - Dead fish in bay of Yahara River.
Item
Stations
| Date
I 5
7 8
... .
f F ° ^
\r • )
~~j , ,
/TJ1 0 \
t-c • )
Ti1 *V\ /I * * /I a
(pH)
Sept 28
Off 1
do. 3
do 5
do. 9
Qp^t OQ
Opt 1
do. 3
do, 9
Sept 28
Onf 1
do. 3
do. 5
do. 9
Sprit 98
Ort 1
do. 3
do. 5
do. 9
Sept 28
Opf 1
do. 3
do. 5
do. 9
Sept 28
Oct 1
do. 3 |
RK
....
fid
1 O 9
n r>
....
58
60
72
68
66
R9
64
64
fi9
62
0 i1
0 4
1.5
1.8
5.1
43 0
175
14.0
3.5
1.0
7 o
7 2
7.3
7.6
7.7
.... 1
58
66
72
68
66
62
56
58
63
60
!> ;)
0 8
1.8
3.7
6.4
30 0
7 0
5.7
2.0
0.0
7 0
7 3
7.7
7.6
8.0
.... 1
72
68
66
59
61
61
0 8
2.4
3.8
7.8
7 0
5.5
3.0
0.0
7.4
7.6
8.0
XXX
72
68
66
60
64
61
0.2
4.5
10.0
11.5
2.0
0.0
7.4
7.6
8.4
xxxx
72
66
60
61
0.1
4.3
10.4
14.4
4.0
0.0
7.3
7.6
8.4
xxxx
72
60
....
1.0
8.0
....
7.4
....
72
....
60
7.8
0.0
....
....
Table 1 - Temperature and chemical characteristics of Yahara River during the
period between September 28 and October 9, 1946.
-------
78
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
Figure 3 - Carp crowding into small spring-fed stream.
WATER CONDITIONS
An examination of the river water at the time of
the fish mortality showed a concentration of the blue-
green alga, Aphanizomenon f los aquae.
The results of temperature and chemical determi-
nation are shown in Table 1. At the time of greatest
mortality, the oxygen content was less than 1 p.p.m.,
the free carbon dioxide was high, and the pH was low.
It is believed that the depletion of oxygen in the river
forced the fish into the shallow bays. The greatest
fish mortality seemed to take place when the decay-
ing algal mass moved downstream. Twelve days
elapsed before the water returned to a condition suit-
able for fish life at Stations 2 and 3. The lower sta-
tions returned to normal more rapidly because there
was greater dilution of the algal mass and more
wave action.
EXPERIMENTS ON TOXICITY OF RIVER WATER
An attempt was made to determine experimentally
the toxicityof substances in the river water. A sample
of water was taken from Station 2 during the period
of greatest mortality, placed in an aquarium, and
aerated. A control was set up using aerated spring
water. Two yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and two
black crappies (Pomoxis nigro-maculatus) were placed
both in the experimental and the control aquaria. After
a period of 30 hours all experimental fish had died but
the control fish were still living. The oxygen in the
experimental tank at the end of the same period was
8.3 p.p.m.
On October 3, 1946, a similar experiment was
conducted with water taken at Station 6, 14 miles down
the river. Seven yellow perch, four black crappies
and one common sucker (Catostomus commersonnii)
were placed both in the experimental and the control
aquaria. The yellow perch began to lose their equi-
librium on October 6,1946, and began to die on October
8, 1946. All of the fish in the experimental tank were
dead on October 11,1946, but the control fish remained
alive. It is believed that the fish lived longer in this
than in the earlier experiment because the algal mass
was dispersed and the toxic substances diluted to such
an extent that they were less harmful at the lower
stations along the river.
CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded from the temperature and chemical
data and from the results of experiments that the
primary cause of the fish mortality was the depletion
of the oxygen supply brought about by decomposition
of a huge mass of Aphanizomenon f los aquae. Secon-
darily, toxic elements released by the decomposing
algae probably increased the mortality.
An examination of the literature indicates that
mortality produced by the decomposition of certain
blue-green algae is not a new phenomenon. Fitch et al.
(1934) who reviewed the literature on the effects of
algal poisoning upon domestic animals pointed out that
cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and
geese have been known to die soon after drinking water
that contained a heavy algal growth. Rabbits and guinea
pigs died suddenly after being inoculated intraperito-
neally with algal suspensions extracted from live algae.
Prescott (1939) stated that heavy growths of phyto-
plankton will deplete the oxygen supply during warm
still nights and that the exhaustion of the oxygen brings
about the death of both microfauna and phytoplankton.
The decomposition by bacteria of this mass of organic
matter quickly reduces further the oxygen content.
As a result, the fish and other aquatic animals are
suffocated. Prescott stated further that, "it is appar-
ently possible for algae to bring about the death of
fish through the liberation of substances toxic to them
during the decay process. When highly proteinaceous
blue-green algae undergo decay, sufficient quantities
of hydroxylamine and other derivatives are produced
to poison any fish caught in the shallow water of a bay
by masses of decaying algae."
LITERATURE CITED
Fitch, C.F., Lucille M. Bishop, W. L. Boyd, R.A.
Gortner, C. F. Rogers, and Josephine E. Tilden.
1934. "Water Bloom" as a cause of poisoning in do-
mestic animals. Cornell Veterinarian, Vol. 24, No.
1, pp. 30-39.
Prescott, G.W. 1939. Some relationships of phyto-
plankton to limnology and aquatic biology. In Problems
of Lake Biology, A.A.A.S., Pub. No. 10, pp. 65-78.
-------
Suggested Classification of Algae and Protozoa in Sanitary Science
79
Reproduced With Permission From:
SEWAGE AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES
27(1955): 1183-1188
SUGGESTED CLASSIFICATION OF ALGAE AND
PROTOZOA IN SANITARY SCIENCE
C. Mervin Palmer and William Marcus Ingram
Respectively, In charge, Interference Organism Studies; and Biologist, Water Pollution Control,
Water Supply and Water Pollution Control Research, Robert A. Taft
Sanitary Engineering Center, USPHS, Cincinnati, Ohio
Many types of microorganisms are of real impor-
tance in the fie Id of sanitary science. Bacteria, molds,
yeasts, protozoa and algae all play significant roles
in relation to water and sewage. A limited number of
them are pathogenic but the great majority are those
that cause nuisance conditions in water supplies or are
associated with sewage treatment and stream self-
purification.
CLASSIFICATION OF PIGMENTED FLAGELLATES
Confusion exists in the literature of sanitary science
in the classification of a considerable number of mi-
croorganisms. The confusion is especially evident in
dealing with certain organisms which are on the bor-
derline separating algae of the plant kingdom from
protozoa of the animal kingdom, where one investi-
gator may classify a particular organism with the
algae and another place the same organism with the
protozoa (1) (2).
The organisms most often involved in this confu-
sion are those known as pigmented flagellates which
have both the protozoan characteristic of being able
to swim by means of f lagella, and the algal character-
istic of photosynthesis made possible by the presence
of the pigment chlorophyll. Thus, they are intermedi-
ate between typical algae and typical protozoa, and it
would depend upon which characteristic was empha-
sized as to whether they would be listed in the plant
kingdom as swimming, flagellate algae, or in the
animal kingdom as photosynthetic pigmented* protozoa.
It is the authorities in the fields of protozoology and
algology who are responsible for the existing confu-
sion, since they have come to no agreement as to the
classification of the organisms involved.
In an attempt to resolve opinions among authorities
concerned with the characteristics an organism should
have in order to be classified as a protozoan or as
an alga, a large group name, the Protista, was pro-
posed by Haeckel (3). Under it all protozoa and all
one-celled algae were lumped together without dis-
tinction. The term "Protista" has not received general
recognition and would be of little or no value to the
sanitary scientist.
EXISTING CONFUSION IN SANITARY SCIENCE
A recent book, "Water Quality Criteria" (4) serves
to illustrate the existing confusion in classification of
microorganisms. The pigmented flagellate, Synura
is listed on page 170 as an alga, and later, on page
333, as a protozoan. Lackey (5) in his paper, "Pro-
tozoan Plankton as Indicators of Pollution in a Flowing
Stream," referred many organisms to the protozoa
that he, in other papers, classified as algae, (1) (6).
Turre (7), who has published photomicrographs of
algae in water supplies, includes Volvox with the
green algae, while Dinobryon and Synura are listed
under protozoa. He considers the protozoa as one
group of algae.
Mohr (8), in his paper on protozoa as indicators of
pollution, lists the chlorophyll-bearing Euglena with
the organisms Paramecium and Vorticella, which are
nonpigmented protozoa. Brinley (9) lists the pigment-
containing Ceratium and Peridinium as protozoa.
Thomas and Grainger (2), in their book, "Bacteria,"
refer the pigmented flagellates Chalmydomonas,
Uroglena, Synura, and Dinobryon, to a class of pro-
tozoa, the Mastigophora. Cox (10), in his book, "Lab-
oratory Control of Water Purification," lists the
following as protozoa: Dinobryon, Euglena, Uroglena,
Synura, and the unrelated nonpigmented protozoan
parasite Endamoeba histolytica. Hale (11), in recom-
mending chemicals required for control of organisms,
lists ten genera, including Chlamydomonas, under
protozoa with only two nonpigmented genera in the list,
namely, Bursaria and Endamoeba. Other pigmented
flagellates, including Pandorina and Volvox which are
closely related to Chlamydomonas. are placed with
the algae. Hopkins (12) lists tengenera of chlorophyll-
bearing organisms under protozoa in a table reproduced
from Hale (13). Whipple, Fair, and Whipple (14) list
some of the pigmented flagellates as protozoa and
others as algae. In "Water Quality Criteria" (4),
Synura, Dinobryon, and Uroglenopsis, all containing
photosynthetic pigments, are listed under protozoa in
a discussion of domestic water supplies along with
such true nonpigmented protozoan parasites as Enda-
moeba histolvtica and Balantidium coli. Pigmented
forms such as Gymnodinium, Gonyaulax and Peridinium
* "Pigmented" refers to chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigments only.
-------
80
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
are listed as protozoa in a discussion of their relation
to fish and shellfish mortality. Gonyaulax catenella,
a pigmented form responsible for mussel poisoning,
is considered only as a protozoan.
Writers in the field of sanitary science who have
placed pigmented flagellates under the algae include
Kehr et al. (15), Hobbs (16), Prescott (17), Brinley
and Katzin (18), Gainey and Lord (19), and Sorensen
(20). Modern workers in the field of algology also
follow this practice, including Fritsch (21), Smith(22),
Tiffany and Britton (23), and Prescott (24).
SIGNIFICANCE OF OXYGEN-PRODUCERS
The relationship of microorganisms, including the
flagellates, to oxygen is particularly significant, es-
pecially when considering their role in treatment of
sewage and in stream self-purification. The amount
of dissolved oxygen is one of the limiting factors in
determining the speed with which microorganisms will
bring about the modification of sewage in a treatment
plant or of organic wastes in a stream.
It is assumed from results of research, to date,
that all organisms containing chlorophyll and other
related pigments are capable of carrying on the proc-
ess of photosynthesis. In this process the organisms
remove carbon dioxide and water from the environment
and, in the presence of light, produce oxygen and car-
bohydrates. Much of the oxygen is released by the
organism into the water, whereas the carbohydrate is
retained. The photosynthetic organisms are therefore
recognized as oxygen producers.
Nonphotosynthetic organisms undergo no process
by which oxygen would be released into the water.
These nonpigmented forms carry on the process of
respiration in which the relationship of carbon dioxide
and oxygen are the opposite to that in photosynthesis
since available oxygen from the environment is utilized
and carbon dioxide is released. The pigmented organ-
isms also carry on respiration in addition to photo-
synthesis, but during the hours of daylight the latter
takes place at a much higher rate. The super satura-
tion of natural waters with oxygen, which is frequently
encountered, is usually a result of photosynthesis. In
darkness, with no photosynthesis taking place, the
pigmented organisms behave in a manner similar to
the nonpigmented, both groups using oxygen and re-
leasing carbon dioxide. When the sum of the effects
occurring in a typical diurnal-nocturnal cycle are
considered, however, the pigmented organisms are
recognized as oxygen-producers and the nonpigmented
ones as oxygen-consumers. If present and active
in large numbers, the oxygen-producers stimulate
oxidation of organic wastes by the oxygen-consuming
organisms. Both oxygen-producers and oxygen-
consumers, therefore, are distinct and important
groups of microorganisms for the sanitary scientist
to consider.
This relationship of microorganisms to oxygen is
also utilized as one of the basic characteristics in
their classification. Typical algae are described as
oxygen-producers, and the typical molds, protozoa,
yeasts, and bacteria as nonoxygen-producers or
oxygen-consumers. The confusion in the classifica-
tion occurs when this characteristic is not given
sufficient emphasis.
A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM
When the oxygen and non-oxygen producers are
mixed together in a classification, it is not possible
to evaluate clearly their roles in water pollution
problems. As has already been indicated, this type of
confusion is evident in connection with the classifica-
tion of the pigmented flagellates. For the sanitary
scientist, it would not be difficult to overcome the
confusion, because to him the oxygen-production of
these organisms needs to be taken into consideration,
whereas their swimming ability is of little or no im-
portance. The sanitary scientist, therefore, should
logically group the pigmented flagellates with the
photosynthetic algae rather than with the nonpigmented
protozoa.
In actual practice it might be difficult or impos-
sible to recognize oxygen-production by individual
organisms were it not for the fact that the visible
characteristic of pigmentation is associated with that
physiological phenomenon. These organisms normally
possess the green chlorophyll and frequently additional
pigments in amounts sufficient to be visible under a
compound microscope. The pigments are located
within the protoplasm of the individual cells and can
be seen to be localized within the cells of the organ-
isms in the form of one or more plastids or chroma-
tophores. The other pigments which may be present
in addition to the chlorophyll lend various shadings of
color to the plastids in the cells. The shades most
frequently encountered in the pigmented flagellates
are green, yellow-green, and brown. Examples of
some of the pigmented flagellates with their plastids
or chromatophores are illustrated in Figure 1, to-
gether with some non-pigmented flagellates. It will
be noted that, in either group, both unicellular and
colonial types are to be found.
In addition to the sanitary scientist's need to sep-
arate organisms according to their oxygen relationship,
it is desirable from another standpoint to have all
organisms grouped according to one recognized clas-
sification in order to eliminate the wasteful duplication
of effort. For example, if the same swimming, pig-
mented organism is causing an undesirable odor in a
settling basin at a water treatment installation in Iowa
and at another in South Dakota, it is a handicap to have
the organism listed as an alga at one place and as a
protozoan at the other. Because of the presence of the
photosynthetic pigment, it is recommended that all
workers list it as an alga. Coming to such an agree-
ment would do away with doubt that may arise in com-
paring effective control measures put into practice
in each area.
NONPIGMENTED FLAGELLATES
A second small group of flagellates is involved in
the confusion over classification. A few nonpigmented,
swimming organisms are considered by authorities to
be so closely related to the pigmented swimming forms
that they are often placed in the same groups with the
latter rather than with other nonpigmented forms.
-------
Suggested Classification of Algae and Protozoa in Sanitary Science
81
PIGMENTED, OXYGEN-PRODUCING, ALGAL FLAGELLATES
NONPIGMENTED, NONOXYGEN-PRODUCINa,
PROTOZOAN FLAGELLATES
PCTERIODENDRCN
CHILOMONAS
SPHAEROECA
Figure 1 - Typical pigmented and nonpigmented flagellates.
-------
82
THE RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF PLANKTON
Included among the nonpigmented flagellates, which
have been involved in the confusion, are such genera
as Astasia, Polytoma, Chilomonas, Euglenppsis, and
Peranema. Thus, an algologist would consider these
particular nonphotosynthetic organisms to be algae,
just as many protozoologists have considered the pig-
mented flagellates to be protozoa.
Again, the sanitary scientist can settle this problem
for himself by placing all nonpigmented (nonoxygen-
producing) flagellates with the protozoa, disregarding
the close evolutionary relationship between certain
pigmented and nonpigmented forms.
RECOMMENDED GROUPING OF
FLAGELLATE FORMS
Table I which follows, separating flagellates into
two easily recognizable groups, can serve as a guide
to classification for those working in sanitary science,
and thus, make it possible to overcome the existing
confusion. The first group includes the pigmented,
photosynthetic, oxygen-producing, "algal" flagellates.
The second group includes the nonpigmented, non-
photosynthetic, nonoxygen-producing, "protozoan"
flagellates. In a very few cases, certain species of
the genera in the first list are nonpigmented. These
particular species would, of course, need to be placed
in the second list.
More than 150 genera of flagellates have been re-
ported for the United States. Some of these forms are
comparatively rare and are of little or no importance
to sanitary scientists. Others, however, are included
among the microorganisms frequently encountered in
water supplies or sewage. Organisms listed are
limited to those flagellates which are considered to
be of significance to the sanitary scientist.
SUMMARY
A lack of agreement exists among botanists and
zoologists as to a definite line of demarcation between
algae and protozoa. Consequently, there is no uni-
formity in the classification of a considerable number
of flagellates which are important in the field of san-
itary science. It is recommended, therefore, that the
presence or absence of photosynthetic pigments (indi-
cating the ability or inability to produce oxygen) be
used in this field of applied science to separate the
flagellates into the pigmented (algal) and nonpigmented
(protozoan) types.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to express their appreciation to
the following who gave of their time in reading pre-
liminary drafts of this paper: M. P. Crabill, Dr. G.
W. Prescott, Dr. Kenneth E. Damann. Dr. Herbert W.
Graham, M. A. Churchill, Dr. Clarence M. Tarzwell,
and W. W. Towne.
TABLE I.—Classification of Flagellates
Pigmented, oxygen-producing
"algal" flagellates
Nonpigmented, nonoxygen-producing
"protozoan" flagellates
Carteria
Ceratium
Chlamydomonas
Chlorogonium
Chromulina
Chroomonas
Chrysococcus
Chrysosphaerella
Colacium
Cryptoglena
Cryptomonas
Dinobryon
Dunaliella
Eudorina
Euglena
Eutreptia
Glenodinium
Gonium
Gonyaulax
Gymnodinium
Haematococcus
Hemidinium
Lepocinclis
Mallomonas
Ochromonas
Pandorina
Peridinium
Phacotus
Phacus
Pleodorina
Pteromonas
Pyramimonas
Pyrobotrys
Rhodomonas
Spondylomorum
Synura
Trachelomonas
Uroglena
Uroglenopsis
Volvox
Wislouchiella
Anisonema
Anthophysis
Astasia
Bicosoeca
Bodo
Cercobodo
Cercomonas
Chilomonas
Clautriavia
Codonosiga
Cyathomonas
Desmarella
Dinema
Dinomonas
Distigma
Entosiphon
Euglenopsis
Heteronema
Hexamita
Hyalogonium
Khawkinea
Mastigamoeba
Mastigella
Menoidium
Monas
Monosiga
Noctiluca
Notosolenus
Oikomonas
Peranema
Petalomonas
Pleuromonas
Polytoma
Polytomella
Poteriodendron
Rhabdomonas
Sphaeroeca
Tetramitus
Trepomonas
Tropidoscyphus
Urceolus
REFERENCES
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of Two Tennessee Rivers." American Midland
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3. Kudo, R. R., "Protozoology." Charles C. Thomas,
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-------
Suggested Classification of Algae and Protozoa in Sanitary Science
83
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of Pollution in a Flowing Stream." Pub. Health
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Refining Corp., New York, N.Y. (1950).
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Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, Md. (1948).
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in Public Water Supplies." Water Works Eng., 83,
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"The Microscopy of Drinking Water." John Wiley
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O. R., and Burns, W. E., "A Study of the Pollution
and Natural Purification of the Scioto River." Pub.
Health Bull. No. 276, USPHS, Washington, D.C.
(1941).
16. Hobbs, A. T., "Manual of British Water Supply."
W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., Cambridge, England
(1950).
17. Prescott, G. W., "Objectionable Algae with Refer-
ence to the Killing of Fish and Other Animals."
Hydrobiologia, 1, 1, (1948).
18. Brinley, F. J., "Distribution of Stream Plankton in
the Ohio River System." American Midland Natu-
ralist, 27, 1, 177 (1942).
19. Gainey, P. L., and Lord, T. H., "Microbiology of
Water and Sewage." Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York
N. Y., (1952).
20. Sorensen, I., "Biological Effects of Industrial De-
filements in the River Billebergaan." Acta Lim-
nologica (1948).
21. Fritsch, F. E., "The Structure and Reproduction of
the Algae." 1, Cambridge University Press (1948).
22. Smith, G. M.,"The Fresh-Water Algae of the United
States." McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, N. Y.,
2nd Ed. (1950).
23. Tiffany, L. H., and Britton, M. E., "The Algae of
Illinois." University of Chicago Press (1952).
24. Prescott, G. W.,"Algaeof the Western Great Lakes
Area." Cranbrook Institute of Science (1951).
