Proceedings of a Symposium
March 10-12,1975
Washington, DC.
U.5. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water and
Hazardous Materials
\
ms
of
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THE INTEGRITY OF WATER
a symposium
SYMPOSIUM COORDINATORS:
R. Kent Ballentine and Leonard J. Guarraia
Water Quality Criteria Staff, EPA
Washington, D.C.
OPENING SESSION
Chairman: Kenneth M. Mackenthun, Acting Di-
rector, Technical Standards Division, Office of
Water and Hazardous Materials, EPA, Wash-
ington, D.C.
Speakers: Kenneth M. Mackenthun
James L. Agee, Assistant Administrator, Office
of Water and Hazardous Materials, EPA,
Washington, D.C.
Thomas Jorling, Director, Center for Environ-
mental Studies, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Donald Squires, Director, State University of
New York Sea Grant Program, Albany, New
York
CHEMICAL INTEGRITY
Chairman: Dwight C. Ballinger, National Environ-
mental Research Center, EPA, Cincinnati,
Ohio
Speakers: Bostwick Ketchum, Director, Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole,
Massachusetts
Arnold Greenberg, Chief, Chemical and Radio-
logical Laboratories, State of California
Department of Public Health, Berkeley, Cali-
fornia
Jay Lehr, Executive Secretary, National Water
Well Association, Columbus, Ohio
PHYSICAL INTEGRITY
Chairman: Richard K. Ballentine, Water Quality
Criteria Staff, EPA, Washington, D.C.
Speakers: Donald J. O'Connor, Professor of
Environmental Engineering, Manhattan Col-
lege, New York, New York
Donald R. F. Harleman, Professor of Civil
Engineering and Director, Parson':! Labora-
tory for Water Resources, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts
John M. Wilkinson, A. D. Little, Inc., Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—
A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
Chairman: Leonard J. Guarraia, Water Quality
Criteria Staff, EPA, Washington, D.C.
Speakers: David G. Frey, Indiana University,
Bloomington, Indiana
George Wood well, Brookhaven National Labora-
tories, Upton, Long Island, New York
Charles Coutant, Oak Ridge National Labora-
tory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Ruth Patrick, Chief, Curator of Limnology,
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—
A QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION
Chairman: David G. Frey, Indiana University,
Sloomington, Indiana
Speakers: Ray Johnson, National Science Founda-
tion, Washington, D.C.
John Cairns, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg, Virginia
Gerald T. Orlob, Resource Management
Associates, Lafayette, California
J. P. H. Batteke, Chief, Social Sciences Division,
Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario
INTEGRITY—AN INTERPRETATION
Chairman: Martha Sager, Effluent Standards and
Water Quality Information Advisory Commit-
tee, EPA, Washington, D.C.
Ronald B. Robie, Director, Department of Water
Resources, The Resources Agency, Sacra-
mento, California
Ronald B. Outen, National Resources Defense
Council, Washington, D.C.
R. M. Billings, Director of Environmental Con-
trol, Kimberly-Clark, Neenah, Wisconsin
Gladwin Hill, National Environmental Corre-
spondent, New York Times, New York
Following each presentation, Symposium partici-
pants were encouraged to question the speaker.
These discussions were recorded by a professional
reporting service and appear at the conclusion of
each paper. They have been minimally edited, sim-
ply for clarification of the spoken word in print.
in
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FOREWORD
"The Integrity of Water" results from the formal
papers and comments presented at an invitational
symposium by recognized water experts represent-
ing a variety of disciplines and societal interests.
The focus of the symposium was on the definition
and interpretation of water quality integrity as
viewed and discussed by representatives of State
governments, industry, academia, conservation
and environmental groups, and others of the gen-
eral public. The symposium was structured to ad-
dress quantitative and qualitative characteristics of
the physical, chemical, and biological properties of
surface and ground waters.
It is recognized that streams, lakes, estuaries,
and coastal marine waters vary in size and configu-
ration, geologic features, and flow characteristics,
and are influenced by climate and meteorological
events, and the type and extent of human impact.
The natural integrity of such waters may be deter-
mined partially by consulting historical records of
water quality and species composition where avail-
able, by conducting ecological investigations of the
area or of a comparable ecosystem, and through
modeling studies that provide an estimation of the
natural ecosystem based upon information avail-
able. Appropriate water quality criteria present
quality goals that will provide for the protection of
aqyatic and associated wildlife, man and other
users of water', and consumers of the aquatic life.