-------
Chapter
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION
OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
-------
Ecology of Animal Saprobia
85
Reproduced With Permission From:
INTERNATIONAL REVUE DER GESAMTEN HYDROBIOLOGIE
UNO HYDROGEOGRAPHIE (INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF HYDRO BIOLOGY)
AND HYDROGEOGRAPHY) 2(1909): 126-152
TRANSLATION BY UNITED STATES JOINT PUBLICATIONS
RESEARCH SERVICE, WASHINGTON, D.C.
ECOLOGY OF ANIMAL SAPROBIA
R. Kolkwitz and M. Marsson
In the Reports of theGerman Botanical Society (22),
we published last year the "Ecology of Plant Saprobia"
which comprises about 300 species and is intended to
facilitate — as is this paper — the evaluation of the
degree of purity of streams and bodies of water.
In order to characterize the different degrees of
self-purification in such waters, we distinguish three
main zones and designate these by the following terms
(5, 22):
I - Polysaprobiotic Zone;
II - Alpha- and Beta-mesosaprobiotic Zone;
HI - Oligosaprobiotic Zone.
If we assume three adequately large and successive
ponds of which the first (I) collects putrescible sewage,
then the latter will have mesosaprobiotic character
after passage into the second pond (II), i.e., it will be
in an interm ediate stage of mineralization. Upon pass-
age intothethird pond (III), the mineralization process
of such water would be largely or completely termin-
ated, i.e., the water would have an Oligosaprobiotic
character (15).
Zone II is asymmetrical since self-purification here
takes place rather aggressively in one half of the zone
and moderately in the other which explains the sub-
division into alpha- and beta-mesosaprobiotic.
Similarly, we can distinguish in rivers or streams
receiving putrescible substances (products of protein
decomposition and carbohydrates) differing zones as
far as the point at which the initial picture is re-
established.
The designation of strong and/or weak mesosapro-
biotic in our plant ecological system has here been
replaced by alpha- and/or beta-mesosaprobiotic be-
cause the words used can give rise to misunderstand-
ings when taken out of context by assuming strong to
mean pronounced and weak as little.
As indicated by the terms themselves, the above
division into zones presupposes that the action of the
chemical factors predominates over that of the physi-
cal factors unless the latter control the possibility of
existence entirely, e.g. turbulent flow and entrained
sand along banks and/or bottom of streams.
Division into the above zones further presuposses
that putrescible organic substances exercise a con-
siderable influence on the distribution of the organisms.
Proof for the accuracy of this assumption was obtained
by us from numerous investigations in many waters of
a great number of different regions, especially the
North-German Plain. A large part of these observa-
tions has not yet been published; however, many chemo-
analytical data for this and the close parallels between
biological and chemical analysis of water maybe found
already in our communications published in the Re-
ports of the Institute (Royal Institute for Water Supply
and Sewage Disposal). These communications concern
ditches and ponds of the trickle fields at Berlin, arti-
ficial lakes in the Rhineland, the lower course of the
Main River, the Elbe River fromSchandau to Hamburg,
the Saale River from Halle to its confluence with the
Elbe and the Mleczna and Gostine Rivers in Upper
Silesia to the confluence with the Vistula. There are
also detailed investigations of the Elbe River at and
below Hamburg in its relations to the 'outflow from
sewers in the extensive work of Volk.
The work of Lauterborn and Marsson indicates that
the Rhine has also been examined biologically but the
findings of the respective chemical and bacteriological
analyses have not yet been published.
The influence of the water-soluble substances on
plants is generally more direct than on the animals —
no less important for the self-purification of the waters
— because the former nourish themselves by osmosis
and the latter primarily by feeding on the substances.
The character of the mud may therefore be of great
significance for the distribution of the animals.
The dependence on the composition of the water is
especially pronounced for the lower organisms. This
explains the dearth in the poly- and alpha-mesosa-
probiotic zone of species of higher organisms which
have in greater part a less definitely graduated dis-
tribution by zone. They are therefore represented
predominantly and particularly abundantly in the beta-
and Oligosaprobiotic zone but may overlap from here
into adjacent zones through certain representatives.
An organism reacts as much more strongly to the
chemical composition of water as it is more definitely
saprophil — in addition to being saprobiotic — from
the point of view of nutritional physiology which applies
e.g. to Antophysa vegetans, Carchesium Lachmanni,
vorticella microstoma and others. True saprophil or-
ganisms therefore are the principal guide organisms
for the chemical composition of the water. The state-
ment (August Puteer, Nutrition of Aquatic Animals,
Verworn Journal for General Physiology, Vol.7, 1907)
that appreciable amounts of water-soluble organic sub-
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86
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
stances also serve the nutrition of the animals would
appear from the above to be valid in sweet water es-
sentially only for certain lower organisms.
As we have stressed frequently, the main emphasis
in the evaluation of the waters should in general not be
laid on the individual organisms but on the biocenoses
("Bioconosen") whose particularities cannot here be
described in detail. In this respect, we may well apply
here the maxim coined by the systematicians accord-
ing to which one (a single) character is no character.
Only in tests of drinking water is it possible for iso-
lated organisms to play an essential role as is fre-
quently shown in the pertinent literature.
The clearest picture of the state of the water will
obviously be obtained by a planned consideration of the
three typical regions of open water, bank and bottom,
especially if we take adequately into account the inter-
action of the plants and animals in them and the es-
sentially opposite products and requirements of the
latter (cf. 17 on methods and instruments for procur-
ing samples).
For an understanding of the relations between the
aquatic regions and the saprobiotic zones, we should
like to stress here that, for example, a lake deriving
oligosaprobiotic character from its plankton and ben-
thos may well contain mesosaprobiotic mud organisms
and often does contain them. The same lake may also
change its biological picture with the seasons because,
e.g., an abundant growth of hydrophyll plants dies off
and thus brings mesosaprobiotic elements into the
true plankton zone, especially near the banks.
The foundations of the biological evaluation of water
find their basis in the proper appreciation of these
combinations. Nearly always we must be concerned
not only with testing the water but with determining
the entire state of a collector.
In the present communication, we have placed the
main emphasis on the system and restricted discuss-
ion in the text as much as possible. In a more exten-
sive report to be published in the Reports of the Royal
Institute for Water Supply and Sewage Disposal, we
intend to combine the ecological systems of both plants
and animal organisms.
The following brief considerations are intended to
serve as a characterization in biological and chemical
respect of the principal zones referred to initially.
I-The zone of polysaprobia is characterized chem-
ically by a certain degree of wealth of high-molecular,
putrescible and organic substances (protein compon-
ents and carbohydrates) which enter the collectors in
the directly putrescible sewage from cities and agri-
cultural, industrial and other enterprises. A decrease
of oxygen content of the water accompanied by reduc-
tion manifestations, formation of hydrogen sulphide in
the mud and an increase of carbon dioxide often are
the chemical sequels of this.
Organisms generally occur in great numbers but
with a certain monotony; especially Schizomycetes
and (usually bacteriophage) colorless flagellates are
frequent. The bacteria developed in standard nutrient
gelatine may exceed 1 million per ccm water. Organ-
isms with high oxygen requirements obviously are
generally completely absent. Fishes usually avoid re-
maining in this zone for any length of time.
Plant organisms preferring hydrogen sulphide in
this zone may recur in HgS sources in the oligo-
saprobiotic zone.
n - The zone of the mesosaprobia is divided into a
alpha- and/or beta-saprobiotic section. It generally
succeeds the polysaprobiotic zone. In the alpha-section
which adjoins the former, self-purification takes place
still rather agressively as already mentioned but with
the simultaneous occurrence of oxidation manifesta-
tions — in contrast to zone I —which are conditioned
in part by the oxygen production from chlorophyllous
plants.
The protein components contained in the water are
probably already decomposed down to asparagin, leu-
cine, glycocoll, etc., which results in a qualitative
difference from zone I.
In the beta-section, the decomposition products al-
ready approach mineralization. Normal, generally
nitrate-containing effluents from the trickle fields are
most properly included in this zone.
All organisms of the mesosaprobiotic zone usually
are resistant to minor action by sewage and its de-
composition products. Notable is among other factors
the content of the zone of Diatomaceae, Schizophyceae
and many Chlorophyceae and some higher plant organ-
isms. Higher and lower animal organisms are also
found in a great number of individuals and varieties.
HI - The zone of the oligosaprobia is the domain of
(practically) pure water. If it was preceded by a self-
purification process locally or chronologically, it suc-
ceeds the mesosaprobiotic zone and then represents
the termination of mineralization. However, we here
include also lakes inwhich the water does not undergo
a mineralization process properly speaking. The oxy-
gen content of the water may often remain permanently
close to the saturation limit and occasionally even ex-
ceed the latter (as a function of the air dissolved in the
water). The content of organic nitrogen usually does
not exceed 1 mg/lit. The water is generally trans-
parent to a considerable depth, except at times of a-
bundant plant growth. The number of bacteria devel-
oped on standard nutrient gelatine is generally low.
In contrast to the polysaprobiotic zone, it amounts to
only a few hundreds and infrequently thousands of bac-
teria per ccm water.
Both the plant and animal plankton of our clean
country lakes belongs in this zone. We already point-
ed out that the mud of such waters may have a beta-
mesosaprobiotic character.
Further characteristics of the three principal zones
will be found in "Ecology of Plant Saprobia".
Catharobia, i.e., inhabitants of perfectly pure
-------
Ecology of Animal Saprobia
87
water, have here not been listed intentionally because
they have nothing or almost nothing to do with the self-
purification of any of these waters. We might count
inhabitants of pure mountain streams among them (e.g.
Planaria alpina Dana) but the aeration and coolness of
the water plays a greater role for them on the basis of
our present experience than the particular pure quality
of the water.
We are probably justified in already pointing out
here that the greater part of the animal organisms
living in these waters can advance further into con-
taminated zones than we have been inclined to assume
so far, provided they find the required amount of
oxygen.
Ecological System of Animal Saprobia
Within the three principal ecological groups, the
organisms listed here and which number more than
500, are arranged in accordance with the natural sys-
tem, except for the fishes. As for the plant saprobia,
we have here also based ourselves in the classifica-
tion of the various animals on our own observations in
the open as far as possible. We endeavored to find the
centers of optimum growth and development of the or-
ganisms especially at locations with graduatedself-
purification and determined the position in the ecolog-
ical system on the basis of these observations.
We do not want to fail to point out here that many
pertinent data in literature are incomplete. This is
due to the fact that until the present time too few dif-
ferent locations had been investigated and that there
usually did not exist any chemical analysis which is
highly desirable for these purposes. Occasionally an
observer unfamiliar with local conditions has great
difficulty in arriving at an accurate evaluation of the
character of the particular body of water.
Since it was obviously impossible to enumerate all
organisms occurring in water and suitable for the
present purposes, we have selected those—by avoid-
ing any overloading with names of the system here as
also in the case of the plants — which are of definite
interest for the evaluation of the state and the self-
purification of water on the basis of the present in-
vestigations. We need not specifically point out that
further investigations may result in future additions
to the listing.
In spite of this, the present system already forms
a relatively complete whole because we have listed
sufficient organisms for each zone so that they already
afford a thorough characterization.
In looking over the system, it will be noted that the
names of Linne and Ehrenberg occur frequently which
is a sign that we have utilized for evaluation as far
as possible the more frequent and generally known
organisms.
We have endeavored to furnish the most complete
enumeration of poly- and alpha-mesosaprobiotic or-
ganisms because these are the most important (as in-
habitants of the locations of intensive self-purification)
for the evaluation of the water.
In order to prevent any too severe evaluations of
the degree of purity of the water, we have restrict-
ed — while trying to maintain completeness as far as
possible — the groups of the organisms just named
as far as possible and have instead pointed out any
possible overlapping of the purer zones into the pre-
ceding zones.
The colorless flagellates have been taken into ac-
count fully in accordance with their frequency and ex-
tensive distribution. They are particularly character-
istic for the poly- and alpha-mesosaprobiotic zones.
The Chrysomonodales, Cryptomonodales, Euglen-
ales, Peridiniales and (partly) Protococcales, all part
of the flagellates, have already been treated in the
plant ecology, not because we meant to stress their
belonging to the vegetable kingdom but because all
oxygen-producing (aerating) organisms should be
grouped in one system as far as possible.
The Ciliata have the greatest significance in the
evaluation of the degree of contamination of many water
courses and especially their contaminating affluents
which daily observation has confirmed for us over
many years. They have therefore been taken into ac-
count particularly, the more so since they can be
determined more easily than the small flagellates.
Spongiae are in general not very suitable for evaluation
of water on the basis of our present investigations al-
though they may be often considerably advanced in
their development through nutrient affluents.
Among the Vermes, thelimicolustubificids are of
considerable importance for the evaluation of the poly-
and alpha-mesosaprobiotic zone whereas others belong
more to the zone of pure water. The nematodes, oc-
cupying the intermediary position in comparison with
them, are important for microscopic analysis. The
greater part of the species is of lesser importance for
water evaluation on the basis of the present investiga-
tions but may play an important role in the consump-
tion and loosening up of mud.
We gathered extensive data on the Rotatoria so that
we were able to utilize them sufficiently thoroughly
especially in the evaluation of streams in addition to
other animal and plant groups.
Although the Bryozoa are widely distributed, they
have so far been investigated very little in respect to
their suitability for water evaluation.
The greater part of the molluscs have been class-
ified in the group of oligosaprobiotic organisms. This
indicates that — similar to the higher aquatic plants —
most of them are not used very much for the differen-
tiation of the different zones of importance in the
characterization of self-purification. However, they
are of the greatest importance for the evaluation of
the state of water merely by their role as indicators.
They may indicate toxic agents by their sudden decay,
asphyxiation from lack of oxygen through putrefaction,
lack of calcium through their almost complete absence,
etc.
Molluscs
may also play an important role as
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88
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
scavengers of detritus — as do the snails as omnivora
and vegetarians — in keeping streams and other bodies
of water clean.
As far as possible, Crustaceae have been considered
for water investigations by us and utilized in the eco-
logical system. However, they would seem to merit —
especially the Cyclopida — further study in regard to
the interrelation between distribution and water
character.
Arachnoidea need be considered for general bio-
logical analysis only to a minor degree on the basis of
our present investigations. Insect larvae and, in part,
the adult insects—with the exception of the red larvae
of Chironomus and others — play a role in the evalu-
ation of waters only insofar as they do not advance into
contaminated zones. When they occur abundantly, as
is often the case, their activity in feeding and the many
adult insects in their escape from the water have great
importance for keeping the latter clean and may also
be of considerable value as fish feed by reason of their
relative size.
The various species of insect larvae could be taken
into consideration only very little in the present state
of science because determination of type from the
larvae is usually not possible. It becomes necessary
to breed the imagoes which has not yet been done on a
planned basis for the present purpose either by us or
anyone else to judge from the available literature.
At a summary review, most Pisces can be classi-
fied under two groups different by nature: the mud
fishes often living in purposely fertilized ponds, and
the predatory fish. On this basis and in consideration
of other particularities of habitat, we have placed part
of the fishes inthebeta-mesosaprobiotic and the others
in the oligosaprobiotic zone. Many fishes, in partic-
ular those with greater vital tenacity, also enter the
alpha-mesosaprobiotic zone in feeding and come close
to the polysaprobiotic zone but seem to prefer the
purer zones wherever possible. This would seem to
be valid also for their spawn.
Among the Aves, the gulls (especially Larus ridi-
bundus L), crows (especially Corvus cornix L) and
ducks (usually Anas boschas L) are noteworthy as
scavengers of lumps of sewage and proliferating
sewage fungi.
I. Polysaprobia
Rhizopoda
Hyalodiscus Umax (Duj.) )both often together with
" guttula (Duj.KPolytoma and Spirillae;
(when isolated, also
mesosaprobiotic.
Flagellata
Cercobodo longicauda (Duj.) Senn.
--Cercomonas longicauda Duj.
-Dimorpha longicauda (Dul.) Klebs.
=Dimastigamoeba longicauda Klebs.,
overlaps into alpha-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Oicomonas mutabilis Kent.
Bodo putrinus (Stokes) Lemm.
Trepomonas rotans Klebs. l tends also to be alpha-
Hexamitus inflatus Duj. / mesosaprobiotic.
" crassus Klebs.
" pusillus Klebs. ) overlaps into alpha-
" fissus Klebs. Vmesosaprobiotic zone.
fusiformis Klebs]
Ciliata
Paramaecium putrinum Cl. & L.
Vorticella microstoma'Ehrbg.
" putrina O.F. Muller
Vermes
m I.-* x i_-r //-. -r. »/r-n \ when predominant
Tubifex tubifex (O.F. Muller), an/abundant-
Diptera
Eristalis tenax L., larvae, often in highly contam-
inated trickle-filled ditches and strongly
hydrogen - sulphide - containing storage
areas; also in the mesosaprobiotic zone.
n. Mesosaprobia
1. Alpha-mesosaprobiotic
Rhizopoda
Trinema enchelys (Ehrbg.) Leidy.
Diplophrys archeri Barker.
Pamphagus hyalinus Leidy.
" armatus Lauterb.
Cryptodifflugia oviform is Penard.
Flagellata
Ciliophrys infusionumCienk; frequent inhabitant of
contaminated aquaria.
Cercobodo radiatus (Klebs.) Lemn.
=Dimorpha radiata Klebs.
Cercomonas clavata Perty.
" crassicauda Duj.
Oicomona termo (Ehrbg.) Kent.
Monas vivipara Ehrbg.
" vulgaris(Cienk.) Senn^Monas guttula Ehrbg.
" arhabdomonas (Fisch) H. Meyer.
Anthophysa vegetans (O.F. Mull.) Bdtschli., very
typical for alpha mesosaprobiotic zone;
when colonies die off in pure water, the
stems remain.
Amphimonas globosa, Kent
" fusiformis Mez.
Bodo globosus Stein.
~mutabilis Klebs.
" minimus Klebs.
" caudatus (Duj.) Stein.
" saltans Ehrbg., also in the polysaprobiotic
zone.
" ovatus (Duj.) Stein
Spongomonas intestinum (Cienk.) Kent, also in the
beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Dallingeria drysdali Kent, also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Pleuromonas jaculans Perty.
-------
Ecology of Animal Saprobia
89
Phyllomitus amylophagus Klebs.
Rhynchomonas nasuta (Stokes) Klebs.
Tetramitus descissus Perty
" salcatus Klebs.
" pyriformis Klebs.
" rostratus Perty.
Urophagus rostratus (St.) Klebs.
Trigonomonas compressa Klebs.
Trepomonas agilis Duj., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
steini Klebs.
Menoidium pellucidum Perty.
Astasiopsis distorta (Duj.)
Astasia margaritifera Schmarda - Astasiodes.
Euglenopsis vorax Klebs.
Peranema trichophorum (Ehrbg.) St.
Heteronema tremulum Zach.
" (= Zygoselmis) acus (Ehrbg.) St.
Scytomonas pusilla Stein.
Chilomonas paramaecium Ehrbg., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Spirochaete plicatilis Ehrbg.
Ciliata
Urotricha farcta (Ehrbg.) Cl. & L.
Amphileptus claparedi Stein, possibly also poly-
saprobiotic.
" carchesii Stein.
Lionotus varsaviensis Wrz.
Loxophyllum meleagris (O.F. Mull.) Duj., also in
the beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Cyclogramma rubens Perty
(iNassula Clap. & L. & A.)
Chilodon uncinatus Ehrbg., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Trochilia palustris Stein, also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Leucophrydium putrinum Roux.
Glaucoma scintillans Ehrbg.,
also in the beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Colpidium colpoda Stein.
Colpoda cucullus Ehrbg. -> also in the beta-
" parvifrons Cl. & L. I mesosaprobiotic
" steini Maupas ) zone.
Loxocephalus granulosus Kent.
Paramaecium caudatum Ehrbg.
Cyclidium glaucoma Ehrbg.
Spirostomum ambiguum Ehrbg., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Stentor coeruleus Ehrbg.
" roeseli Ehrbg., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Gyrocoris oxyura Stein
= Caenomorpha medusula Perty. was also found
abundantly in stagnant hydrogen sulphide-
containing river water in which oxygen
could not be demonstrated with the Winkler
method.
Urostyla weissei St. - U. multipes (Cl. & L.,).,
possibly also polysaprobiotic.
Gastrostyla mystacea (St.)
Oxytricha fallax Stein.
" pellionella Ehrbg.
Stylonychia mytilus Ehrbg., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Gerda glans Lachm.
Vorticella convallaria Ehrbg.
Carchesium lachmanni Kent.
Epistylis coarctata, Cl. & L.
plicatilis Ehrbg., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Suctoria
Podophrya carchesii Cl. & Lachm.
" fixa Ehrbg., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Vermes
Enchytraeus humicultor Vejd.
Pachydrilus pagenstecheri (Ratz.) Vejd.
Lumbriculus variegatus (Mull.) also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Limnodrilus udekemianus Clap.
" hoffmeisteri Clap.
Tubifex tubifex (Mull.), overlaps into the poly-
saprobiotic zone
(cf. the latter) and beta-mesoprobiotic zone.
Lumbricillus lineatus (Mull.), advances from the
sea to contaminated brackish and/or sweet
water.
Psammoryctes barbatus Vejd.
Dero limosa Leidy.
Aeolosoma quaternarium Ehrbg.
Lumbricus rubellus Hoffm.