' This volume adds another dimension to our re-
corded knowledge on water quality. It brings into
sharp focus one of the basic issues associated with
the protection and management of this Nation's
valued aquatic resource. It highlights, once again,
our unqualified dependence upon controlling water
pollution if we are to continue to have a viable and
complex society. The Congress has provided us
with strong and comprehensive water pollution
control laws. In accordance with the advances in
research and development and with our increased
knowledge about the environment, these laws will
receive further congressional consideration and
modification as appropriate. It is through the
efforts of those who participated in making this vol-
ume possible that attention is focused once again on
the basic goals of water quality to support the dy-
namic needs of this generation and of others to
come.
Douglas M. Costle, Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
June, 1977
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CONTENTS
The Integrity of Water, a Symposium
Foreword
Douglas M. Costle
OVERVIEW
The Problem
James L. Agee
Legislative Requirements
Kenneth M. Mackenthun
Incorporating Ecological Interpretation into
Basic Statutes
Thomas Jorling
Integrity of the Water Environment
Donald F. Squires
CHEMICAL INTEGRITY
The Water Environment
BostwickH. Ketchum
The Chemical Integrity of Surface Water
ArnoldE. Greenherg
The Integrity of Ground Water
Jay H. Lehr and Wayne A. Pettyjohn
15
25
33
41
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—
A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
Biological Integrity of Water—an Historical Ap-
proach 127
David G. Frey
Biological Integrity—1975 141
G. M. Woodwell
Representative Species Concept- 149
Charles Content
Identifying Integrity Through Ecosystem Study . 155
Ruth Patrick
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—
A QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION
Fisheries.. 165
Ray Johnson
Quantification of Biclogical Integrity 171
John Cairns, Jr.
Modeling of Aquatic Ecosystems 189
Gerald T. Orlob
The Watershed as a Management Concept- - 203
J. P. H. Batteke
INTEGRITY—AN INTERPRETATION
PHYSICAL INTEGRITY
The Effect of Hydrology and Hydrography on
Water Quality
Donald J. O'Connor
Effect of Physical Factors on Water Quality
Donald R. F. Harleman
Channelization
JohnM. Wilkinson
61
105
117
The States' View
Ronald B. Robie
A Conservationist's View
Ronald Outen
Industry's View
R. M. Billings
The Public's View
Gladwin Hill
211
215
221
227
vii
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BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY OF WATER-
AM HISTORICAL APPROACH
DAVID G. FREY
Department of Zoology
Indiana University
Bloornington, Indiana
To a considerable extent the topics assigned to us
have unreasonably artificial boundaries, because an
eeologist cannot talk about the physics, chemistry,
or biology of water separately, nor about the quali-
tative aspects of water and its biotas separately
from the quantitative aspects. Moreover, in A meet-
ing such as this of persons with disparate; back-
grounds and interests, effective communication can
be a problem. We all tend to use words that have
special meanings within our own disciplines and we
assume a certain understanding of premises, princi-
ples, and laws when we use them. To make certain
that we all are operating on the same wave length I
shall present several principles of ecology that must
guide our thinking about water, its management,
and the potential effects on it of various manipula-
tive processes, then give my own definition of the
integrity of water, and finally address the topic
assigned me. The principles to be discussed apply
to all aquatic systems, but the examples I shall
present will be concerned chiefly with lakes, as
they, along with the oceans, provide in their sedi-
ments the only record of past events not covered by
written observations or the memory of persons still
living.
(1) Lakes and rivers are integral parts of larger
systems—the watersheds or catchment areas that
are drained by the riveni or drain through the
lakes. Besides water itself, the catchment area con-
tributes dissolved and participate substances, both
mineral and organic. In addition, usually lesser
'quantities of various substances are contributed
directly to the water from the atmosphere by pre-
cipitation and dry fallout. Together with such
process-regulating variables as light, temperature,
current velocity, et cetera, these various: sub-
stances comprise the abiotic portion of the aquatic
environment and help control the diversity and
abundance of aquatic organisms.