Monohystera macrura D£ Man, also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Tripyla setif era Butschli
Trilobus gracilis Bast.
Plectus tenuis Bast.
Diplogaster rivalis (Leyd.).
Rotatoria
Rotifer vulgaris Schrank, also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
" actinurus Ehrbg., occasionally polysapro-
biotic; occurs in water enriched with hy-
drogen sulphide and poor in oxygen as
demonstrated by the Winkler method.
Callidina elegans Ehrbg., and other varieties.
Triarthra longiseta Ehrbg., often abundant in con-
taminated village ponds and collectors
which receive sewer outflow.
cf. var limnetica.
Hydatina senta Ehrbg., occurs isolated also in the
weak mesosaprobiotic zone.
also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Diglena biraphis Gosse ")
" gaudata Ehrbg.J
Diplax compressa Gosse.
" trigona Gosse.
Diplois daviesae Gosse.
Colurus bicuspidatus Ehrbg; isolated, also in the
beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Brachionus angularis Gosse, also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
" militaris Ehrbg., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Mollusca
Sphaerium (=Cyclas) corneum L., occurs abundant-
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90
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
ly in the Spree River downstream from the
Berlin emergency outlets; very resistant
to organic sewage; also in beta-meso-
saprobiotic mud.
Crustacea
Asellus aquaticus (L.) Ol. , when in large amounts
and well developed; often between putre-
fying Spherotilus on which it may feed.
Neuroptera
Sialis lutaria L., larvae, very resistant, often in
very much dirt; also in mud of Lake
Lucerne and elsewhere.
Hemiptera
Velia currens Febr. Very resistant against con-
tamination.
Diptera
Chironomus plumosus L., larvae, abundant occur-
ence very typical for this region; also in
the poly- and beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
This species with its red larvae is a col-
lective species.
" motitator (L.), also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Tanypus monilis (L.), also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Caenia fumosa Stenh.. larvae, imago along the
edges of purine ditches.
Ptychoptera contaminata L., larvae; oftenassociaied
with Beggiatoa and Euglena virdis.
Psychoda phalaenoides (L.), larvae
" sexpunctata Curtis.
" =Ps. phalaenoides Meigen, larvae.
Stratiomys chamaeleon L., larvae.
2. Beta-mesosaprobiotic
Rhizopoda
Amoeba brachiata Duj.
" verrucosa Ehrbg.
" radiosa Ehrbg. =Dactylosphaerium.
Pelomyxa palustris Greff, also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
Cochliopodium bilimbosum Leidy.
" pellucidum (Arch.) Hertw. & Less.,
also alpha-mesosaprobiotic.
Arcella vulgaris Ehrbg., also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
Centrophyxls aculeata (Ehrbg.) St.
Euglypha alveolata Duj.
Platoum stercoreum (Cienk.)
Pamphagus mutabilis Bailey.
Heliozoa
Actinophrys sol Ehrbg., also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
Actinosphaerium eichhorni (Ehrbg.) also alpha-
Spaerastrum fockei (Arch.).
Clathrulina elegans Cienk.,
Flagellata
mesosaprobiotic.
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
Mastigamoeba aspera F.E. Sch.
" invertens Klebs.
" Umax Moroff.
" polyvacuolata Moroff.
Eucomonas socialis Moroff.
Spaeroeca volvox Lauterborn.
Bodo celer Klebs.
" rostratus (Kent) Klebs.
" uncinatus (Kent) Klebs.
" repens Klebs.
Pleuromopas jaculans Perty.
Menoidium falcatum Zach.
Phialonema cyclostomum St.=Urceolus cyclostomus
Anisonema acinus Duj. (St.) Mereschk.
Entosiphon sulcatum (Duj.) St.
Chilomonas paramaecium Ehrbg.; also alpha-
mesosaprobiotic.
Ciliata
Urotricha lagenula (Ehrbg.).
Enchelys pupa Ehrbg.
" silesiaca Mez.
Prorodon farctus (Cl. & L.).
" platyodpn Blochm.
Lagynus elegans (Engelm.) tends to be also oligo-
saprobiotic.
Coleps hirtus Ehrbg., also alpha-mesosaprobiotic.
Didinium nasutum Stein.
Disematostoma buetschlii Lauterb.
Loxophyllum armatum Cl. & L.
" ( — Lionotus) fasciola Cl. & L.; also
alpha-mesosaprobiotic.
lamella Cl. & L.
Trachelophyllum lamella (L. F. M.).
" pus ilium Clap.
Trachelius ovuum Ehrbg.
Loxodes rostrum Ehrbg.
Nassula elegans Ehrbg.
" ornata Ehrbg.
Chilodon cucullulus Ehrbg., also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
Opisthodon niemeccensis Stein.
Dysteropsis minuta Roux.
Frontonia acuminata (Ehrbg.) Cl. & L.
Chasmatostoma-reniforme Engelm.
Uronema griseolum (Mps.).
" marinum Duj.
Cinetochilum margaritaceum Perty.
Paramaecium bursaria (Ehrbg.) Focke.
" aurelia (O.F. Mull.) also alpha-
mesosaprobiotic.
Urocentrum turbo Ehrbg.
Lembadion bullinum (O.F. Mull.) Perty.
Pleuronema chrysalis (Ehrbg.) Stein.
Balantiophorus minutus Schew., tends to be also
' oligosaprobiotic.
Blepharisma lateritium (Ehrbg.) Stein.
Metopus sigmoides (O.F.M.) Cl. & L., also alpha-
mesosaprobiotic.
-------
Ecology of Animal Saprobia
91
" contortus Levander.
" pyriformis Levander.
Plagiopyla nasuta Stein.
Spirostomum teres Cl. & L.
Condylostoma vorticella Ehrbg.,
Bursaria truncatella O.F. Mull.
Tylacidium truncatum Schew.
Climacostomum virens Stein.
Stentor polymorphus Ehrbg.,
" igneus Ehrbg.
" niger Ehrbg.
Halteria grandinella (O. F. Mull.)
Tintinnidium fluviatile (St.);
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
also alpha-
mesosaprobiotic.
Uroleptus musculus Ehrbg.
n piscis (Ehrbg.)
Stylonychia mytilus Ehrbg.
Euplotes patella Ehrbg.
" charon Ehrbg.
Aspidisca costata Stein
" lynceus Ehrbg.
Astylozoon fallax Engelm.
Vorticella campanula Ehrbg.
patellina Ehrbg.
" citrina Ehrbg.
Carchesium epistylis Cl.
Zoothamnium arbuscula Ehrbg.
Epistylis umbellaria Lachm. and other species.
Cothurnia crystallina Ehrbg.
Suctoria
Sphaerophrya pusilla Cl. & L. and other species
which are in part not yet accurately de-
termined.
Podophrya quadripartita Cl.. & L,
Acineta grandis Kent.
Spongiae
Ephydatia muelleri (Lieberkuhnh also overlap into
" fluviatilis (L.) f adjacent zones;
Euspongilla lacustris (L.) /very little suitable
Spongilla fragilis Leidy \ for water
evaluation as far
Hydroidea as is known now.
Hydrae on Lemnae occasionally also in this region;
cf. oligosaprobiotic zone.
Vermes
Rhynchelmis limosellaHoffm.; isolated; also alpha-
mesosaprobiotic.
Eiseniella tetraedra (Sav.). amphibian
Criodrilus lacuum Hoffm.
Nephelis vulgaris Moq.-Tand, overlaps
Clepsine bioculata (Bergm.) ) tends to be also
" sexoculata (Bergm.) / oligosaprobiotic.
Nais elinguis Mull., also alpha-mesosaprobiotic.
Stylaria lacustris (L.)
Haemopis sanguisuga (Bergm.) =Aulostomum gulo
Moq.-Tand.
Polycelis nigra (Mull.) Ehrbg.
Dendrocoelum lacteum Oerst.
Cercariae with forked rudder tail (in plankton).
Rotatoria and Gastrotricha
Floscularia atrochoides Wierz.
Atrochus tentaculatus Wierz.
Melicerta ringens Schrank.
Conochilus unicornis Rousselet.
Philodina roseola Ehrbg.,
" erythrophthalma Ehrbg.
" megalotrocha Ehrbg.
Rotifer tardus Ehrbg.
" bulgaris Schrank, vgl.
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
" macrurus Ehrbg.
Asplanchna priodonta Gosse,
Synchaeta tremula Ehrbg.,
" pectinata Ehrbg.
Polyarthra platyptera Ehrbg.
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
Triarthra longiseta var limnetica (Zach)
=Tr. thranites Skor.
" mystacina Ehrbg.
Taphrocampa selenura Gosse.
Proales tigridia Gosse.
Furcularia gracilis Ehrbg., also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
" forficula Ehrbg.
gibba Ehrbg.
" reinhardti Ehrbg., occasionally associ-
ated with Stentor coeruleus.
Diglena catellina Ehrbg.,
" forcipata Ehrbg.,
Dinocharis pocillum Ehrbg.,
tetractis Ehrbg.,
Scaridium longicaudum Ehrbg.
Stephanops unisetatus Collins.
Diaschiza semiaperta Gosse,
" tenuior Gosse.
Salpina macracantha Gosse.
" mucronata Ehrbg.,
Euchlanis triquetra Ehrbg.
Cathypna luna Ehrbg.
Monostyla lunaris Ehrbg.
iLepadella ovalis Ehrbg.
Pterodina patina Ehrbg.,
Pompholyx sulcata Hudson.
Noteus quadricornis Ehrbg.
Brachionus militaris Ehrbg.,
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
n
tends to be also
oligosaprobiotic.
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
also alpha meso-
saprobiotic.
pala Ehrbg.=B. pala-amphiceros Plate
urceolaris Ehrbg.
rubens Ehrbg.
bakeri Ehrbg.
angularis Gosse,
Anuraea aculeata Ehrbg. \
" cochlearis Gosse /
Notholca striata Ehrbg.
" acuminata Ehrbg.
" labis Gosse.
also alpha meso-
saprobiotic.
tends also to be
oligosaprobiotic.
-------
92
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
Lepidoderma rhomboides Stokes
Dasydytes longisetosunTMetschnikoff
" zelinkai Lauterborn.
" saltitans Stokes
Bryozoa
Plumatella repens (L.).
" (Alcyonella) fungosa (Pall.).
Mollusca
Limnaea (=Gulnaria) auricularia L., characterized
by resistance to some chemical sewage.
" auricularia f. ampla Hartm.
" ovata Drap.
Valvata piscinalis Mull.
Vivipara contecta Millet = V. vera v. Frauenfeld,
occurs abundantly also in foul-smelling mud.
" fasciata Mull.
Bythinia tentaculata (L.) Gray, also downstream
from sewer outlets.
Lithoglyphus naticoides Ferussac in the Rhine
River frequently associated with L. auric-
ularia.
Neritina f luviatilis (L.). the egg capsules were fre-
quently found on the shells of live paludines
downstream from sewer outlets.
Unio tumidus Phil.
Sphaerium (=Cyclas) rivicolum Leach
1T moenanum Kobelt
Calyculina lacustris Mull.
Crustacea
Asellus aquaticus (L.) 01.,
tends to
be also
oligosa-
probiotic
also alpha-meso-
saprobiotic.
Gammarus f luviatilis Ros., also downstream from
sewer outlets and also feeds on Sphero-
tilus.
Cyclops strenuus S. Fischer,
also alpha-mesosaprobiotic
Cyclops leuckarti Glaus. with their
Cyclops brevicornis Glaus, development
also alpha-mesosaprobiotic stages
Cyclops fimbriatus Fischer
Cyclops phaleratus Koch.
Diaptomus castor Jurine.
Canthocamptus staphylinus(Jur.), also in drinking-
water sand-filters.
Cypridopsis vidua (O.F. Mull.).
Cypria ophthalmica Jurine.
Candona Candida (Mull.) and other species
Daphnia pulex Degeer.also alpha-mesosaprobiotic.
" magna Strauss, "
" schaefferi Baird, "
" longispina O.F. Mull.
Moina rectirostris (F. Leydig).
Chydorus sphaericus (O.F. Mull.).
Pleuroxus excisus Schodler.
Hydrachnidae
Limnesia maculata (Muller) Bruzelius.
Arrhenurus bicuspidator Berl., also with P.eranema
and Euglena viridis.
Tardigrada
Macrobiotus macronyx Duj.
Neuroptera
Anabolia laevis Zett., larvae.
Molanna angustata Curtis, larvae.
Hydorpsyche angustipennis Curtis and larvae of
some not accurately determined varieties.
Oxyethira costalis Curtis, larvae.
Diptera
Culex annulatus Fabr., and other species; larvae
non-demanding.
Chironomus-larvae of a light yellow but not red
color.
Ceratopogon-larvae of not accurately determined
varieties.
Simulium ornatum Meig.
" reptans L.
also alpha-
mesosaprobiotic.
Pisces (the most resistant representatives appear
first)
Cobitis fossilis (L.).
Carassius carassius (L.).
Tinea tinea (L.).
Cyprinus carpio L.
Anguilla vulgaris Flem., with the exception of the
youth stages.
Rhodeus amarus Bl.
Gasterosteus aculeatus L.
Leucaspius delineatus v. Sieb.
Alburnus lucidus Heck.
Amphibia
Rana esculenta L.
" fusca Rosel
spawn and tadpoles in
part not very sensitive
ffl. Oligosaprobia
Rhizopoda
Amoeba proteus Leidy = A. princeps Ehrbg.
Difflugia globulosa Duj., also in the beta-
" pyriformis Perty, mesosaprobiotic zone.
" urceolata~Cart.
" acuminata Ehrbg.
" corona Wallich, also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
" hydrostatica Zach.
" limnetica Levander and other species.
Lecquereusia spiralis (Ehrbg.)
Euglypha globosa (Cart.)-Sphenoderia lenta
Schlumbg.
Cyphoderia ampulla (Ehrbg.) Leidy.
Cyphidium aureolum Ehrbg.
Microgromia socialis Hertw. & Less,
also in the beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Heliozoa
-------
Ecology of Animal Saprobia
93
Rhaphidiophrys pallida F.E. Sch.,
also in the beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Acanthocystis turfacea Cart.,
also in the beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Flagellata
Dimorpha alternans Klebs.
Bicoeca lacustris J.-C1.
" oculata Zach.
Diplosiga frequentissima
Zach.
Ciliata
Holophrya ovum Ehrbg., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Rhabdostyla ovum Kent.
Lacrymaria olor Ehrbg.
Trachelius elephantinus Svec.
Dileptus trachelioides Zach.
Ophryoglena atra Lieberk.
Frontonia acurninata (Ehrbg.)^O. acuminata &
atra Ehrbg.
Strombidium adhaerens Schew.
-Str. sulcatum Cl. & L.
" turbo Cl. & L., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Codonella lacustris Ents., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Oxytricha ferruginea Stein.
Stylonychia pustulata Ehrbg., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
" histrio (O.F.Mull.).
Vorticella nebulifera Ehrbg.
Carchesium polypinum Ehrbg., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Ophrydium versatile Ehrbg.
Suctoria
Most representatives of this group are probably
mesosaprobiotic except for Staurophyra e 1 e g an s
Zach.
Hydroidea
lives mainly in
brackish water.
Cf. beta-mesosaprobiotic zone.
Cordylophora lacustris Allm.;
Hydra vulgaris Pall. = H. grisea L.
" oligactis Pall.= fusca L.
" polypus L.
" viridis L.
Vermes
Haplotaxis gordioides (G.L. Hartm.)
=Phreoryctes menkeanus Hoffm.
Chaetogaster diaphanus (Gruith.), also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Gordius aquaticus Duj.
Polycelis cornuta O. Schm.
Planaria gonocephala Dug.
Vortex pictus O. Schm., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Rotatoria and Gastrotricha
Floscularia cornuta Dobie.
Tubicolaria najas Ehrbg.
Asplanchna brightwelli Gosse
Sacculus viridis Gosse, also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Triarthra breviseta Gosse
Rattulus capucinus Wierz. et Zach.=Mastigocerca
hudsoni Lauterb., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Diurella stylata Eyf.
=Rattulus bicornis Western.
Salpina brevispina Ehrbg.
Euchlanis dilatata Ehrbg., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Pompholyx complanata Gosse.
Anuraea hypelasma Gosse.
Notholca foliacea Ehrbg., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
" longispina Kellicott
" scapha Gosse.
Gastroschiza flexilis Jaegersk, also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Ploesoma truncatum Levander, also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Gastropus stylifer Imhof, also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
=Hudsonella pygmaca (Calm.).
Anapus ovalis Bergendal \ also in the beta-
" testudo Lauterb. / mesosaprobiotic zone.
Schizocerca diversicornis Dod., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Pedalion mirum Hudson
Ichthydium podura O.F. Muller
Chaetonotus maximus Ehrbg., occasionally also
beta-mesosaprobiotic; frequent in dry wells;
seems little sensitive to HJ3.
Chaetonotus larus O.F. Muller, occasionally also
beta-m esosaprobiotic.
Cristatella mucedo Cuv.
Fredericella sultana (Blumenb.) Gerv.
Paludicella ehrenbergi van Ben.
Mollusca
Limnaea stagnalis (L.) Lam.
" palustris Mull.\ also in the beta-
" peregra Mull. / mesosaprobiotic zone.
Amphipeplea glutinosa Mull.
Physa fontinalis (L.TDrap. \ also in the beta-
" acuta Drap. mesosaprobiotic zone.
Aplexa hypnorum L. (
Planorbis corneus (L.)Pfeiff'
" marginatus Drap. •
" carinatus Mull, and other kinds.
Ancylus fluviatilis Mull.'l also in the beta-
" lacustris L. ) mesosaprobiotic zone.
Anodonta mutabilis Cless. Some varieties are
very resistant.
Margaritana margaritifera L.
Unio pictorum L0, often resistant.
" batavus Lam.
Pisidium amnicum Mull.
" fossarinum Cless.
-------
14
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
Dreissensia polymorpha Pallas, especially typical
for this zone, larvae planktonic.
Crustacea
Astacus fluxiatilis Fabr.
Gammarus pulex (L.)De Geer.
Niphargus puteanus C.L. Koch.
Cyclops viridis Jur.
" albidus Jur.
" serrulatus Fischer, also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
" bicuspidatus Glaus.
" fuscus Jur.
" oithonoides Sars.
Diaptomus gracilis Sars.
" graciloides Lilljeborg.
" laciniatus Lillj.
Eurytemora velox (Lillj.).
Canthocamptus minutus Glaus. also
Cypris virens Jurine). \ in the beta-meso-
" incongruens (Ramdohr) / saprobiotic zone.
Sida cristallina (O.F. Mull.).
Diaphanosoma brachyurum (Lievin).
" leuchtenbergianum S. Fischer.
Holopedium gibberum Zaddach.
Daphnia hyalina Leydig with subspecies galeata Sars
" (Hyalodaphnia) cucullata G. O. Sars
=kahlbergiensis Schoedler.
Scalopholeberis mucronata (O.F. Mull.).
Simocephalus vetulus (O.F. Mull.) Schoedler.
Ceriodaphnia reticulata (Jur.). also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Bosmina longirostris(O.F. Mull.); P.E.Mull.& var.
cornuta Jur., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
" coregoni Baird.
" " var. gibbera Schoedler.
Acroperus harpae Baird.
Leidigia quadrangularis (Leydig); also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Lynceus (Alona) guttatus (Sars.); also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
" costatus (Sars.); and other species.
Bythotrephes longimanus Leydig.
Leptodora kindti (Focke).
Argyronetidae
Argyroneta aquatic a Cl.
Hydrachnidae
Most representatives belong in this zone.
Atax crassipe.s O.F. Mull. (Bruzelius).
Neumania spinipes Mull.
Curvipes nodatus Mull.
" rufus C.L. Koch.
Hygrobates nigro-maculatus Lebert.
Limnochares holosericea Latreille.
Orthoptera. Larvae.
Libellula depressa L.
Aeschna grandis L.
Calopteryx virgo L.,
and other species.
also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Agrion puella L.
Ephemera vulgata L.
Polymytarcis (Palingenia) virgo Ol.
Prosopistoma foliaceum Fourcroy
Baetis species
Heptagenia (Ecdyurus) fluminum Pict.
Cloe diptera L., also in the beta-meso-
saprobiotic zone.
Perla bicaudata L.
" nubecula Newm.
Taeniopteryx trifasciata Pict.
Nemura variegata Oliv.
Neuroptera
Phryganea striata L., larvae.
" grandis L., "
Sericostoma. larvae of different species;
also beta-mesosaprobiotic.
Brachycentrus subnubilus Curt.; also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Leptocerus annulicornis Steph.
Rhyacophila vulgaris Pict.
Hydroptila sparsa Curt.
Hemiptera
Hydrometra lacustris L. i not very suitable
" rufoscutellata Cuv.[ for
Limnobates stagnorum Guv. ' water evaluation
Nepa cinera L., rather sensitive to lack of oxygen
Ranatra linearis L., also in the beta-
mesosaprobiotic zone.
Aphelocheirus aestivalis Fabr.
Corixa striata L., appears with lack of oxygen under
ice first at the"Wuhnen" (colloquial term,
possibly meaning hole?).