(2) Those substances that are used directly by
aquatic organisms and are necessary in their
metabolism—usually called essential nutri-
ents—are recycled in the system by biological
mechanisms. Storage in living biomass, in wood or
sediments, or in the deep water of a stratified lake
can delay the reutilization of these nutrients for
varying periods of time. Because inputs and out-
puts, including storage, are generally in balance, an
aquatic system to remain functional requires a con-
tinuous input of nutrients. The quantities of nutri-
ents and other substances contributed by a water-
shed vary with the geological nature of the sub-
strate and its overlying soils, the vegetational
cover of the land, and climate. Since all of these
tend to form regional patterns, it is not surprising
that rivers and lakes also tend to form regional pat-
terns or clusters in their chemistry, productivity,
and biotic diversity.
(3) Besides nutrients there must also be a source
of fixed energy, mostly in organic compounds. The
latter derive both from photosynthesis accom-
plished within the aquatic part of the system and
from organic materials, such as leaves, pollen, and
leachates produced in the terrestrial part of the
system. In some systems, such as lakes with small,
nonforested watersheds, virtually 100 percent of
the available energy derives from autochthonous
photosynthesis, whereas in other systems, such as
small, headwater streams in heavily forested
regions, almost all the fixed energy derives from
organic detritus of terrestrial origin. But whatever
its origin, the fixed energy in organic substances is
the driving force that enables the organisms pres-
ent to metabolize and carry on their life processes.
As the energy is used in metabolism it is trans-
formed into heat and dissipated from the system.
Hence, unlike nutrients, energy cannot be recycled.
It is a one-way street, but like nutrients there must
be a continuous supply for the ecosystem to
function.
(4) Taking into consideration regional differences
in water chemistry and nutrient supply and differ-
ences between water bodies in energy availability
and efficiency of nutrient recycling, each aquatic
system has accumulated over time a diversified
biota consisting of many species of organisms ad-
127
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128
THE INTEGRITY OF WATER
justed to the particular set of conditions in the
water body in question. For purposes of analysis
and construction of models, these organisms are
often clustered into such functional groups as pri-
mary producers, herbivores, detritivores, carni-
vores, decomposers, et cetera, but all are inter-
related. That particular species occur in a given
lake or river is partly a matter of the species pool of
the region and the dispersal capabilities of the
individual species, partly a function of the biotic
and abiotic relationships in the water body. Al-
though we consider these systems to be in a steady
state, intuitively we expect the biota to adjust to
long term changes in climate, vegetation, soil de-
velopment, and internal trends within the system
itself, and we also expect the system to be able to
accommodate and eventually recover from such
short term natural stresses as scouring flushouts in
rivers, episodes of volcanism, landslides, and so
forth. Homeostasis is restored.
This, to me, is what is meant by the integrity of
water—the capability of supporting and maintain-
ing a balanced, integrated, adaptive community of
organisms having a composition and diversity com-
parable to that of the natural habitats of the region.
Such a community can accommodate the repetitive
stresses of the changing seasons. It can accept nor-
mal variations in input of nutrients and other mate-
rials without disruptive consequences. It displays a
resistance to change and at the same time a capac-
ity to recover from even quite major disruptions.
My assignment is to consider what history tells
us about the response of aquatic systems. Anything
that happened in the past is history. Even the
words I speak become a part of history as soon as
they are spoken. But most of history is unrecorded
and hence unavailable for interpretation. In the
case of aquatic systems there are anecdotal
accounts of particular events or conditions that may
have some comparative value. There may be time
series of accumulated data for particular rivers or
lakes that document what happened during these
intervals. And, in the case of lakes (and oceans), the
accumulated sediments constitute an historical rec-
ord of changing climate and watershed conditions
and the integrated response of the lake to these
changes. Where no previous studies on particular
lakes exist and likewise no isolated anecdotes about
particular events, the only means we have of
interpreting previous conditions is from the sedi-
ments. For rivers this possibility does not exist at
all, as there is no long term sequential accumulation
of sediments. Hence, here we are completely de-
pendent on the written record, except for the geo-
morphic and hydrologic changes that can be inter-
preted from the landscape and residual sediments
of the valley.
I do not intend to say much about rivers. Their
response to point source additions of domestic and
industrial wastes is the establishment of a longi-
tudinal gradient involving a succession of chemical
processes and organisms, which for organic wastes
is sufficiently predictive that a series of zones—the
sabrobic system—has been set up to help describe
and interpret the process of recovery. Other zone
designations have been devised for various kinds of
industrial wastes and the responses they elicit.