Notonecta glauca L., somewhat less sensitive to
lack of oxygen than Corixa.
Diptera
Corethra plumicornis Fabr., larvae very resistant.
Coleoptera
Dytiscus marginalis L., larvae and beetles; able to
follow prey into mesosaprobiotic zone like
other predators.
Acilius sulcatus L., larvae and beetles.
Colymbetes fuscus L., larvae and beetles.
Agabus bipustulatus L., larvae and beetles.
Gyrinus natator L~ larvae and beetles, not very
suitable for water evaluation.
Hydrophilus piceus L., larvae and beetles.
Pisces (the most sensitive representatives are listed
first).
Gasterosteus pungitius L.
Esox lucius L.
Lota vulgaris Cuv.
Gobio fluviatilis Cuv.
Scardinius ervthropthalmus L.
Blicca bjforkna L.
Lucioperca sandra L.
-------
Ecology of Animal Saprobia
95
Acerina cernua L.
Idus melanotus Heck. & Kn.
Abramis brama L.
Leuciscus rutilus L.
Perca fluviatilis L.
Trutta fario L.
Amphibia
Triton cristatus Laur.
" taeniatus Schneid.
Literature References
Note: The Institute referred to in the text is Kgl.
Prufungsanstalt fur Wasserversorgung und
Abwasserbeseitigung (Royal Institute for
Water Supply and Sewage Disposal).
Note: A number of reports (here given in chrono-
logical order) listed below are not specific-
ally referred to in the text but are intended
merely as a collection of the widely dispersed
pertinent literature.
(1) Lindau, Schiemenz, Marsson, Eisner, Proskauer,
Thiesing; Hydrobiological and Hydrochemical In-
vestigations on the Collector Systems of the Bake,
Nuthe, Panke and Schwarze. VolXXI, 1901,- Sup-
plement.
(2) Marsson and Schiemenz: Damage to Fishing in
the Penne River Through theSugarmill inAnklam.
Vol IX, 1901. No. 1.
(3) Lauterborn, R: Contributions to the Microfauna
and Flora of the Moselle River with Special Con-
sideration of Sewage Organisms. Vol. IX, 1901.
(4) Lauterborn, R: The Sapropelic Fauna.
Vol. XXIV, 1901.
(5) Kolkwitz and Marsson: Principles for Water Eval-
uation from Its Fauna and Flora. 1902, No. 1.
(6) Marsson, M: Fauna and Flora of Contaminated
Water and Their Inter-relation to Biological Anal-
ysis of Water. Vol. X, 1903.
(7) Volk, Rich: Investigation of the Elbe River at
Hamburg. Vols XVHI, XDC, XXIII, 1901-1906.
(8) Schiemenz: ^Organic Sewage Examined in Rela-
tion to Fishing. 1901-1907.
(9) Marsson, M: Flora and Fauna of Some Sewage
Treatment Stations at Berlin and Their Signifi-
cance for the Purification of Municipal Sewage
1904, No. 4.
(10) Marsson, Spitta, Thumm: Expertise on the Per-
missibility of the Discharge of Fecal Matter into
the Main River by the City of Hanau. 1904, No. 5.
(11) Kolkwitz and Thiesing: Chemobiological Investi-
gations on the Use of Trickle Fields for the Puri-
fication of Stow-Dam Water for Human Consump-
tion. 1904, No. 5.
(12) Schiemenz: Evaluation of the Purity of Surface
Water from Macroscopic Animals and Plants.
Vol. XLIX, 1906.
(13) Selk, H: The Algae of the Elbe River and Its Es-
tuary. Vol. XXV, 1907.
(14) Volk, Rich: The Biological Investigation of the
Elbe River by the Hamburg Natural History
Museum. Vol. XV, 1907.
(15) Kolkwitz, R: Biological Self-Purification and Eval-
uation of Waters. No. 2, 1907.
(16) Kolkwitz, R: Biology of Caverns, Sources and
Wells. No. 37, 1907.
(17) Kolkwitz, R: Instruments for Sampling and Ob-
servation in Biological Examinations of Water.
No. 9, 1907.
(18) Kolkwitz and Ehrlich: Chemobiological Investi-
gations of the Elbe and Saale Rivers. No. 9, 1907.
(19) Lemmermann: Flagellatae. Volj HI, 1907.
(20) Marsson, M: Four Reports on the Biological In-
vestigation of the Rhine River Between Mayence
and Coblentz. 1907 and 1908.
(21) Lauterborn, R: Four Reports on the Biological
Investigation of the Rhine River Between Basel
and Mayence. 1907 and 1908.
(22> Kolkwitz and Marsson: Ecology of Plant Saprobia.
Vol. XXVIa, 1908, pp. 505-519.
(23) Kolkwitz, Pritzkow and Schiemenz: Two Exper-
tises on the Sewage and Outflow Conditions of a
Cellulose Plant Near Kattowitz. No. 10, 1908.
-------
96
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
Reproduced With Permission From:
THE PROGRESSIVE FISH-CULTURIST
11(1949): 217-230
VALUE OF THE BOTTOM SAMPLER IN DEMONSTRATING
THE EFFECTS OF POLLUTION ON FISH-FOOD ORGANISMS
AND FISH IN THE SHENANDOAH RIVER
Crosswell Henderson
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Kearneysville, West Virginia
IN THE PAST several years legislation and activity
directed toward the control and abatement of stream
polution have greatly increased. Numerous States have
passed legislationformingwatercommissions, water-
control boards, or other groups or committees to deal
with stream pollution within their borders. SomeStates
have formed interstate agencies to deal with activities
in a particular river basin. The passage of Public
Law 845 greatly increased activities from a national
viewpoint.
All these groups have at sometime or another been
concerned with stream surveys to determine extent or
degree of pollution. Many groups have worked on this
problem and have come up with varied answers. Some
have set arbitrary standards of cleanliness, below
which no body of water would be allowed to degrade.
Others have classified streams into groups (A, B, C,
D, etc.) depending on usage and have set standards of
cleanliness to be maintained in each class. Still others
have set no standards but have treated each pollution
problem separately and have had a board to decide the
degree of pollution that would be allowed. Unfortunate-1
ly, little or no consideration has been given to fish or
wildlife in many of these surveys or classifications.
For many years sportsmen's groups have been fight-
ing for clean streams, and these groups have been in-
strumental in causing the enactment of much of the
constructive pollution legislation. Yet, when pollution
is discussed at various meetings and standards are
set for streams, practically nothing is heard about
what aquatic life (other than bacteria) is in, or should
be maintained in a stream.
For a great many streams there is a wealth of in-
formation as to the coliform bacteria count, the bio-
chemical oxygen demand, total solids, color, odor,
and other factors; but there is very little information
as to what fish or fish-food organisms may be present.
True, most of these pollution surveys have been made
from the standpoint of public health or for municipal or
industrial water supplies—which are, of course, very
important. But why not include in these surveys some
data as to the effects of pollution on normal aquatic life?
Requirements for water to drink or to operate an
industry may be vastly different from the requirements
for the maintenance of fish and aquatic life. Water
from an open sewer would certainly be unfit to drink
but, if not in such excessive quantity as to use all the
oxygen in the receiving stream, may even have a bene-
ficial effect (through fertilizer values) on aquatic life.
Water suitable for industrial use may have small quan-
tities of some toxic substance which would make that
water deadly to aquatic life.
Aquatic life in streams may be depleted generally
in four ways: (1) lack of dissolved oxygen, (2) too high
or too low hydrogen-ion concentration, (3) smothering
effect of silt or other fine material, (4) the presence
of definitely toxic substances. In general, most pollu-
tion surveys would demonstrate the first two of these
conditions. Dissolved oxygen andpH are standard tests
used in pollution surveys, and the requirements of
most aquatic animals are known. The third may show
up in observations or from turbidity determinations.
The fourth condition would become apparent only
through elaborate chemical tests and a knowledge of
the toxicity of numerous substances to the various
aquatic animals.
Simple methods of determining the effects of the
third and fourth factors are based upon use of aSurber
(1937) square-foot bottom sampler (figure l)in gravel
and rubble, and Ekman or Peterson dredges in mud or
silt. Stream bottoms are normally the habitat for
numerous aquatic insect larvae and other aquatic ani-
mals. These forms may include the larvae of May
flies (Ephemerida), stone flies (Plecoptera), dragon-
flies (Anisoptera), damsel flies (Zygoptera), midge
flies and crane flies (Diptera), caddis flies (Trichop-
tera), dobson flies (Neuroptera), and other aquatic
animals such as water beetles (Coleoptera), aquatic
earthworms (Oligochaeta), crayfish and shrimp (Crus-
tacea), and snails and clams (Mollusca). These are
the principal fish-food organisms. Square foot bottom
samples taken in riffles above and below sources of
pollution show immediately the approximate quantity
and the types of fish-food organisms present. Without
sufficient quantities of these animals, fish soon dis-
appear for lack of food, whether they can survive in
the water or not.
Though all of the physical, chemical, and bacteri-
-------
The Effects of Pollution on Fish-Food Organisms and Fish in the Shenandoah River
97
ological determinations normally used in any stream
evaluation are quite important, there is frequently a
definite lack of biological determination to show the
actual impact of pollution on aquatic life in the stream.
This has been forcibly pointed out by Beatty (1947).
Ellis and Westfall (1946) and Hart, Doudoroff, and
Greenbank (1945) established uniform bioassays or
toxicity experiments which could be used to show tox-
icity levels of various chemicals and wastes for
fishes. Though such tests are very useful, there may
be great differences between laboratory toxicity tests
and actual conditions in streams. Other workers, in-
cluding Platner(1946), Wiebe(1928), and Ellis(1940),
used Peterson dredges and bottom samplers of various
kinds to determine the biological impact of pollution.
Figure 1 - Surber square-foot bottom sampler.
Methods for the collection and microscopical ex-
amination of plankton have been known and used for
many years. Many workers, including Lackey (1940),
McGauhey (1942), and Purdy (1930), have applied
these methods to pollution studies, in which certain
types of protozoan plankton and other microscopic or-
ganisms were used as indicators of stream pollution.
In a study of pollution of the Coeur D'Alene River,
Ellis (1940) called attention to the presence of large
numbers of bottom animals, such as caddis-fly larvae
and stone-fly and May-fly nymphs, in riffle areas a-
bove sources of pollution — and their complete absence
below these sources. Surber (1939) used a square-
foot bottom sampler of a new, compact design in
sampling four eastern smallmouth-bass streams to
determine the fish-food organisms present. This work
led to the use of this bottom sampler in pollution stud-
ies in the Shenandoah River.
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATIONS
The Shenandoah River was for a long time the fav-
orite fishing ground of numerous residents of northern
Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.
In fact, this river was so noted as a smallmouth-bass
stream that sportsmen were attracted from all over
the eastern United States to try their luck at catching
the elusive bass. In 1940, a large corporation, the
American Viscose Company, began operations at Front
Royal, Virginia, on the South Fork of the Shenandoah
just above the confluence with the North Fork. Though
a clean stream was promised the sportsmen of this
section, it was only a short time until fishing in the
main Shenandoah had declined considerably. Numer-
ous dead fish were seen in the river during the winter
of 1942-43. Sportsmen became alarmed and called
upon the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the
condition of the river. Bottom samples taken above
and below the Viscose plant showed more than 99 per-
cent decrease in bottom animals 30 miles below the
plant, as compared with the number immediately a-
bove. This fact was reported to the Virginia Commis-
sion of Game and Inland Fisheries in August 1943, but
little could be done because of very weak pollution
laws. Further fish kills were observed in the winters
of 1943-44 and 1944-45, when sport fishing had prac-
tically ceased to exist on the main river. About this
time, Izaak Walton League chapters were formed in
Winchester and Berryville, Virginia, with the clean-
up of the Shenandoah River their main objective. These
and other nearby chapters sponsored an investigation
to determine sources and degree of pollution and its
effects on aquatic life in the river: the facts obtained
in this study were to be used in making the general
public aware of existing conditions. This study was
started in June 1947 and was continued throughout the
summer. This survey was continued through 1948 by
the Fish and Wildlife Service from its Fishery Station
at Leetown, West Virginia. Investigations are still
under way. This paper is not a complete report of
work on the Shenandoah but is undertaken at this time
to show certain correlations of numbers and types of
bottom animals to pollution, and to show the desira-
bility of using the Surber bottom sampler more widely
as a tool in stream pollution surveys.
DESCRIPTION OF RIVER
The Shenandoah River (figure 2) rises in the mount-
ains of northern Virginia, the North Fork in the Alle-
gheny Mountains and the South Fork in the Blue Ridge.
Massanutten Mountain separates the two forks. Each
fork, fed intermittently by mountain streams and lime-
stone springs, flows a distance of some 150 miles
through fertile limestone valleys to Front Royal, Vir-
ginia. From the confluence of theforks atFrontRoyal,
the main Shenandoah flows north about 60 miles along
the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, entering the
Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The
lower 20 miles of the river are in West Virginia.
This river is normally a clear, fast-flowing, fer-
tile stream. Extensive riffle areas and limestone
ledges serve to make ideal food and cover conditions
for fish.
Surber, comparing the Shenandoah River (main
stream) with other smallmouth-bass streams in this
area (1939), found the growth of bass to be very rapid:
the bass reached legal length (10 inches) in 2 to 3
years. Food conditions were reported to be excellent,
as there was an abundance of forage fish and bottom
animals.
Prior to 1940, the whole Shanandoah River system
was considered a mecca for fishermen. Residents of
-------
98
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
t
'V
* t
./ ^
Figure 2 - The Shenandoah River System.
this area claim that as a smallmouth-bass stream it
could not be surpassed. Excellent fishing occurred in
practically all of the river. The principal species
taken were smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, yel-
lowbelly sunfish, channel catfish, carp, suckers, and
crappie.
POLLUTION IN THE SHENANDOAH RIVER SYSTEM
Preliminary surveys disclosed no serious sources
of pollution (from the fishery standpoint) in the North
Fork. Several small towns (Woodstock, Strasburg, and
others) discharged raw sewage into the river, but the
dilution factor was such that there were no detrimental
effects to aquatic life; so the North Fork was not in-
cluded in this survey.
Three streams—South River, Middle River, and
NorthRiver—meet just above Port Republic, Virginia,
to form the South Fork of the Shenandoah. AtWaynes-
boro, South River receives a serious load of pollu-
tion from industries and sewage from the town itself.
Fish kills have been reported to the Virginia Game
Commission several times. At present, the Virginia
Water Control Board is making a study of this part of
the river. Owing to this and to the fact that this por-
tion of the river was not considered important for
sport fishing, it was not included in this investigation.
The remainder of the Shenandoah River system was
included (figure 3).
Preliminary bottom samples showed no apparent
effect on aquatic life from the sewage of the four towns;
so this study was confined primarily to the effect of
industrial wastes from the Merck Chemical Company
and the American Viscose Corporation plants.
It was suspected that the Viscose effluent contained
one or more substances that were deadly to aquatic
animals and that this material persisted in the water
for a considerable distance downstream. From a study
of materials used at the Viscose Corporation plant in
-------
The Effects of Pollution on Fish-Food Organisms and Fish in the Shenandoah River
99
Figure 3 - Study stations and sources of pollution.
Sources of pollution:
A — The Merck Chemical Company, Elkton Vir-
ginia: manufactures streptomycin, vitamin B! and
other chemicals; empties wastes (nature of which is
not definitely known) directly into the South Fork of the
Shenandoah River; has facilities for waste treatment.
B — Domestic sewage from the town of Elkton Vir-
ginia: population, 1, 500; untreated wastes empty di-
rectly into the river.
C — Domestic sewage from the town of Shenandoah
Virginia: population, 1, 000; untreated wastes empty
directly into the South Fork.
D — Virginia Oak Tannery at Luray, Virginia: emp-
ties wastes into Hawksbill Creek and then into South
Fork; has facilities for waste treatment.
E — Domestic sewage from Luray, Virginia: pop-
ulation, 1,100; untreated wastes empty into Hawksbill
Creek and thence into the South Fork.
F — American Viscose Corporation, Front Royal
Virginia: manufactures rayon bytheviscose process'
empties large quantities of chemical wastes directly
into the South Fork, has facilities for treatment
,- rnn^Wage from Front R°yal> Virginia: popula-
tion, 5, 200; untreated wastes empty into Happy Creek
and thence into the South Fork.
WE S 7f
\ V ) fi & l'N I
^> /
5 T
S T
? e fl
I T E
LINE
LI ME
I, 2-, 3, etc. - -STUI ^
A,B,C,etc. - SOURCES OF pou.ur.or.
.SCfltE OF "
-------
100
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
making rayon by the Viscose process (Roetman 1944)
and a review of the literature concerning toxicity of
various substances to aquatic animals (Ellis 1937),
several substances — among them, xanthates, hydro-
gen sulphide, and zinc—were immediately suspected.
Xanthates were largely eliminated because of assur-
ance by Viscose Corporation officials that this mater-
ial could not possibly reach the river and because xan-
thates could not exist in the effluent under acid condi-
tions. (The effluent was highly acid (pH 2.4) at least
at times during the period of major destruction of
aquatic animals in the river.) Hydrogen sulphide,
though present in toxic quantities in the effluent, was
probably eliminated as a result of aeration in the rif-
fle areas of this fast-flowing river. Analysis of the
viscose effluent showed zinc to be present in quantities
above 2, 000 parts per million. In England several
workers with lead and zinc mine pollution had shown
zinc in quantities as low as 0.2 parts per million to be
lethal to some aquatic animals (Newton 1944). Analy-
sis of the water below the Viscose Corporation showed
zinc to be present in quantities considerably above
this value: tests revealed the presence of zinc at the
rate of 0.4 to 11 parts per million, depending on river
flow and other conditions. Zinc was thus indicated as
at least one of the major factors contributing to the
destruction of aquatic life in the river.
Laboratory toxicity experiments were made with
both Viscose effluent and pure zinc sulphate to de-
termine the effects on fish and other aquatic animals.
It was determined that the Viscose effluent (in concen-
trations simulating low water and normal river condi-
tions) was deadly to at least some kinds of aquatic
animals, and that zinc itself (in quantities present in
the river) was toxic to some aquatic animals, such as
bass fry, daphnia, and snails. The results of this
work with zinc led Viscose officials to set up their
own toxicity work with zinc and to put major emphasis
on the elimination of zinc from their effluent.
Since the construction of the Viscose Corporation
plant in 1940, that organization has expended consider-
able amounts of effort and money to work out processes
for treatment of waste (Roetman 1944). Until 1948,
however, the Viscose effluent was treated only a part
of the time, and this treatment was entirely inadequate
insofar as the aquatic life in the river was concerned.
As a result of the publicity received in connection with
this study that showed the river to be virtually devoid
of aquatic life, the Viscose Corporation has made fur-
ther effort to improve the treatment of its effluent and
has done additional work in reducing the zinc content
of that effluent. Reports (April 6, and December 6,
1948) to the Virginia Water Control Board showed
much improvement in treating the effluent. At the
present writing (June 1949) considerable progress
seems to have been made. Complete treatment (order-
ed by the Virginia Water Control Board to be in effect
by March 1949) has been in effect for some time, and
the river appears to be recovering.
SAMPLING STATIONS
Eleven study stations (table 1, figure 3) were es-
tablished at accessible riffle areas above and below
possible sources of pollution. Physical, chemical, and
biological determinations were made at each station
once each month from June to October 1947, and in
June and September 1948. These determinations were
made at low-water or normal river stages.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONDITIONS
Water temperature, hydrogen-ion concentration,
dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide, and methyl-
orange alkalinity (table 2) were determined by stand-
ard methods of water analysis (American Public Health
Association 1946). Other physical and chemical data
were obtained from the West Virginia Water Commis-
sion (table 3).
BIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS
In riffle areas near each station, bottom samples
were taken with a square-foot bottom sampler used in
the manner described by Davis (1938). Square-foot
bottom samples were collected, sieved, and preserved
in formalin. The animals were later picked out, iden-
tified to order, counted, and weighed (wet weight after
draining 45 seconds). (See tables 4 and 5.)
ANALYSIS OF DATA
Physical and chemical conditions in the Shenandoah
River (tables 2 and 3) are such that by accepted stand-
ards (Ellis 1937) the water would be deemed satisfac-
tory to support nearly all forms of aquatic life. In only
averyfew instances, and then only for short distances
below sources of pollution, were dissolved oxygen and
pH values such that a good mixed aquatic fauna could
not be maintained. Dissolved oxygen values as low as
3.9 parts per million occurred at Station 2 (3 miles
below Merck Company) during low water in the sum-
mer of 1947 and averaged 5.9 parts per million for
the summer, but at Station 3 (less than 20 miles down-
stream) dissolved oxygen values averaged 8.4 parts
per million and at no time were less than 6 parts per
million. At no time was a value for dissolved oxygen
at Station 1 (above Merck Company) found below 6
parts per million. This tended to show a definite oxy-
gen demand by Merck Company wastes and indicated
that conditions below would be somewhat hazardous to
certain organisms requiring high oxygen content of
water. Bottom-animal samples (table 4, figure 4) ap-
peared to substantiate this belief. Samples at Station
1 contained an average of 912 bottom animals weighing
6.5 grams, while samples at Station 2 averaged only
108 bottom animals weighing 0.42 gram. Samples at
Station 3 (25 miles below Merck Company) averaged
528 bottom animals weighing 4.13 grams. A major
portion of the bottom animals at Station 2 consisted of
oligochaete worms, leeches, and midgefly larvae (ani-
mals having low oxygen requirements); while at Sta-
tions 1 and 3 there was an abundance of caddis-fly lar-
vae and May-fly nymphs and other types (table 5) which
generally require high oxygen content of the water.
Reports from fishermen also tend to substantiate
this conclusion. Though carp (fish having low oxygen
-------
The Effects of Pollution on Fish-Food Organisms and Fish in the Shenandoah River
101
TABLE 1.—Station numbers, approximate location, miles between stations,
and stream-flow data
~~~ Stream flowV
cubic feet per second
1930-42 average
Station
No.
Location of stations
Miles
from
Station 1
Ave. Mln. Mln. dally
South Forte. Shenandoah
1 1 mile above Merck Co., 4 miles - 974 32 93
south of Elkton, Va.
2 3 miles below Merck Co., 4 -
Elkton, Va.
3 25 miles below Merck Co., 26 -
Newport, Va0
4 1 mile above Hawksblll Creek, 43 70 135
Shenandoah Lodge, Vae
5 5 miles below Hawksbill Creek, 50 -
Beelers Ferry, Va.
6 1 mile above Viscose Co., 86 -
Front Royal, Va,
7 1 mile below Viscose Co., 88 1,713 59 103
Riverton, Va.
SJaenandoah River
8 10 miles below Viscose Co . ,
Morgans Ford
9 30 miles below Viscose Co . ,
Castlemans Ferry
10 40 miles below Viscose Co.,
Meyerstown, W. Va.
11 50 miles below Viscose Co.,
Millville, W. Va.
Vstrean-flow data from Geological Survey Water
97 -
119
129
137 2,453 59
Supply Paper 9$L*
194
requirement) were caught quite often in the vicinity of
Station 2, fewbasswere taken. On the other hand, re-
ports showed bass fishing fair to good near Stations
1 and 3.
The low oxygen conditions existing in the summer
of 1947 have evidently been corrected. Samples taken
in 1948 (table 2) show dissolved oxygen values well a-
bove those expected to support a good mixed aquatic
fauna. Bottom animals (table 4) have also shown a re-
markable recovery in this section of the river and are
now present in numbers and weights similar to what
would be expected in unpolluted sections of this stream.
Certain of the important types such as May-fly nymphs,
however, have not yet appeared (table 5). Caddis-fly
larvae and hellgrammites have become very abundant.
From Station 3 to Station 6, the river shows little
variation in physical and chemical qualities (table 2).
All values are well within the limits that may be ex-
pected to support a good aquatic fauna. Bottom ani-
mals of types expected were abundant in all riffle
areas examined in this section of the river (tables 4
and 5). At the beginning of this study, it was expected
that wastes from the tannery and sewage from Luray
would have some detrimental effect on the river. Field
tests, however, did not substantiate this idea. Chem-
ical and biological conditions appeared as good below
this possible source of pollution as above. Consequent-
ly, Station 4 was eliminated as a study station. Fish
kills in Hawksbill Creek were reported to the Virginia
Game Commission late in 1947, but no detrimental ef-
fects were shown in the Shenandoah, possibly because
of dilution.
-------
free carbon
Water temperature
Station
No.
dioxide, and methyl-orange alkalinity. Shenandoah River
Dissolved oxygen
(°F.) (p. p.m.)
Ave.
Max.
Min.
Ave.
Max. Min.
PH
Ave. Max.
Free carbon Methyl-orange
dioxide alkalinity
tp.-p.m.)
Min.
Ave.
Max.
Min.
IP.P.m.j
Ave.
1938 (May 1 to October 31, 5 samples r
9
1
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1
2
3
5
5
7
8
g
10
71
69
71
72
74
76
79
78
78
_
-
68
68
70
71
75
77
75
72
74
76
77
80
81
85
89
87
88
88
88
June
74
74
78
80
82
85
82
79
81
87
54
56
56
64
64
66
64
62
-
-
sept.
61
62
62
63
68
69
68
66
64
66
9.0
7.5
5.9
8.4
9.8
10.3
7.2
8.5
8.6
8.2
7.7
1948
8.2
7.0
9.1
9.4
10.2
9.2
9.3
7.9
8.6
8.1
1947 (June to
10.3 6.1
8.7 3.9
10.6 6.0
11.3 9.1
12.8 8.1
9.4 4.4
9.4 6.3
9.6 6.0
-
— ••
(June 23 and
Sept. June
9.1 7.4
7.9 6.0
9.2 9.0
10.0 8.8
11.0 9.4
10.2 8.2
9.9 8.8
9.1 6.8
9.2 8.1
9.0 7.3
8.2
0.5
116.5
October, 5 samples)
7.9 8,0
7.7 7.9
7.9 8.0
8.3 8.6
8.6 9.2
5.8 7.4
7.9 8.2
8.0 7.7
7.9
8.1
September 29,
June
8.0 8.1
8.0 8.0
8.4 8.8
8.3 8.5
8.5 8.7
8.0 8.3
8.3 8.7
8.2 8.2
8.3 8.5
8.3 8.5
7.9
7.5
7.7
8.0
8.2
4.4
7.2
8.2
~
* *
2
3
0
0
0
65
0
5
2
0
0
1
94
0
0
6
0
0
0
10
0
2 samples)
Sept.
8.0
7.9
8.0
8.2
8.3
7.7
8.0
8.2
8.1
8.0
0
1
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
June
0
2
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
0
Sept.
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
145
140
130
131
121
108
126
114
125
123
a
H
>
3
z
M
3
h3
g
8
r
S
I
§
w
I
, E. W. (1938 data).
-------
TABLE 3.—Shenandoah River stream-survey data furnished by_ West Virginia Water Commission
Source of sample
Point
Point
ipl
•I
Point
Date of sample (1947)
Laboratory number
Water temperature, °F.
Dissolved oxygen,
p.p.nio
percent saturation
Bio-chemical oxygen
demand, p.p.m.
Hydrogen-ion concentra-
tion (pH)
Alkalinity1*/
8/29 9/5 9/12
9.7 7.65 9.75 8.25 7.35 7.7
119 93 122 104 89 95
0.5 0.7 0.85 0.5 0.75 1.2
8.15 8 8.35 8.28 8.45 8.35
7.25 6.95 7.9
89 85.5 102
0.5 0.6 1.5
8.2 8.2 8.4
methyl orange
pheno Iphthalein
Chlorides, p. p.m.
Hardness, p. p.m.
M.P. No. Conform
organisms X 1000
100
-0
10
141
<0
.5
.5
.11
112
-0.5
10
162
0.026
116
2
14
171
<0.11
117
Neut.
10
149
<1.1
119
5
11
152
0.026
115
2.5
12
156
0.11
121
Neut.
11.5
160
<1.1
120
3
10.5
166
1.5
111
1
11
170
0
.5
.5
.89
7j east of Berxyville, Virginia. Corresponds to Station 9.
9, eaat of Charles Town, Test Virginia. Corresponds to Station 10.
, Test Virginia. CorrespondB to Station 11.
alkalinity indicates acidity.
0>
M
£
n
r-t-
CO
o
s
01
I
*J
o
o
Q.
co
a'
ff
j
ta
-------
104
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
TABLE 4.—Average, maximum, and minimum numbers of bottom
animals ajt each station
Bottom animals
Station
No.
Number per square foot
Ave. Max. Mln.
Grams per square foot
Ave. Max. Mln.
Pounds per acre
Ave.
1956 (August. 10 samples)
£03
10.05
942
6
9
MercK Co.
2
3
5
6
Viscose Co.
7
8
417
4
1943 (August,
7.45
0.08
5 samples)
698
7
1947 (June to October. 5 samples)
912 1,420
108
528
628
590
0
70
32
2
19
187
634
866
781
0
221
92
20
340
78
440
466
325
0
1
5
18
6.50 10.25 2.18
0.42 1.05
4.13 5.01
10.55 13.90
18.56 23.60
0
0.62
0.12
0.05
0.10
0
1.50
0.20
0.10
0.18
2.75
4.76
14.45
0
0.10
0.01
0.10
611
40
390
990
1,752
0
59
11
5
10
1948 (June
1
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
2v
1,362
560
566
714
937
0
85
270
187
362
Jne sample only.
ftro sanples only.
1 469J2/
'8713
675J
9273
1,2003
0
150J
367J
301J
600J
1,2555^
250J
4583
501J
674J
0
203
1723
743
1243
and September, 2 samples)
6.45
4.07
1.97
18.95
17.60
0
0.29
0.32
0.40
0.64
i
7.06J 5.833
7. 943 0.20J
2.39J 1.553
20.78J 17.133
27.433 7.78J
0 0
0.333 0.25J
0.42S 0.23J
0.69J 0.103
0.80J 0.483
KJ - June.
VS - September,
604
383
185
1,776
1,649
0
27
30
37
60
This section from Station 3 to Station 6 (approxi-
mately 60 miles) is known far and wide as an excel-
lent smallmouth-bass stream. Many excellent catches
of bass, as well as sunfish, channel catfish, and other
fishes, are taken during the fishing season.
From Station 7to its mouth(55 miles), the Shenan-
doah presents an entirely different picture. Although
standard physical, chemical, and bacteriological tests
(tables 2 and 3) showed nothing seriously wrong, bot-
tom samples taken in the summer of 1947 (table 4)
showed this section of the river to be virtually devoid
of aquatic life.
It is possible that, while this section (Station 7 to
the mouth) is wholly unfit for fishing, values obtained
from standard stream surveys (table 3) would place it
in a very high category (Class A, West Virginia Water
Commission, 1948). Bottom samples (table 4), how-
ever, have shown the marked depletion of aquatic life
in this stream. At Stations 8, 9, 10, and 11, values
for temperature, dissolved, oxygen, pH, turbidity, and
carbon dioxide (table 2) have consistently remained
within limits that may be expected to support a good
aquatic fauna. At Station 7, values for dissolved oxy-
gen and pH were below recognized limits for a short
time in the summer of 1947 but have since remained
within the desired limits.
Bottom samples (tables 4 and 5) have shown that,
though bottom animals of most desirable types were
abundant at Station 6 (1 mile above Viscose), in no
instances were any bottom animals found at Station 7
(1 mile below Viscose). Samples taken at Stations 8,
9, 10, and 11 showed bottom animals to be extremely
limited in both number and desirable type (figure 4).
-------
••
The Effects of Pollution on Fish-Food Organisms and Fish in the Shenandoah River
105
/ 0t,/r //>/,/•'- SO »>'
•
Figure 4 - Bottom animals in square-foot samples.
In August 1943, examining 5 bottom samples taken at
Station 6 and 10 samples taken at Station 9 (table 4),
Surber found bottom animals at Station 9 reduced 99
percent in average number and 97 percent in weight.
The data from Station 9, as compared with data taken
at the same station in 1936 (before pollution), showed
a reduction of 98 percent in average number and 99
percent in average weight of bottom animals.
Bottom samples taken in the summer of 1947 show-
ed practically the same conditions existing then as in
1943. Samples in 1948 showed a considerable increase
in number and a slight increase in weight. This in-
crease, however, consisted almost entirely of midge-
fly larvae (Chironomus sp.). Other important fish-
food forms, suchas hellgrammites, caddis-fly larvae,
and May-fly nymphs, have not yet appeared in any de-
gree of abundance.
Though observations in 1947 did not disclose the
presence of minnows in the lower river, in 1948 min-
nows were observed to be present at Stations 8 and 9
and fairly abundant at Stations 10 and 11.
Although fishing in this stream is still extremely
limited, reports from fishermen in the summer of
1948 showed that sunfish, channel catfish, and carp
were found in the vicinity of Stations 9 and 10. No re-
ports of bass being caught in this section of stream
were received, but several small bass (4 to 5 inches)
were observed at Station 10.
A fair number of fishermen were observed at Sta-
tion 11 during the summer of 1948. Though most fish-
ermen considered fishing very poor, quite a few catches
of sunfish, channel catfish, and carp—and even a few
bass—were reported.
Though some improvement (both chemical and bio-
logical) has been made in the lower river, number and
types of bottom animals still show a serious state of
depletion. No mollusks and very few of the other ma-
jor fish-food organisms are present (table 5). Until
these bottom-animal conditions improve considerably,
and until further field studies (including bottom sam-
ples) verify such improvement, it cannot be assumed
that this section of the river is free of serious pollution.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Pollution surveys ordinarily contain nomeasure
of fish-food organisms or fish in a stream.
2. Standard physical, chemical, and bacteriolog-
ical methods used in pollution surveys do not necess-
arily present the true picture with respect to fish and
other aquatic animals.
3. The lower Shanandoah River affords an example
-------
TABLE 5.—Average number and kinds ot bottom animals per square foot
Station
No.
9
Aquatic
earthworms
1.7
May-fly
nymphs
46.8
Midgefly Caddis-fly
larvae
16.4
larvae
1937 (June to
37.4
Beetle
larvae
September,
14.8
1947 (June to October,
1
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1
2
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1
27
1
0.5
0.2
0
0
0.6
0
0
3.5
0
0.5
5
0.5
0
1
4
1
0.5
171
0.4
44
175
137
0
3
0
0
0
196
2
22
269
473
0
1
0
0
3
176
56
56
89
83
0
59
30
0.5
16
271
349
192
26
163
0
80
262
185
348
458
7
389
217
156
0
0.8
0
0
0
1948 (June to
766
174
331
162
158
0
1
1
0
8
83
3
5
29
73
0
6
1
0
2
September
87
10
1
26
41
0
2
2
1
1
Hellgrammltes
141 samples J
3.8
5 samples)
1
0.2
2
2
6
0
0.4
0.6
0.5
0
, 2 samples)
3
1.5
2
2.5
7.5
0
0
0
0
1
Snails
6.8
4
21
25
104
129
0
0
0
0
0
11
23
12
186
77
0
0
0
0
0
Misc.
4.8
18
3
5
11
5
0
0.6
0
0
1
24
1
5
38
17
0
0
1
0
0
Total
132.5
912
108
528
628
590
0
70
32
1
19
1,362
560
566
714
937
0
85
270
187
362
a
s
•H
H
O
8
r
r
H
o
z
03
O
H
co
, E. W. (19lj2).
-------
The Effects of Pollution on Fish-Food Organisms and Fish in the Shenandoah River
107
of a large stream that is relatively free of pollution
according to accepted physical, chemical, and bac-
teriological standards, yet contains virtually no fish
or other aquatic animals because of toxic elements
from industrial wastes.
4. The Surber bottom sampler is a tool which may
be used, in the Shenandoah River and in similar
streams, to determine the impact of pollution on fish-
food organisms and consequently on fish. By the simple
method of using this sampler, the source, degree, and
extent of pollution may be determined.
LITERATURE CITED
American Public Health Association
1946. Standard methods of wateranalysis.
American Public Health Association,
New York, 9th ed., 286 pp.
Beatty, R. O.
1947. Pollution, pollution abatement and
the wildlife crop.
Izaak Walton League of America,
Chicago, 111., 36 pp.
Davis, H. S.
1938. Instructions for conducting stream
and lake surveys.
U.S. Bur. Fish., Fish. Circ. 26,
55 pp., illus.
Ellis, M. M.
1937. Detection and measurement of stream
pollution. U.S. Bur. Fish.
Bull. 22, 72 pp., illus.
1940. Pollution of the Coeur D'Alene River
and adjacent waters by mine wastes.
U.S. Fish and Wild. Serv.,
Spec. Sci. Rept. 1, 61 pp.
Westfall, B. A.; and Ellis, M. D.
1946. Determination of water quality.
U.S. Fish and Wild. Serv.,
Res. Rept. 9, 117 pp.
Hart, W.B.; Doudoroff, Peter; and Greenbank, John.
1945. The evaluation of the toxic ity of industrial
wastes, chemicals and other substances
to freshwater fishes. Waste Control Lab.,
Atlantic Refining Co.,
Philadelphia, Pa., 317 pp.
Lackey, J. B.
1940. Limitations of Euglenidae as polluted
water indicators.
Pub. Health Repts. 55 (7): 268-280
McGauhey, P. H.; Eich, H.F.; Jackson, H.W.;
and Henderson, Croswell.
1942. A study of the stream pollution problem in
the Roanoke, Virginia, metropolitan district.
Va. Poly. Inst., Eng. Expt, Sta.,
Series 51.
Newton, Lilly
1944. Pollution of rivers of West Wales
by lead and zinc mine effluent.
Annals, Applied Biology 31: 1-11.
Platner, W.S.
1946. Water quality studies of the Mississippi
River. U.S. Fish and Wild. Serv.
Spec. Sci. Rept. 30, 77 pp.
Purdy, W.C.
1930. A study of the pollution and natural purifi-
cation of the Illinois River. Pt. 2, The
plankton and related organisms.
Pub. Health Bull. 198.
Roetman, E. T.
1944. Viscose-rayon manufacturing wastes
and their treatment.
Water Works and Sewerage,
July and August 1944.
Surber, E. W.
1937. Rainbow trout and bottom fauna
production in one mile of stream.
Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 66 (1936): 193-202.
1939. A comparison of-four eastern smallmouth
bass streams. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 68
(1938): 322-335.
1942. A quantitative study of the food of the
smallmouth black bass (Micropterus
dolomieu) in three eastern streams.
Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 70 (1940): 311-334.
Wiebe, A.H.
1928. Biological survey of the upper Mississippi
River with special reference to pollution.
Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish. 43 (1927)
pt. 2: 137-167. (Doc. 1028).
West Virginia Water Commission.
1948. Potomac basin zoning report, July 1,1948.
West Virginia Water Commission,
Charleston, W. Va., 40 pp.
-------
108
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
Reproduced With Permission From:
SEWAGE AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES
25(1953): 210-217
AQUATIC ORGANISMS AS AN AID IN SOLVING
WASTE DISPOSAL PROBLEMS*
By Ruth Patrick
Curator, Dept. of Limnology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia,
Philadelphia, Pa.
This paper discusses the various ways in which
aquatic organisms may be of use in solving problems
associated with waste disposal. Since many state and
federal laws set forth that nothing may be discharged
that is deleterious to aquatic life, the most expedient
way to determine the effect of an effluent is to study
the aquatic organisms themselves.
In every river that has not been adversely affected
by pollution there is a great variety of aquatic life.
These organisms do not represent a great mass of
living things, but rather they are organized into an
intricately balanced system, often referred to as a
food chain of biodynamic cycles.
Bases of Food Chain
At the base of the food chain are the bacteria. These
organisms use the complex wastes entering a river as
a source of energy in their metabolism. In so doing
theybreakdown the wastes into substances that can be
used as a source of food by other organisms. These
processes, which are often referred to as decay or
decomposition, occur most rapidly when the bacterial
population is of optimum size. When the bacteria be-
come too numerous the processes are slowed down.
The protozoa and other small invertebrates which feed
on bacteria are instrumental in keeping the bacterial
populations in check.
The algae are also at the base of the food chain.
They are able to utilize inorganic substances to make
proteins and carbohydrates, which are used as a source
of food by other organisms. Indeed algae have often
been referred to as the grasses of the sea. Upon them
not only the many different invertebrates, but also
some fish and other vertebrates, feed directly. Be-
sides their value as a source of food they also replen-
ish the oxygen supply of a river by a process known
as photosynthesis. This is the method by which carbo-
hydrates are synthesized and oxygen is given off as a
by-product. Indeed, in many rivers this is the prin-
cipal way in which oxygen is restored after it has
been depleted.
The algae and the bacteria are the most important
organisms in bringing about the "rejuvenation" or
"cleansing" of a river. The roll of the fungi is also
significant in this respect, but as yet not as well un-
derstood.
Many Food Chains Involved
As previously stated, many invertebrates, such as
the worms, the snails, and the insects, feed directly
on the bacteria, the fungi, and the algae. They in turn
are a source of food for the carnivorous species; thus,
a closely integrated food chain is formed.
This food chain does not consist, however, of a
single series of links, but rather of a series of chains
that are sometimes interlinked. Thus, pollution may
break one series of links, yet not completely destroy
the chain. It is only when pollution is extreme that the
chain is completely broken and the higher forms of life
are completely eliminated. Thus, when one is con-
cerned with the problems of waste disposal and river
conservation, he must concern himself with the whole
pattern of life in the river rather than just one group;
for example, the fish.
Pollution Effects
There are commonly five ways in which wastes may
harm the aquatic life of a river, as follows:
1. They may produce oxygen deficiency. This may
be due to the bacteria, which attack the wastes and use
oxygen in their metabolic processes. The wastes also
may not be completely oxidized when they are dis-
charged and thus take up oxygen from the water in
completing the oxidation necessary to stabilize them.
2. They may be toxic to aquatic life. This may be
due to the nature of the chemicals themselves. How-
ever, it may be due to the pH which they create in the
river. Wastes also may be toxic due to the osmotic
pressure which they develop in river water, thus
bringing about conditions unfavorable for aquatic life.