Organisms vary greatiy.'in their sensitivity to
environmental changes accompanying pollution.
Fishes together with a majority of insects and mol-
luscs are most sensitive. Blue-green algae and a few
miscellaneous animals from several groups are
most resistant. These differences in tolerance lead
to a greatly simplified community at the point of
maximum impact, with the organisms tolerating
the conditions here often occurring in tremendous
numbers, and then to a gradual buildup in diversity
of species and equitability in numbers of individuals
downstream. Various diversity indices have been
proposed to help quantify these changes. Diatoms
are particularly useful in stream studies and their
truncated log-normal distributions are useful in
assessing the severity of pollution. The experienced
investigator can often determine quite easily from
the macroinvertebrates present what the stage of
recovery is, and can also detect residual effects of
pollution, as from lead mines in Wales, that are no
longer detectable chemically.
Lakes are fundamentally different from rivers in
a number of respects that affect the mtegrity of
water as I have defined it. In the first place, their
water movements are not gravity-controlled, unidi-
rectional flows which continually flush out the chan-
nel with new water from above, but rather wind-
induced circulations. Typically in summer, when
the wind is not adequate to overcome the differ-
ences in density set up by surface warming, the
lake becomes divided into an upper circulating epi-
limnion and a lower zone, the hypolimnion, cut off
from the surface by a steep density gradient and as
a result subject to generally much weaker water
movements than the epilimnion. During periods of
calm weather those lakes that circulate continu-
ously over summer can become temporarily
stratified and even the epilimnion of the others can
develop secondary stratifications under these cir-
cumstances. Regardless of the duration of such
stratification, the hypolimnion, or its equivalent in
temporary stratification, experiences cumulative
chemical changes, most important of which is the
gradual depletion of dissolved oxygen by biological
activity. The longer the duration of stratification
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BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
129
and the greater the amount of biological activity,
the more severe will be the oxygen depletion with
its attendant stresses on organisms requiring cer-
tain levels of dissolved oxygen for their survival.
Unlike rivers, lakes accumulate sediments pro-
gressively and sequentially. One effect of these sed-
iments is gradually to reduce the volume of the
hypolimnion over time and hence the total volume
of dissolved oxygen it contains when stratification
becomes established in spring or summer. Conse-
quently, even without any increase in biological
activity, the hypolimnion will experience a gradual
reduction in oxygen concentration over time, which
brings about the extinction and replacement of
various deepwater organisms as their tolerances
for low oxygen are exceeded.
The sediments constitute a storage for energy
and nutrients. Some ol this is utilized by bacteria
which can continue their activity even to consider-
able depths in the sediments, or by various animals,
which because of their need for molecular oxygen
are confined generally to the uppermost few centi-
meters. Whether the sediments are functioning
chiefly as a sink or as a reservoir for nutrients is
important in problems concerning eutrophication
and its management.
The sediments also constitute a chronolojjical rec-
ord of processes in the lake and conditions in its
watershed, including climate. A perceptive reading
of the record—its chemistry, physics, and paleon-
tology—gives us much insight into the stability of
lake systems when subjected to various stresses,
including those resulting from man's activities, and
their rates of recovery.
A third major difference between rivers and
lakes is that the water in lakes has a certain resi-
dence time, up to 100 years or more in some of the
large lakes, determined by the relationship be-
tween the input of water from the catchment area
and direct precipitation and the total volume of the
lake. This allows for the recycling of nutrients in
the same place, subject to the constraints imposed
by stratification, and the buildup of a diverse com-
munity of small floating organisms—the plankton.
And even apart from any storage function of the
sediments, the residence or replacement time
means that there is an inherent lag in response of
the system to any increase or decrease in inputs of
nutrients or other substances having biological
effects. In streams the response to input changes
can be almost immediate. Any storages in the sedi-
ments are mostly temporary, as the sediments can
be swept downstream during the next flood stage.
WTiat I should like to do now is present a few
examples of the kinds of responses made by lakes to
various stresses.