3. Temperature changes produced by wastes may
be harmful in two ways. The amount of change which
they produce maybe deleterious. It is a well known
fact that a sudden change in temperature of more than
two degrees is harmful to the sunfish. Also, a waste,
by raising or lowering the temperature of a river only
two degrees, may cause the temperature of the water
to be in a critical range deleterious to the functioning
of certain physiological processes necessary for life.
4. The physical properties of the wastes may be
harmful. They may carry suspended solids that are
abrasive and thus injure mechanically the membrane
of the gills of fish. In other cases, such as oil, they
may coat the gill structures and thus make the ab-
sorption of oxygen from the water impossible.
5. Wastes may render the habitats of aquatic or-
ganisms untenable. For instance, suspended solids
may settle out and clog up the natural habitats of aqua-
tic organisms. Eggs may become buried. In other
*Presented at 25th Annual Meeting, Federation of Sewage and Industrial Wastes Assns.; NewYork, N. Y. ; Oct. 6-9,1952
-------
Aquatic Organisms as an Aid in Solving Waste Disposal Problems
109
cases the added pressure created by settleable solids
may cause the egg cases to burst. Some wastes pro-
duce turbidity, thus hindering light penetration. Thus,
the photosynthetic zone of a river will be greatly re-
stricted and the algal production limited.
Besides bringing about death of organisms, waste
may lower their resistance to the normal factors in
the environment so that eventually the population dies
out. To date these effects of wastes have been studied
very little.
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
has used two approaches to study the effect of pollu-
tion on a river - laboratory tests and river surveys.
Laboratory Tests
For determining the oxygen consumption of a waste,
a combination of tests are used: immediate oxygen
demand, biochemical oxygen demand, and complete
oxygen demand. These tests are well described in
the literature.
The methods for determining the toxic effects of
wastes on aquatic life have, to a great extent, been
developed in the Academy laboratory. A considerable
part of this work was done with the aid of a grant from
the American Petroleum Institute.
Realizing the importance of the bio-dynamic cycle,
the effect of a given waste is determined by using or-
ganisms representing three stages in the cycle. These
organisms are as follows:
1. An alga that is important as a producer of oxy-
gen, and as an organism that can convert inorganic
substances into a direct source of food for many aqua-
tic animals.
2. An invertebrate that serves as a direct food for
fish. As representatives of this group, insects and
snails have been used.
3. Fish, because of their recreational and econom-
ic importance.
The fish tests are conducted according to the method-
ology set forth by the Federation's Subcommittee on
Toxicity (1).
Insect and Snail Tests
The insect and snail tests have been patterned after
the fish tests. As with the fish, care is taken to as-
sure that the organisms are thoroughly acclimated to
laboratory conditions. This is determined by a very
low death rate and by the fact that growth is taking
place in the acclimatization tank over a period of time.
This takes several weeks, and sometimes months, to
ascertain. The invertebrate tests are conducted under
constant temperature and dissolved oxygen conditions.
A constant volume of fluid to organism is maintained.
The organisms are not fed during the test. As in fish,
death is a difficult condition to establish. It is defined
as lack of response to tactile stimulus and failure to
recover. This is accompanied by various changes in
the appearance of the organisms. In insects the same
procedures as those used with fish are followed. In
the case of snails, after they fail to respond to tactile
stimuli, they are placed in uncontaminated water in
which they have been reared. If they do not recover
in 48 hr., they are determined to be dead.
Algae Tests
Thealgaetest, although similar fundamentally are
quite different from the fish or insect tests. For these
tests the diatom Nitzschia linearis was chosen. This
diatom is commonly found in eutrophic streams and
rivers which have not been adversely affected by pollu-
tion in the eastern and midwestern sections of the
United States. The tests are conducted in Erlenmeyer
flasks. The light source is artificial, being a combi-
nation of neon and "daylight" fluorescent lights. The
tests are usually conducted at 18° to 20° C., depend-
ing on the temperature of the water into which the
waste being tested will be discharged. The dilution
water, as in the case of the fish, is a natural water
or a synthetic water, which has been selected because
it matches in chemical composition the water of the
river into which the waste will be discharged.
The diatom cultures used in these tests consist of
a single species of algae. They are cultured in the
laboratory several months before testing, and are
known to be maintaining a division rate characteristic
of healthy diatoms of this species. Since death is a
difficult thing to determine in a diatom, the point at
which the growth rate is decreased 50 per cent below
that of the control is taken as comparable with the
median tolerance limit obtained in fish tests.
In the course of experimentation it has been found
that the rate of growth is influenced by the size of the
inoculum. Therefore, it is necessary that the same
size inoculum be used in the control as in the tests.
This is verified by counting the number of cells per
milliliter in each flask at the beginning of the experi-
ment. All tests, as well as the control, are run in
duplicate. All subsequent counts are made in the same
manner as at the beginning of the test to determine
the rate of growth.
The duration of the test should be from 5 to 7 days.
Often, at the beginning of an experiment, there is a
"lag" effect before the diatoms respond to the test
medium. This effect may last for 48 hr. From the
third to the seventh day is the time when the growth
rate can be most accurately cor related with the effects
of the test medium. After this length of time some of
the necessary nutrients in the dilution water may be
used up and the effect produced may be due to malnu-
trition rather than to toxicity.
The tests described are acute toxicity tests. It is
hoped that chronic toxicity tests may be developed in
the near future. This would help to determine whether
a substance would lower the resistance of an organism
so that it could not successfully compete in nature.
Value of Laboratory Toxicity Tests
The tests described would be of value to industry
in solving the following types of problems.
-------
110
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
I. In the planning of waste disposal, (a) to deter-
mine just how much of each type of waste can be safely
discharged into a river and (b) to separate theunharm-
ful from the toxic wastes and thus reduce the cost of
waste treatment.
2. In changing a process, to determine whether
a new process will produce a more severe waste
problem.
3. In installing new types of waste treatment, to
determine whether the effluent from such a treatment
is as harmless as the specifications state.
4. When dumping settling basins at high river flow,
to determine how much can be dumped at a given flow
without damaging the aquatic life.
5. When an industry is accused of causing a given
damage and there are many other effluents emptying
into the river, to determine whether or not the accus-
ed industry is to blame.
River Surveys
The second approach to solving waste effluent prob-
lems is the biological survey of the river. As every
aquatic biologist knows, the ecology of the river is a
very complex result of many interacting factors. Be-
cause of this, no series of toxicity tests can accurate-
ly determine the effect of a waste in a river. They
merely provide an approximation of what will happen.
The only way to know the effect of a waste on a river
is to study the river itself.
The methodology for conducting a biological sur-
vey was published in the Proceedings of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1949. In a river
survey, all of the organisms established in a given
region of the river are identified as to species. The
chemical characteristics of the water are determined.
A total bacterial count and a coliform count are made,
and the B.O.D.'s are determined.
A histogram is made of each region studied. The
heights of the columns are determined by the number
of species of each group of organisms living in that
part of the river. Since the various groups vary great-
ly as to the number of species in them, the height of
a given column is expressed as a percentage of the
number of species of that group found in a river not
adversely affected by pollution. By this method the
various columns are comparable.
From the pattern developed by the columns of a
histogram, the state of "health" of a river "is defer-
mined. Research makes it evident that the pattern of
life based on all groups of organisms is a more reli-
able criterion for judging the "health" of a river than
a single group of "indicator organisms." Just as in
other scientific work, the more different evidence a-
vailable to support conclusions, the more valid they
usually are.
Value of River Surveys
One of the great values of this type of study is that
it tells the condition in the river over a period of time.
Because these aquatic organisms have life histories
of varying lengths, one is able by examining the struc-
ture of the population to determine when in the past a
deleterious effect occurred. This effect can be picked
up over a period of a year and sometimes longer. It
depends, of course, on the kind and duration of the
pollution.
This type of river study may be of use to the indus-
trialist in the following ways:
1. Such a survey before an industry starts to oper-
ate will define the condition of the river at that time.
There are few large rivers in the eastern part of the
United States which have not to some degree been ad-
versely affected by pollution. It is well for the state
authorities, as well as the industry, to know what the
condition of the river is before the industry starts to
operate.
2. This method is useful in determining whether a
waste treatment program is sufficient to protect the
river, or if more treatment is needed.
3. If an industry is accused of damaging a river,
such a survey, com paring various sections of a river,
can tell if the complaint is justified.
Such a survey is certainly the most direct approach
to use in determining the condition of the river. It is
believed that by the previously described toxicity tests
and biological surveys definite methods havebeende~
veloped which should be of great aid to industries and
to states in defining their pollution problems.
Reference
1. Doudoroff, P., et al., "Bio-Assay Methods for the
Evaluation of Acute Toxicity of Industrial
Wastes to Fish". THIS JOURNAL, 23, 11,
1380 (Nov., 1951).
-------
Aquatic Organisms as an Aid in Solving Waste Disposal Problems
HI
DISCUSSION
By Arden R. Gaufin and Clarence M. Tarzwell
Limnologist and Chief, Biology Section, respectively, USPHS Environmental Health Center,
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleaning up the rivers, lakes, and bays of the
country will require a great deal of money and the
cooperative effort of many different groups of people.
To accomplish this task and properly control the dis-
posal of industrial and municipal wastes into surface
waters, the pollutional nature of these wastes and
their influence on aquatic life must be considered.
The value of fishery resources and the magnitude
of the economic loss caused by the destruction of
aquatic life by the industrial and municipal pollution
of waters are being more widely recognized. Many
states have adopted legal measures providing for the
protection of fish and other aquatic life from pollution.
While some have interpreted this legislation as apply-
ing only to the acute poisoning or killing of fish, Dr.
Patrick's group has dealt with the fish food organisms,
as well as the fish, and also has given consideration
to the chronic effects of wastes on aquatic life.
In studying the effect of pollution on a river, the
best type of biological program is that which rec-
ognizes the complexity of the ecological factors in-
volved. In combining laboratory tests with river sur-
veys, the author is attempting to gather as many
different types of evidence as possible before drawing
any conclusions. She is to be commended for using
an approach which is more thorough than that normal-
ly used in the past for examination of this complex
problem.
The need for experimental studies dealing with the
toxic ity of pollutants to aquatic life is great. Dr. Pat-
rick has already discussed some of the methods and
the importance of conducting such toxicity tests. Fish
bio-assay procedures for most industrial wastes are
not costly and are not especially difficult to perform.
On the basis of toxicity determinations, it is usually
possible to predict whether a waste can be discharged
at a given rate without causing direct injury to fish in
the receiving water. Such data also are helpful in de-
termining the amount of treatment required, the por-
tion of the waste requiring treatment and the effect-
iveness of treatment methods (1).
It has been mentioned by Dr. Patrick that another
use of this method is to determine whether the dis-
charges of a given industry are responsible for caus-
ing damage when there are many effluents emptying
into the river. In such a case the character of the
receiving stream is of considerable importance in
determining the toxicity of a waste. Further, the tox-
icity of wastes can be greatly influenced by interac-
tions between their individual components and the
dissolved minerals present in widely varying amounts
in receiving waters. For instance, the salts of heavy
metals are generally more toxic in soft or acid waters
than they are in alkaline water. Synergy and antagon-
ism must be considered. For example, mixed solu-
tions of cupric and zinc salts have been found to be
much more toxic to minnows, than either metallic
salt alone (2).
Dr. Patrick's method for conducting a biological
survey of a river is tobe commended for the complete-
ness of its scope and for attempting to formulate cri-
teria which might be useful in evaluating the effects of
pollution on streams. However, for many purposes it
should not be necessary to conduct such extensive or
complicated studies as those outlined.
The concept of a healthy stream as being one with
a large number and wide variety of species may serve
as an index of conditions in some streams, but there
aremanyareas in which it will not apply. Forexample,
in many of the purest streams the variety and abund-
ance of both fish and invertebrate life is distinctly
limited. In Colorado and Utah many trout streams have
a fish fauna of as few as 3 to 5 species and the variety
and abundance of bottom fauna depends largely on the
geological nature of the drainage basin (3) (4). The
water in these streams is clear, sparkling, and usu-
ally meets drinking-water standards. These streams
are not biologically abnormal or polluted from any
standpoint.
Although heavy pollution drastically reduces the
number and variety of species in a stream, limited
organic pollution may fertilize a stream and increase
production. There is also a great increase in the va-
rieties of aquatic life following recovery in streams
polluted with many organic wastes. Many polluted
streams have a greater number of fish species than
do the purest streams. Indices of stream conditions
developed in a local area should be applied only in
those areas having similar ecological characteristics.
In stream sanitation work it is not essential that
the biodynamic cycle be preserved in its primitive
condition. Such conditions have already been largely
eliminated by deforestation, overgrazing, mining, and
agricultural practices. The objective now is to man-
age waters so that they will produce the maximum
sustained yield of recreation and sport and commer-
cial fishing consistent with the capacity and other
reasonable uses of the waters. Among the aquatic
fresh-water organisms, fish are the most important
to the general public. The destruction of a few sensi-
tive species is of little importance if they are replaced
by others equally desirable so that the fish yield is not
impaired. In the final analysis the fish yield is the
important measure of effective stream management
and fishlife should be considered as the major index
of stream conditions.
Dr. Patrick's system for making stream surveys
is costly and requires the help of a considerable num-
ber of well-trained scientists for it to be usuable.
Many state agencies charged with water pollution con-
trol, as well as small industries, do not have money
-------
112
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
or personnel for a biological program of the magni-
tude recommended.
When conducting biological investigations for the
evaluation or solution of pollution problems, careful
formulation of objectives is required. If the objective
is to determine only general stream conditions, a re-
connaissance survey is favored to determine the rela-
tive quantitative and qualitative aspects of the biota.
In such a program the pollutional condition of a stream
can often be determined by reference to those groups
of organisms which best reflect the ecological condi-
tions under which they live. If the objective of a stream
survey is to ascertain the economic loss caused by the
damaging effects of pollutants on the fishery of the
stream, then it is necessary to determine the compo-
sition of the fish fauna in the stream and the changes
in that fauna which might have occurred in the past.
Necessary data on fish populations and yield can be
obtained by creel censuses, records of commercial
catches, seining, gill netting, trapping, etc. Since
the procedures for conducting fishery yield surveys
have been fairly well standardized by workers in fish
management, it is not deemed advisable to dwell fur-
ther on the subject here.
Several different approaches have been advocated
by biologists in using aquatic organisms as indicators
of the pollutional conditions of a stream. Dr. Patrick,
emphasizing primarily a qualitative approach, main-
tains that the total number of species, rather than the
qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the pop-
ulation, constitutes the most valuable index as to the
health of a stream. Ellis (5) advocated a semi-quan-
titative approach when he stated that the relative a-
bundance of indicator species was the important con-
sideration. Biologists of the USPHS Environmental
Health Center at Cincinnati, Ohio, have found that both
criteria are important and serve best when used con-
currently. For example, Gaufin and Tarzwell (6) found
that in a small polluted stream near Cincinnati, the
biota in the polluted zones was characterized by few
species but large numbers of individuals, whereas in
the clean-water zones there were many species but
comparatively few individuals of each species.
Quantitative measurements of the total number of
species or individual organisms in any given area of
a stream are often difficult to obtain. For example,
Environmental Health Center biologists took a series
of nine random samples, by means of an Ekman dredge,
from a pool in a small sewage polluted stream near
Cincinnati. A total of 50 species of macro-inverte-
brates was collected. On the average, it was deter-
mined that any three of these samples would have
yielded only 60 per cent of the 50 species. Seven
samples would have been required to have obtained 90
per cent of the types represented.
Where personnel are not available to do all of the
technical taxonomic work required for species identi-
fication, or to take enough quantitative samples to ac-
curately determine the abundance of individual species
or organisms, a practical biological inventory is still
possible.
Specifically, the degree and extent of pollution in a
stream can be determined accurately by reference to
the macro-invertebrate fauna, particularly that found
in the riffles. A biological analysis of the pollutional
status of a stream can be obtained in the field through
recognition of the biological orders, families, or gen-
era in the invertebrate associations encountered. This
type of biological inventory is superior to limited
chemical data, as the complex of such organisms
which develops in a given area is in turn indicative of
present, as well as past, environmental conditions in
that area. Bottom organisms are more fixed in their
habitat than are fish or plankton and cannot move to
more favorable surroundings when pollutional condi-
tions are most critical.
Shortened procedures, such as that suggested, can-
not be recommended for use by anyone except a well-
trained aquatic biologist. When used properly, how-
ever, such techniques can be of considerable value to
organizations having waste disposal problems to solve.
References
1. Doudoroff, P., "Biological Observations and Tox-
icity Bio-Assays in the Control of Industrial
Waste Disposal." Proc. Gthlnd. Waste Conf.,
Purdue Univ. (1951).
2. Doudoroff, P., "Some Recent Developments in the
Study of Toxic Industrial Wastes." Proc. 4th
Pacific Northwest Ind. Waste Conf.,
Washington State College (1952).
3. Gaufin, A.R., "A Comparative Study of the Bottom
Fauna Productivity of the North and South
Forks of the Provo River at Stewart's Ranch,
Utah." Midwest Wildlife Conf., University of
Wisconsin (In manuscript form) (1949).
4. Pennak, R.W., and Van Gerpen, E.D., "Bottom
Fauna Production and Physical Nature of the
Substrate in a Northern Colorado Trout
Stream." Ecology 28, 1 (1947).
5. Ellis, M.M., "Detection and Measurement of
Stream Pollution." U.S. Bureau of Fisheries,
Bull. 22 (1937).
6. Gaufin, A.R., and Tarzwell, C. M., "Aquatic In-
vertebrates as Indicators of Stream Pollu-
tion." Pub. Health Rep., 67, 57 (1952).
-------
Aquatic Organisms as an Aid in Solving Waste Disposal Problems
113
DISCUSSION
By Ruth Patrick
As Dr. Gaufin has pointed out, there may be a syn-
ergistic effect between an effluent entering a river and
substances already in a river. For this reason toxic-
ity tests may be used as a yardstick, but one must
study the river itself to determine accurately the ef-
fect of an effluent.
It is true that there are many different types of
rivers in the country, withvarying amounts of aquatic
life. However, the writer has yet to find a river with
two ecologically similar areas; one adversely affected
by pollution with industrial or municipal wastes, and
one unpolluted in which the unpolluted area did not
have a greater diversity of species of diatoms, in-
sects, and fish than the polluted area.
It is correct that a well-qualified biologist can de-
termine that a river is badly polluted without deter-
mining all the species. But if it is desired to deter-
mine trends of conditions or have definite evidence
for future comparison, the species present must be
determined.
Very rarely are all the species of a genus indica-
tors of pollution. For this reason, it would be very
dangerous to draw positive conclusions from deter-
mination only to genus.
Dr. Gaufin indicated that the method described is a
qualitative one. It is qualitative in that the kinds of
species composing the biodynamic cycle are consid-
ered. It is, however, quantitative in that the measure
also considers the number of species. No one has yet
devised a statistically valid quantitative method for
benthic forms in a river based upon the number of
individuals.
-------
114
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
Reproduced With Permission From:
THE PROGRESSIVE FISH-CULTURIST
17(1955): 64-70
EFFECTS OF SILTATION, RESULTING FROM IMPROPER
LOGGING, ON THE BOTTOM FAUNA OF A SMALL
TROUT STREAM IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
L. B. Tebo, Jr.
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
Hoffman, North Carolina
SILTATION, RESULTING FROM IMPROPER
LAND - USE PRACTICES, is regarded as one of the
most important factors contributing to a reduction in
the acreage of desirable fishing waters in the United
States. Although much information of a general nature
has been published, there is a lack of quantitative data
regarding the effects of siltation on stream values.
One phase of a Dingell-Johnson project, establish-
ed by the North Caroline Wildlife Resources Com-
mission during the summer of 1952, was to obtain
quantitative data regarding the effect of siltation on
trout streams in the southern Appalachians. The pro-
ject was begun on the Coweeta Experimental Forest,
located in Macon County, North Carolina, where for
20 years the U. S. Forest Service has been collecting
extensive data regarding the effects of various land-
use practices on experimental watersheds. The pur-
pose of this report is to present data regarding the
effects of siltation on the bottom organisms of Shope
Creek, a small trout stream which received the drain-
age from a 212-acre logged watershed (figure 1).
During 1942, logging was commenced on the 212-
acre watershed on the Coweeta Experimental Forest.
The periods of activity on the watershed were:
May 1942 - Mar. 1943: Active logging
Mar. 1943 - Jan. 1945: No logging
Jan. 1945 - Nov. 1948: Active logging
Nov. 1948 - Apr. 1953: No logging
Apr. 1953 - Present: Active logging
The logging was carried out by local contractors,
with no limitation of methods or supervision by the
Forest Service. Logs were ground-skidded by teams.
Because of steep slopes, the roads and skid trails
were built parallel and adjacent to the channel of the
drainage stream. The roads were characterized by
excessively steep grades alternating with level
stretches. No surfacing material and no drains or
water cutoffs were used on the roads. With the term-
ination of the original logging in 1948, 2.2 miles
of road had been constructed on the 212-acre
watershed.
Presented at the Eighth Annual Conference of the
Southeastern Association of Game and Fish Commis-
sioners, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 1-3,
1954, to report on one phase of a Dingell-Johnson pro-
ject undertaken by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
U.S. Forest Service, and North Carolina Wildlife Re-
sources Commission.
Description of Shope Creek
Shope Creek, which received the stream from the
logged watershed, flows into Coweeta Creek and thence
to the Little Tennessee River. Shope Creek drains a
watershed of approximately 1,880 acres and is typical
of many smaller trout streams in the southern Appa-
lachians. Average monthly streamflow for a 6-year
period ranged from a low of 2.31 c.f.s. during October
to 8.32 c.f.s. during February (figure 2). Figure 3 il-
lustrates the frequent occurrence and magnitude of
floods occurring in this small trout stream.
During the period of this study, stream tempera-
tures have ranged from a low of 33.0°F. during Dec-
ember 1952 to a high of 65.5°F. during August 1953.
During the fall of 1953, the water had a pH of 6.6 and
a methyl orange alkalinity of 8.0 p.p.m.
The upper portion of the stream is characterized
by steep gradient (900 feet to the mile) with series of
cascades and low waterfalls, interspersed with large
pools having excellent shelter in the form of large
boulders and broken water surface. The bottom is
predominantly boulders and rubble with occasional out-
crops of granite bedrock. From approximately one-
fourth mile above the sampling stations to the lower
boundary of the experimental forest, there is a no-
ticeable change in the habitat. The gradient is 224 feet
per mile, and the cascades and waterfalls of the upper
section are replaced with short riffles and shallow
pools. There is no rooted aquatic vegetation in the
stream.
As nearly as can be determined, no trout have been
stocked in Shope Creek since 1930, when rainbow trout
were introduced by local residents. At present, the
upper and lower reaches of the stream contain brook
and rainbow trout, respectively, with an interming-
ling of these two species in the section just above the
mouth of the stream from the logged watershed. No
fishing has been permitted for the past 4 or 5 years.
However, prior to closure, the stream had an excel-
lent reputation among local fishermen.
Water Quality
During storm periods, the effect of the stream from
the logged watershed (Watershed No. 10) on Shope Creek
is illustrated by the turbidity of water samples collect-
ed at the mouth of the stream from No. 10, from Shope
Creekabove themouthof No. 10, and from Shope Creek
below the mouth of No. 10.
-------
Effects of Siltation, Resulting from Improper Logging
115
July Am. Sept. Oct. Mor. D«c, J»n. Tib. lur. Apr.
.pr. Ktf Jum
Date
Apr. 11,
1947 -
Feb. 20,
1954 -
Turbidity (p.p.m.)
Stream from Shope Creek
Number 10 Above 10 Below 10
1,200
1,371
25
67
390
261
AUG. SEPT OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. MAR. APHIL MAY JUNE
The roads and skid trails proved to be the major
source of turbidity (Lieberman and Hoover 1948).
Skidding logs down the steep slopes creates channels
which concentrate runoff, resulting in a high rate of
erosion. For the 2-year period from April 1951 to
March 1953, an average of 5.34 cubic feet of soil per
lineal foot of road surface were eroded from the log-
ging road. This would amount to a loss of 2, 297 cubic
yards of soil for the total 2.2 miles of road system.
During periods of low streamflow, the physical ef-
fects of siltation on Shope Creek are noticeably evident.
During the low flows of late summer and fall, the bot-
tom of Shope Creek above the mouth of the logged
watershed accumulates a thin layer of finely divided
organic matter, while below the mouth of the logged
watershed the stream bottom in both pools and riffles
is covered with a layer of sterile sand and micaceous
material which may accumulate to a measured depth
of 10 inches.
Bottom Fauna
Because of its relative stability in location, the
bottom fauna was selected to obtain a measure of the
effects of siltation on the stream community. The
limited section of Shope Creek affected by siltation
from the logged watershed made a direct evaluation of
the fish population impractical. The small stream from
the logged watershed is too small to support a resi-
dent trout population.
Within limits of space and reproductive capacity,
the available food in a stream can certainly be re-
garded as a factor limiting the production of trout.
Leonard (1948) and Henry (1949) have stated that in
Michigan trout waters the food supply often is the most
important limiting factor in trout production. Allen
(1951), working on New Zealand streams, found that
the bottom fauna was a limiting factor in the produc-
tion of brown trout. Tarzwell (1938b) found an appar-
ent relation between the quantities of stream foods
present and trout production in streams in the south-
western United States.
(Top to Bottom)
FIGURE 1. — Map of Shope Creek, Coweeta Ex-
perimental Forest, showing the location of logged
area and sampling stations.
FIGURE 2. — Mean monthly streamflow (c.f.s.) of
Shope Creek for the 6-year period, 1937-42.
FIGURE 3. — Peak daily streamflow (c.f.s.) of
Shope Creek for the period, July 1952 to June 1953.
(Drawings courtesy of the author)
-------
116
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
In trout streams of western North Carolina the food
of trout is obtained from three sources: the bottom
fauna, terrestrial insects, and fish. Analysis of 241
rainbow trout stomachs collected from streams of
western North Carolina during 1952 and 1953 indicate
that, from January to June, 83 percent of the diet is
obtained from the bottom fauna. From June to Decem-
ber, 42 percent of the food of rainbow trout is obtained
from the bottom fauna. Terrestrial insects are of ma-
jor importance during the summer and fall months.
Of the 241 trout stomachs examined, only 1 specimen
contained fish remains and 3 had eaten salamanders.
From October 1952 to June 1953, 108 square-foot
bottom samples were collected at monthly intervals
from Shope Creek immediately above and below the
mouth of the stream draining the logged watershed.
The standing crop of bottom organisms was at all
times very low, with a high average of 49.0 organisms
per square foot occurring at the untreated station on
November 13 (table 1). The highest average volume
occurred in the samples of January 14 at the untreat-
ed station. The high volume occurring on January 14
resulted from an abundance of large cranefly larvae,
Tipula sp., and the stonefly nymph, Pteronarcys scotti.
The frequent occurrence of floods (figure 3) is un-
doubtedly an important factor contributing to the low
quantities of bottom fauna produced in this small trout
stream.
From October 1952 to February 1953, the upper
station had a significantly larger numerical standing
crop of bottom organisms than did the lower station,
which was subjected to the siltation from the logged
watershed (tables 2 and 3). The volume of bottom or-
ganisms was greater in the control section on all but
two sampling dates, April 23 and May 21, 1953 (table 1).
A major flood that occurred on February 21, 1953,
increased the flow in Shope Creek from 6.7 c.f.s. to
105.8 c.f.s. in a 24-hour period (figure 3). The flood
completely resorted bottom materials and flushed the
deposited sediments downstream, exposing the origi-
nal rubble and gravel bottom. On February 26, 1953,
the numbers of bottom organisms at the lower station
had been reduced 73.2 percent, as compared with the
January level, while the numbers at the untreated sta-
tion had been reduced 22.2 percent (table 1).
High water levels plus frequent rains February to
May (figure 3) prevented a reaccumulation of silt in
the lower section of Shope Creek. On April 2, April
23, and May 21, that section of stream produced
slightly greater standing crops of bottom organisms
than did the control section. The difference was not
significant (F=0.208 d.f.= 1 and 30), and was the re-
sult of an increase in the numbers of mayfly nymphs
in the treated section of stream (table 1). The inex-
plicable superiority of mayflies in the treated section
of stream may have been the result of reduced com-
petition and improvement in habitat, both caused by
the February flood.
When samples were collected in June 1953, silt and
sand again had begun to accumulate in the treated sec-
tion of the stream, and the control section again pro-
duced a greater average standing crop of bottom or-
ganisms (table 1). The differencewas not statistically
significant (t = 1.42 d.f. = 10).
Before the reduction in the quantity of stream bot-
tom organisms, from October through February, can
be attributed to the effects of siltation, it is necessary
to assume that there was no difference between the two
sampled stations prior to logging. The study was com-
menced quite some time after logging took place, and
it is therefore impossible to test this basic assumption.
However, the fact that the sampled areas are on im-
mediately adjacent and similar sections of the same
stream, as well as the comparable quantities of bot-
tom fauna produced during the spring months, when
silt did not accumulate in the treated section of the
stream, lends support to the assumption that there
were no pretreatment differences between the two sta-
tions sampled.
With the exception of the difference in mayflies dur-
ing the spring months, as noted above, there were no
appreciable qualitative differences between the two
stations sampled (table 1).
Discussion
The period during which the standing crop of or-
ganisms in the treated section of Shope Creek was
significantly lower than in the control section coincid-
ed with the period of maximum accumulation of inor-
ganic silt and sand. Inorganic silt and sand have poor
ability to support a fauna. Tarzwell(1938a) found that
mineral silt bottoms were poor in food. Murray (1938)
stated that, in Indiana streams, sand by itself is like-
ly to be barren of life.
In addition to its poor ability to support a fauna,
the shifting sand created an unstable habitat, and or-
ganisms inhabiting it were particularly vulnerable to
decimation by flood waters. The flood during Febru-
ary removed the accumulated sediments and resulted
in a drastic reduction in the number and volume of
bottom organisms in the treated section of stream.
During the high flows and frequent rains from Febru-
ary to May, the rate of dilution by clear water from
the main fork of Shope Creek prevented the reaccumu-
lation of sediment in the treated section of stream. A
fauna which resulted was quantitatively comparable to
that found in the control section. It is doubtful that the
rapid recovery after the flood — undoubtedly by means
of the drift of organisms from the control section —
could occur if all of the Shope Creek watershed were
subject to the effects of siltation.
The low fertility and frequent occurrence of floods
in western North Carolina trout streams results in a
low production of stream bottom organisms under the
very best conditions. Therefore, because of the de-
pendence of trout on stream-produced organisms,
any outside factor, such as siltation, which reduces
the normally low quantities of stream organisms will
ultimately have a deleterious effect on the trout pop-
ulation.
It is apparent from the Coweeta studies that poorly
planned road systems and the promiscuous use of
smaller stream channels as skid trails result in a
-------
TABLE 1.—Numbers and volume of bottom organisms collected from riffles in Shope Creek from October 1952 to June 1953
at stations
above and below the mouth
October 16
Total number of organisms
Number per square foot
Total volume (cc) — — — —
Volume per square foot
Salamanders
Above
3
116
38-7
9.29
0.70
0.23
27
18
25
30
1
11
4
Below
3
74
24.7
13.0
0.15
0.05
4
12
9
23
25
1
of a tributary stream draining a logge
November 13
Above
3
147
49.0
12.1
0.70
0.23
57
7
49
22
12
April
Above
6
259
43.2
17.6
5.20
0.87
41
13
41
148
15
1
Below
3
78
26.0
14.7
0.20
0.07
33
5
29
11
2
Below
6
283
47.2
17.6
3-75
0.63
33
11
29
190
1
17
1
1
December 17
Above
6
226
37-5
13.6
3.20
0.53
65
25
57
53
2
23
April
Above
6
239
39.8
19.3
2,50
0.42
32
8
24
160
12
1
1
Below
6
137
22.8
6.80
0.50
0.08
55
20
24
23
15
23
Below
6
249
41.5
26.6
2.70
0.45
24
5
20
189
10
1
sd watershed
January 14
Above
6
234
39.0
15.4
5.70
0.95
90
19
50
54
2
19
May
Above
6
180
30.0
9.2?
1.35
0.23
25
4
17
106
25
2
1
Below
6
164
27.3
16.9
2.40
0.40
70
9
18
51
1
15
21
Below
6
196
32.7
15.2
2.60
0.43
16
11
31
130
5
2
1
February 26
Above
6
182
30.3
22.3
2.65
0.44
76
10
9
36
1
21
June
Above
6
256
42.7
11.3
3.80
0.63
9
18
75
112
2
29
4
3
Below
6
44
7.3
3-19
trace
trace
13
4
6
16
5
12
Below
6
202
33-7
10.7
1.20
0.20
10
16
21
127
24
1
1
n>
o
rt-
01
a
CO
en
at)
o
•a
1
F
o
$
Does not include salamanders and crayfish.
-------
118
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
TABLE 2.—Analysis of variance on the basis of total numbers of organisms in
October and November 1952
Source of variation Degrees of freedom Sum of squares Mean square
Between months
Interaction————— — — — — —
Error
1
1
8
1,027
•1 CkO
62
1.239
1,027
1 0?
62
155
^6.62
Significant at 5-percent level.
TABLE 3.—Analysis of variance on the basis of total numbers of organisms in
December.1952 and January and February 1953
Source of variation
Degrees of freedom Sum of squares Mean square
Error
1
2
o
29
2,434
1,372
207
4.706
2,434
686
104
162
^15.02
4.23
Significant at 1-percent level.
high rate of erosion and consequent siltation of the
stream channel. Steep grades, lack of allowance for
proper drainage, and the proximity of roads to stream
channels are particularly conducive to siltation. Also,
it is the opinion of many foresters that properly con-
structed roads, in addition to conserving water values,
will, in the long run, pay the logging operator by re-
ducing road maintenance work. Where important fish-
ery values are involved, it is imperative that skid
trails and road systems be carefully located and con-
structed.
Summary
1. From 1942 to 1948, a 212-acre watershed on the
Coweeta Experimental Forest, Macon County, North
Carolina, was logged by a local contractor. Roads and
skid trails were built parallel and adjacent to the
stream channel. No surfacing material and no drains
were used.
2. The physical and chemical characteristics of
ShopeCreek, a small trout stream which receives the
stream from the logged watershed, are described.
3. During storm periods the turbidity of Shope
Creek was appreciably increased by the highly turbid
waters from the logged area. The accumulation of
sand and silt in Shope Creek below the mouth of the
stream from the logged watershed is described.
4. Roads and skid trails proved to be the major
source of turbidity. From April 1951 to March 1953,
an average of 5.34 cubic feet of soil per lineal foot of
road surface was eroded from the logging road.
5. From October 1952 to June 1953, 108 square-
foot bottom samples were collected at monthly inter-
vals in Shope Creek at stations above and below the
mouth of the stream from the logged watershed.
6. From October 1952 through January 1953, the
period of maximum accumulation of sediment in the
affected section of Shope Creek, there was a signifi-
cantly lower standing crop of bottom organisms at the
station below the mouth of the logged watershed.
7. A flood on February 21, 1953, removed the ac-
cumulation of sand and silt in Shope Creek below the
mouth of the logged water shed and reduced the bottom
fauna at the lower station to 7.3 organisms per square
foot, as compared with 25.5 organisms per square foot
at the upper station, which had not been subject to
siltation from the logged watershed.
8. The February flood exposed an excellent bottom
of rubble and gravel at the lower station; from Febru-
ary through May spring rains and high streamflow pre-
vented the reaccumulation of sand and silt at the lower
station on Shope Creek. During this period there was
no significant difference in the standing crop of bot-
tom fauna at the control and treated stations. During
June, when silt had begun to reaccumulate, the con-
trol section again produced a larger standing crop of
bottom organisms. The difference was not statistical-
ly significant.
Acknowledgments
Facilities of the U.S. Forest Service station at Cow-
eeta Hydrologic Laboratory have been utilized freely
in the conduct of this study. The cooperation and ad-
vice of Mr. E.A. Johnson and Dr. T. C. Nelson, tech-
nicians at Coweeta, have been particularly helpful.
-------
iStream Life and the Pollution Environment
119
Mr. J. L. Kovner gave advice regarding the statistical
analysis of data, and his assistance is gratefully ac-
knowledged.
The author is particularly indebted to Mr. J. H.
Cornell, Chief, and to Mr. Duane Raver, Federal Aid
Coordinator, Fish Division, North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission, who were in immediate super-
vision of the project and whose efforts made the work
possible.
Literature Cited
Allen, K. R.
1951. The Horokiwi stream: A study of a trout
population. New Zealand Mar. Dept., Fish
Bull. 10, 231 pp., illus.
Henry, K. W.
1949. Michigan trout waters. Mich. Forester 30:
13-15, 41.
Leonard, J. W.
1948. Importance of fish food insects in trout
management. Mich. Cons. 17 (1): 8-9.
Liberman, J. A. and M. D. Hoover.
1948. The effect of uncontrolled logging on stream
turbidity. Water and Sewage Works 95 (7):
255-258.
Murray, M. J.
1938 An ecological study of the invertebrate
fauna of some northern Indiana streams
Invest. Ind. Lakes and Streams 4 (8):
101-110.
Tarzwell, C. M.
1938a. Factors influencing fish food and fish pro-
duction in southwestern streams. Trans. Am.
Fish. Soc. 67 (1937): 246-255.
1938b. An evaluation of the methods and results
of stream improvement in the Southwest.
Trans. N. Am. Wildl. Cong. 3: 339-364.
Reproduced from PUBLIC WORKS, 90(1959): 104-110
STREAM LIFE AND THE POLLUTION ENVIRONMENT*
Alfred F. Bartsch
and
William Marcus Ingram
Increased field investigations over the past 10 years,
directed toward the abatement of pollution, have
prompted this pictorial presentation to show the im-
pact of pollution upon the stream environment and in
turn upon the stream life, or biota. The illustrations
were developed initially for use in training sanitary
engineers and supporting scientists at the U. S. Pub-
lic Health Service's Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineer-
ing Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
To show schematically the effects of pollution on
biota, raw domestic sewage has been chosen as the
pollutant. With such a waste, the lowering of dissolved
oxygen and formation of sludge deposits are the most
commonly seen of the environmental alterations that
damage aquatic biota. Fish and the organisms they
feed on may be replaced by adominating horde of ani-
mals such as mosquito wrigglers, bloodworms, sludge
worms, rattailed maggots and leeches. Black-colored
gelatinous algae may cover the sludge and, as both rot,
foul odors emerge from the water and paint on near-
by houses may be discolored. Such an assemblage of
abnormal stream life urges communities not to con-
done or ignore pollution, but to abate it without delay.
This biotic picture emphasizes that pollution is just
as effective as drought in reducing the utility of a val-
uable water resource. They help to make clear that
pollution abatement is avital key to the over-all prob-
lem of augmenting and conserving waters of this land.
No two streams are ever exactly alike. In their in-
dividualism streams differ from each other in the de-
tails of response to the indignity of pollution. In the
following paragraphs, and in the charts they describe,
the hypothetical stream is made to conform exactly to
theory, showing precisely how an idealized stream and
its biota should react in a perfect system. In reality,
of course, no stream will be exactly like this although
the principles shown can be applied with judgment to
actual problems that may be encountered.
ASSUMED CONDITIONS
The stage for discussion is set in Figure 1. The
horizontal axis represents the direction and distance
of flow of the stream from left to right. Time and dis-
tance of flow downstream are shown in days and also
in miles. The vertical scale of quantity-or more ac-
curately, concentration - expressed in parts per mill-
ion, applies to dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen
demand at distances upstream and downstream from
the origin of the sewage discharge, which is identified
as point zero. Here, raw domestic sewage from a
sewered community of 40,000 people flows to the
stream. The volume flow in the stream is 100 cubic
feet per second, complete mixing is assumed, and the
water temperature is 25°C. Under these conditions
the dissolved oxygen (D.O.) sag curve reaches a low
point after two and one-quarter days of flow and then
*Originally published with colored illustrations. Editorial changes have been made to make this text conform with the halftone illustrations.
-------
120
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
THE ENVIRONMENT
DISSOLVED
OXYGEN
2 1
24 12
3 4
0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
MILES
Figure 1 - The assumptions in the hypothetical pollution case under discussion are
a stream flow of 100 cfs, a discharge of raw sewage from a community
of 40,000 and a water temperature of 25°C, with typical variation of
dissolved oxygen and BOD.
THE ENVIRONMENT
DEOXYGENATION
REAERATION RATE
3 4
DAYS
36 48
MILES
Figure 2 - The dissolved oxygen concentration in the stream is partially destroyed
by the pollution load. Full depletion is avoided by reaeration processes.
rises again toward a restoration similar to that of up-
stream, unpolluted water.
The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) curve is low
in upstream, unpolluted water, increases at point O
from the great charge of sewage and gradually de-
creases from this point downstream to a condition
suggestive of unpolluted water. BOD and D.O. are so
interrelated that the dissolved oxygen concentration is
low where BOD is high, and the converse also is true.
From left to right the stream zones are: clean water,
degradation, active decomposition, recovery, and
clean water.
EFFECTS OF REAERATION
*,
Figure 2 represents an interpretation of the two
principal antagonistic factors that have to do with the
shape of the D.O. sag curve. The biochemical and
other forces that tend to exhaust D.O. supplies, called
collectively the process of deoxygenation, would re-
duce such resources to zero in about a day and one-
half if there were no factors in operation that could
restore oxygen to water. The river reach where D.O.
would be completely gone would occur about 18 miles
downstream from the point of discharge of sewage
from the municipality. However, with reaeration fac-
-------
Stream Life and the Pollution Environment
121
THE ENVIRONMENT
6:
2
24
6
8 9
3 4
DAYS
12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
MILES
Figure 3 - Dissolved oxygen fluctuates according to available light, a result of
photosynthesis. Thus, values on the lower curve are subject to daily
variation.
tors at work, there is appreciable compensation for
deoxygenation, and in this way the actual contour of
the oxygen sag curve is determined. Thus, the low
point of the curve is not attained at one and one-half
days of flow at mile 18 with a zero D.O., but in reality
is reached at about two and one-quarter days of flow
at about mile 27. The D.O. here does not go to zero,
but to 1.5 ppm.
If the population of the city remains fairly uniform
throughout the year, and the flow is relatively con-
stant, the low point of the D.O. sag curve can be ex-
pected to move up or down the stream with fluctuations
in temperature. In winter, one can expect to find the
low point farther downstream than shown. In other
seasons, if temperatures exceed the 25°C upon which
the charts are based, D.O. will be depleted more rap-
idly and drastically with the low point farther upstream.
The reach of any stream where the D.O. sag curve
attains its low point obviously is the stream environ-
ment poorest in D.O. resources. It represents a place
where aquatic life that may need a high D.O. can suf-
focate or from which such life may move to other
stream areas where the D.O. resources are greater.
EFFECT OF LIGHT
The upper graph of Figure 3 illustrates fluctuations
of dissolved oxygen that may occur over a 24-hour
period at a single point in a stream with average den-
sity of aquatic greenery such as planktonic algae or
larger submerged plants. For sake of explanation, any
point in the recovery zone would exhibit such diurnal
D.O. variations. The lower graph shows only linear
changes in D.O., and gives no indication of the daily
variation in availability of this vital gas that may occur
at any single selected point.
If this selected point is in the recovery zone at
mile 72, one can see from Figure 3 that D.O. varies
from a low of about 80 percent saturation at 2:00 a.m.
to about 140 percent at 2:00 p.m. Diurnal variation
such as this is a result of photosynthesis chiefly in
algae but in other plants also. During daylight hours
these plants give off oxygen into the water in such
large quantities that if the organic wastes are not suf-
ficient to use up much of the D.O. in oxidizing sewage,
the water commonly becomes supersaturated at some
time during daylight hours. In addition to giving off
oxygen, the photosynthetic process results in the manu-
facture of sugar to serve as the base from which flows
the nutritional support for all stream life. The pro-
cess of photosynthesis can be illustrated schematic-
ally as:
6 CO,
6H20
3H12°6
60,
This action proceeds through the interaction of the
green pigment, chlorophyll, contained in living plant
matter, of sunlight, carbon dioxide, and even water
to form the raw materials into a simple sugar and
surplus oxygen.
While photosynthesis occurs, so also does respir-
ation which proceeds 24 hours on end irrespective of
illumination. In this well known process 02 is taken in
and CO2 is given off. The algae, during daylight may
yield an excess of oxygen over and above their respir-
atory needs, the needs of other aquatic life, and the
needs for the satisfaction of any biochemical oxygen
demand. Under these conditions, surplus oxygen may
be lost to the atmosphere. During hours of darkness
photosynthesis does not occur and gradually, the sur-
plus D.O. that was present is used up or reduced by
algae, fish, various insects, clams, snails and other
aquatic life in respiration, and by bacteria in satisfac-
tion of the BOD. That is why oxygen resources are
poorest during early morning hours. During hours of
darkness, a stream is typically dependent on physical
reaeration for its oxygen resources after exhaustion
of the "bank of dissolved oxygen," that was elevated
to supersaturation levels by aquatic plants.
Obviously, on stream sanitary surveys where or-
-------
122
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
THE ENVIRONMENT
.ORGANIC
NITROGEN
DECOMPOSITION OF
NITROGENOUS ORGANIC MATTER
AEROBIC -N „ CO,, H,O, SO4 -E
ANAEROBIC -»MERCAPTANS, IN-
DOLE, SKATOLE, H,S, PLUS MIS- +E
CELLANEOUS PRODUCTS
DECOMPOSITION OF
CARBONACEOUS MATTER
AEROBIC—CO,+H,O + E
ANAEROBIC -ACIDS,
ALCOHOLS, CO,, H,, '
CH,, PLUS MISCEL-
LANEOUS PRODUCTS
DISSOLVED
OXYGEN
DISSOLVED
OXYGEN
3456789"
DAYS
12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
MILES
Figure 4 - With a heavy influx of nitrogen and carbon compounds from sewage, the
bacterial growth rate is accelerated and dissolved oxygen is utilized for
oxidation of these compounds. As this proceeds, food is "used up" and
the BOD declines.
ganic wastes such as domestic sewage are pollutants,
it is important to sample each station over 24 hours
at intervals that are appropriate to reveal information
on diurnal D.O. variations. If this is not done and
station 1 is sampled consistently around 8:00 a.m. and
station 6 around 5:00 p.m. over a weekly or a monthly
survey, critical D.O. concentrations will not be found.
If interval sampling over 24 hours cannot be done be-
cause of workday restrictions, reversing the time of
sampling from the upstream to the downstream sta-
tion on alternate days will at least show variations of
D.O. that one can expect through an 8-hour workday.
EFFECT OF ORGANIC MATTER
The bottom graph of Figure 4 illustrates reasons
for the decrease in the BOD curve progressively down-
stream and offers an explanation for the depression in
the oxygen sag curve. On this graph there has been
superimposed, in white, the shape of the log curve of
bacterial growth rate. Accelerated bacterial growth
rate is a response to rich food supplies in the domes-
tic raw sewage. During rapid utilization of food, bac-
teria reproduction is at an optimum, and utilization of
D.O. becomes fairly proportional to the rate of oxid-
ation.
The upper graph illustrates, in principle, the pro-
gressive downstream changes in nitrogen from the
organic form to the nitrate form. It demonstrates the
initial high consumption of oxygen by bacteria that are
feeding on proteinaceous compounds available in up-
stream waters in freshly discharged domestic sewage.
With fewer and fewer of these compounds left in down-
stream waters, theBODbecomes reduced and the D.O.
increases. Fat and carbohydrate foodstuffs rather than
proteins could have been chosen just as well to show
this phenomenon.
The nitrogen and phosphorus in sewage proteins can
cause special problems in some receiving waters. Ex-
perience has shown that increasing the amount of these
elements in water can create conditions especially
favorable for growing green plants. In free flowing,
clear, pebble brooks they appear as green velvety
coatings on the stones or as lengthy streamers waving
gently in the current. They are not unattractive and
even, in the poetry of Nature, are complimented by
the name "mermaid's tresses." These plants are
not like the troublesome ones which occur mostly in
more sluggish streams, impoundments or lakes, es-
pecially when they are artificially fertilized by sewage.
In the clean brook, they not only are attractive and
natural to see, but also they are a miniature jungle in
which animals of many kinds prey upon each other with
the survivors growing to become eventual fish food.
In more quiet waters, the algal nutrients in sewage
are picked up for growth by less desirable kinds of
algae. With great supplies of nitrogen and phosphorus
made available, free-floating, minute blue-green algae
increase explosively to make the water pea soup green,
smelly and unattractive. In some unfortunate local-
-------
Stream Life and the Pollution Environment
123
FACTOKFHCTIIIfi THE BIOTA
21
24 12
234
DAYS
12 24 36 48
MILES
5
60
6789
72 84 96 108
Figure 5 - Shortly after sewage discharge, the moulds attain maximum growth.
These are associated with sludge deposition shown in the lower curve.
The sludge is decomposed gradually; as conditions clear up, algae gain
a foothold and multiply.
ities, nuisance blooms of algae have become so ob-
jectionable that waterfront dwellers have had to for-
sake their homes and see their property depreciate in
value. The problem has been studied at a number of
localities, and some studies are still in progress.
Special legislation has even been formulated requiring
that sewage treatment plant effluents not be discharg-
ed to susceptible lakes solely because of the algal
nutrients they contain. Sometimes, under conditions
not well understood, some blue-green algae develop
poisons capable of killing livestock, wildlife and fish.
Fortunately, such occurrences are rare. It is com-
pletely clear that sewage disposal and biological re-
sponses of even such lowly plants as algae go hand-in-
hand sometimes to plague the desires of man.
AQUATIC PLANTS
In the lower part of Figure 5 a profile is shown of
thewater and stream bed with thevertical scale of the
latter exaggerated. Sludge deposits begin to accumu-
late just below the point of sewage discharge. These
deposits reach their maximum thickness near the point
of origin but blanket the stream bed for many miles
downstream. The substance of the deposits gradually
is reduced by decomposition through the action of bac-
teria, moulds and other sludge-dwelling organisms,
until it becomes insignificant about thirty miles below
the municipality.
Also, at the outfall the water is turbid from fine
solids held in suspension in the flowing water. Larger
floating solids, destined to sink eventually to the stream
bed as settleable solids, are visible on the water sur-
face as they drift downstream. Both the fine and large
solids contribute to the sludge deposit, and as they
settle progressively to the bottom of the stream bed,
thewater becomes clear and approaches the color and
transparency of upstream water above the point of sew-
age discharge.
The upper graph illustrates the relative distribu-
tion and quantities of algae, various moulds, and fil-
amentous bacteria such as Sphaerotilus. From mile
0 to mile 36, high turbidity from floating debris and
suspended solids is not conducive to algal production.
Thus, except for slimy blue-green marginal and bot-
tom types, algae are sparse in this reach. In order
to grow well algae need sunlight, and here it cannot
penetrate the water effectively. Also, floating solids
that settle out of the water carry to the bottom with
them floating algae that drift into the polluted zone
from clear water areas upstream.
Blue-green algae that may cover marginal rocks in
slippery layers and give off foul odors upon seasonal
decay masquerade under the names: Phormidium,
Lyngbya, and Oscillatoria. Green algae that accomo-
date themselves to the putrid zone of active decompo-
sition frequently include Spirogyra and Stigeoclonium.
Gomphonema and Nitzschia are among the diatoms that
are present here.
Algae begin to increase in numbers at about mile
36. Plankton, or free-floating forms, steadily be-
come more abundant and reach their greatest numbers
in algal blooms some 40 to 60 miles farther down-
stream. This is where reduced turbidity, a lack of
settleable sewage solids, final mineralization of pro-
teinaceous organics to nitrate-nitrogen fertilizers, and
favorable oxygen relations result in an ideal environ-
-------
124
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
ment for growth of abundant aquatic plants.
Algae that may be found abundantly here may be
represented by the bluegreen genera Microcystis and
Anabaena; the pigmented flagellates are represented
by Euglena and Pandorina; the green algae by Clado-
phora, Ankistrodesmus, and Rhizoclonium; and dia-
toms" by Meridion and Cyclotella. Rooted, flowering,
aquatic plants that form underwater jungles here are
represented by the "water pest." Elodea. and various
species of pond weeds known as Potomogeton. Such
aquatic forests and meadows present an excellent nat-
ural food supply for the aquatic animals, and also
serve them with shelter. Thus, commonly as plants
respond downstream in developing a diversified pop-
ulation in the recovery and clean water zones, animals
follow a parallel development with a great variety of
species. In such reaches where the stream consists
of numerous alternating riffles and pools, a great va-
riety of fish are likely to occur.
In the reach where algae are scare (sic: scarce),
from about 0 to mile 36, various moulds and bacteria
are the dominant aquatic plants. Sphaerotilus fila-
ments may abound in riffle areas at about mile 36 where
physical attachment surfaces are available and where
oxygen, although low, is adequate. Bacterial slimes
may cover rocks and other submerged objects and
bank margins. Such slimes have an abundant supply
small particles of settleable organic matter. Such cil-
iates are also found in aeration tanks of sewage treat-
ment installations as a component of activated sludge
and on the surface of rock in trickling filter beds.
Common ones are Epistilis, Vorticella, Colpidium,
and Stentor.
Figure 6 illustrates the interrelations between bac-
teria and animal plankton, such as ciliated protozoans,
rotifers and crustaceans. The quantities shown and
the die-off curves for sewage bacteria in toto and for
coliform bacteria separately are theoretically accu-
rate. The center curve for ciliated protozoans and
the last curve representing rotifers and crustaceans
are more accurate in principle than in actual quantities.
After entering the stream as a part of the sewage,
bacteria, including coliforms, reproduce to become
abundant in an ideal environment. Here they feed on
the rich organic matter of sewage and by multiplying
rapidly offer a ready food supply for ciliated proto-
zoans which are initially few in number. After about
a day of flow the bacteria may be reduced through
natural die-off and from the predatory feeding by pro-
tozoans. After about two days of flow, the stream en-
vironment becomes more ideal for the ciliates, and
they form the dominant group of animal plankton. Af-
ter seven days, the ciliates fall victim to rotifers and
crustaceans which represent the principal microscopic
animal life in the stream.
THE BIOTA
SEWAGE BACTERIA
NO. PER ml.
2
24
1
12
1
12
6
8
3 4
DAYS
24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
MILES
Figure 6 - Bacteria thrive and finally become prey of the ciliates, which in turn
are food for the rotifers and crustaceans.
of available food in readily usable form of carbohy-
drates, proteins and fats and their digestion products.
They are not bothered especially by high turbidities or
by settleable solids. They do well living in the center
of sludge or near it, in what to them is an "apple-pie"
environment.
BACTERIA AND THE CILIATES
Associated with the bacterial slimes are certain
ciliated protozoans that feed on bacteria and engulf
It has been long suspected that the efficiency of this
sewage consuming biological machine depends upon a
close-knit savage society in which one kind of organism
captures and eats another. Classical research of some
time past showed that a single kind of bacterium mixed
with sewage in a bottle could not do an efficient or
rapid job of breaking down the sewage. Several kinds
could do a better job, supposedly because one bacter-
ial type, in acting upon parts of the sewage as food,
prepared it for acceptance by another. With several
-------
Stream Life and the Pollution Environment
125
bacteria a multilateral attackwas made possible. But
even a system like this is inefficient. Bacteria worK
best only when they are growing rapidly and they do
this when they multiply frequently by splitting into two.
It is important then that they not be permitted to attain
a stable high and lazy population. In the bottle the task
of stabilizing sewage goes most rapidly when ferocious
bacteria-eating ciliates are introduced to keep the pop-
ulation at a low and rapidly growing state.
These relations between the bacteria eaters and
their prey, discovered in the bottle, apply as well to
efficient functioning of a modern sewage treatment
plant. In some sewage treatment plants, examination
is made routinely to see how the battle lines are drawn
up between the bacteria eaters and their prey. It now
becomes more obvious why sewage disappears so ef-
ficiently from the stream. It also is clear why the
bacteria, the ciliates, the rotifers and the crustaceans
increase, persist for awhile, and then decrease along
the course of passage of the stream.
THE BIOTA
3 4
DAYS
12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
MILES
Figure 7 - The [upper] curve shows the fluctuations in numbers of species: the
[lower] the variations in numbers of each.
THE HIGHER FORMS
Figure 7 illustrates the types of organisms and the
numbers of each type likely to occur along the course
of the stream under the assumed physical conditions
that were stated earlier. The upper curve represents
the numbers, of kinds or species of organisms that are
found under varying degrees of pollution. The lower
curve represents the numbers of individuals of each
species. In clean water above the city a great variety
of organisms is found with very few of each kind rep-
resented. At the point of waste entry the number of
different species is.greatly reduced, and they are re-
placed by a different association of aquatic life. This
new association demonstrates a severe change in en-
vironment that is drastically illustrated by a change
in the species make-up of the biota. However, this
changed biota, represented by a few species, is ac-
companied by a tremendous increase in the numbers
of individuals of each kind as compared with the den-
sity of population upstream.
In clean water upstream there is an association of
sports fish, various minnows, caddis worms, may-
flies, stoneflies, hellgrammites, and gill-breathing
snails, each kind represented by a few individuals. In
badly polluted zones the upstream association dis-
appears completely or is reduced, and is replaced by
a dominant animal association of rattailed maggots,
sludge worms, bloodworms and a few others, repre-
sented by great numbers of individuals. When down-
stream conditions again resemble those of the upstream
clean water zone, the clean water animal association
tends to reappear and the pollution tolerant group of
animals becomes suppressed. Thus, clean water as-
sociations of animals may form parameters around
polluted water reaches. Such associations may be in-
dicative that water is fit for multiple uses, while the
presence of a pollution tolerant association of animals
indicates that water has restricted uses.
Pollution tolerant animals are especially well
adapted to life in thick sludge deposits and to condi-
tions of low dissolved oxygen. The rattailed maggot,
Eristalis tenax. is not dependent on oxygen in water.
This animal shoves its "snorkle-like" telescopic air
tube through the water surface film to breathe atmos-
pheric oxygen. Thus, even in the absence of oxygen it
is one of the few survivors where most animals have
suffocated. Those who have worked around sewage
-------
126
RELATIONSHIP TO POLLUTION OF BOTTOM ORGANISMS
treatment installations have probably observed the
flesh or milkish colored rattailed maggot in the super-
natant over sludge beds where dewatering performance
was poor. Commonly associated with it in this super-
natant over sludge beds are the immature stages of
the well-known "sewagefly," Psychoda, and wrigglers
of the sewage mosquito, Culex pipiens. The rattailed
maggot turns into a black and brownish banded fly a-
bout three-quarters of an inch long, called a "bee fly"
because it closely resembles a bee. It differs by hav-
ing two wings instead of four and does nflt sting.
Sludge worms, Tubifex, are dependent upon the dis-
solved oxygen in water; however, they are well ad-
justed to oxygen famine and commonly are found in
water with as little as half a part per million. They
are actually aquatic earthworms, cousins of the ter-
restrial earthworms found in lawns and used as fish
bait. These worms feed on sludge by taking it into the
digestive tract. In passing it through their alimentary
canal, they remove organic matter from it, thus re-
ducing the biochemical oxygen demand. Sludge worms
one and one-half inches long and as thick as a needle
have been observed to pass fecal pellets totaling five
feet nine inches through the digestive tract in 24 hours.
Fecal pellets that are extruded from the anal openings
have on occasion been found to have a biochemical
oxygen demand of one-half of that of sludge that was
not "worked-over" by them. The sludge worms are
then, "actually crawling BOD," in that they incorpor-
ate sugars, proteins and fats that are present in sludge
into their body cellular components. It may be diffi-
cult to visualize the magnitude of BOD removal that one
worm, needle-thick in size and one and one-half inches
long, can accomplish in relation to an extensive sludge
deposit. However, when it is realized that from 7,000
to 14, 000 of these worms maybe found per square foot
of bottom surface in sludges, considerable work is
done in removing BOD. By the same token, for ex-
ample, wrigglers of sewage mosquitoes. (Sic. ,)
Culex pipiens, that feed on theorganics of sewage and
emerge as adults to fly out of water represent BOD
removed. In this instance it is "flying COD" that is
factually taken out of water, whereas the crawling BOD
of sludge worms is not removed, but is recycled back
as the worms die.
The worm-like body of organisms composing the
pollution tolerant association of the rattailed maggot,
sludge worms, blood worms, and leeches is an ideal
type to have for successful living in sludge. As settle-
able solids fall to the bottom, such organisms are not
trapped and buried in them to die, but by wriggling
with their worm-like cylindrical bodjes,-manage to
maintain their position near the surface of sludge in
communication with the water interface. Sow-bugs that
are shown in Figure 7 with the "wormy-horde" do have
well-developed appendages, but their life may be mar-
ginal on stream bank areas and on the surf ace of rocks
protruding from sludge covered bottoms. Thus, they
are not buried by settleable solids.
The invertebrates shown in clean water do not form
successful populations in streams where settleable
solids sink to form sludge deposits. Because their
appendages may become clogged with sludge as solids
settle, they may be carried readily to the bottom and
be buried alive.
POPULATION FLUCTUATION
Figure 8 shows that the population curve of Figure
7 is actually composed of a series of population max-
ima for individual species. The species form a sig-
nificant pattern in reference to each other and to the
varying strength of the pollutant as it decreases pro-
gressively downstream. Sludge worms such as Tubi-
fex and Limnodrilus canbetter withstand pollution than
other bottom invertebrates. Thus, they reach great
numbers closer to the source than other bottom dwell-
ing animals. In turn they are replaced in dominance
by red midges, also called bloodworms or Chirono-
mids. and then by aquatic sow-bugs, Asellus. The
sludge worms and red midges are so numerous in con-
trast to the other organisms shown in Figure 8 that
THE BIOTA
SLUDGE WORMS
g 2 AQUATIC INSECTS
(X25)
SOW BUGS (X 30)
AQUATIC
DAYS
36 48
MILES
Figure 8 - The population curve of Figure 7 is composed of a series of maxima for
individual species, each multiplying and dying off as stream conditions
vary.
-------
Stream Life and the Pollution Environment
127
numbers of the latter are exaggerated 25 to 30 times
to permit showing them effectively. Finally, when the
effects of pollution have largely subsided in the en-
vironment, a variety of insect species represented by
few individuals of each dominates the bottom habitat.
The story of pollution told here emphasizes that
stream pollution and recovery may follow an orderly
scheme under the influence of interacting physical,
chemical and biological forces. Using streams as
dumping places for sewage triggers the environmental
and biotic changes that have been shown. These changes
are not desirable. In most cases, in addition, they
are hazardous to public health and otherwise impair
the usefulness of valuable water resources. The need-
ed remedy is to confine all of these interacting forces
in an acceptable sewage treatment works so that this
example of the Nation's water resources is protected
for present and future use.
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