It was almost axiomatic in limnology until quite
recently that lakes increase in productivity over
time through natural causes, a process that has
been termed natural eutrophication. This idea
seemed to be substantiated by some early studies in
paleolimnology which showed that the organic con-
tent of the sediments increased exponentially over
time from a very low level initially to a certain
plateau level—the trophic equilibrium—which was
then maintained .essentially unchanged almost to
the present. The trophic equilibrium was regarded
as a state in which production was no longer limited
by nutrient supply but rather by such factors as
light penetration that affect the efficiency of utiliza-
tion and recycling of nutrients within the system.
The sedimentary chlorophyll degradation prod-
ucts (SCDP) in sediments originate almost entirely
from photosynthetic plants, chiefly algae, in the
lake itself. Present evidence suggests that these
organic compounds are relatively stable in sedi-
ments. Hence, the quantitative changes over time
of these substances can give an indication of the
magnitude and changes in productivity experienced
by a lake. One core from Pretty Lake, Ind., (Figure
1), shows low SCDP and hence low productivity in
late glacial time and then an exponential increase to
a maximum, maintained essentially at plateau level
almost to the present. This corresponds to the
classical interpretation of the trophic equilibrium in
lake ontogeny. But the second core from shallower
water shows a decline in SCDP after the maximum
following the exponential increase, which does not
fit the model.
We now know from this and other studies in
paleolimnology that change in productivity over
time is not unidirectional from low to high in all
lakes, but that some lakes had a period of high pro-
ductivity initially and then became less productive
subsequently. Others had discrete episodes of
higher productivity from whatever cause. For
example, Lake Trummen in southern Sweden
(Digerfeldt, 1972} had high accumulation rates of
organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus at the
beginning of postglacial time approximately 10,000
years ago. These subsequently declined and re-
mained low up to very recent time, when industrial
organic effluents completely changed the character
of the lake (Figure 2). These relationships are
interpreted as reflecting the high early availability
of nutrients from the youthful soils of the regional
till sheets, with the subsequent decline resulting
from the progressive impoverishment of the soil by
leaching and by the reduction of subsurface inflow
into the lake as basin-sealing sediments accumu-
lated.
Hence, the productive status of a lake is depend-
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130
THE INTEGRITY OF WATER
2000
10OO
6000
- 80OO
10000
12000
14000
so 100
SCDP/G ORGANIC MATTER
FIGURE 1
ent on the magnitude of its nutrient inputs, subject
to the internal controls of the system. If we can de-
crease the nutrient supply, we can expect a more or
less commensurate decrease in productivity. Vari-
ous attempts are being made to model the magni-
tude of the response expected from any reduction in
nutrient loading, but the rate of response is still
unpredictable. The rapid reduction of phosphorus
and productivity in Lake Washington following the
elimination of secondary sewage effluents
(Edmondson, 1972) is encouraging, although some
other components of the system, such as nitrogen,
did not behave in the same dramatic way. Other
examples to be presented suggest that the response
time of the total system, or perhaps better the re-
bound time from a stressed condition, can be much
longer than in Lake Washington.
The responses of a lake to the decreasing oxygen
concentration of the hypolimnion over time are in-
structive and significant. Western Lake Erie is so
shallow that it stratifies only temporarily in sum-
mer during calm weather. Already by 1953 the
oxygen demand of the sediments had become such
that during a brief period of temporary stratifica-
tion in late summer the oxygen content of the water
overlying the bottom was sufficiently reduced to
cause the wholesale death of the nymphs of the bur-
rowing mayfly, one of the most abundant organisms
here and a very important fish food {Britt, 1955).
The mayflies never reestablished their populations
but they have been replaced by smaller oligochaete
worms capable of enduring quite low concentra-
tions of dissolved oxygen. Thus, a single event, al-
though obviously with antecedent conditions, led to
a complete change in one portion of the biotic
community.
The cisco is another case in point, although per-
haps less spectacular. If we want to talk about
endangered species, or at least endangered popula-
tions, this is one. It is a fish that lives in deep water
with requirements for both low temperature and
high oxygen. If either of these limits is exceeded,
the fish perishes. As the summer oxygen concen-
tration of the hypolimnion gradually decreases over
time, the cisco, in order to meet its oxygen needs,
is forced upward into strata with progressively
higher temperatures. Eventually the combination
of low oxygen in deep water and high temperatures
toward the surface eliminates the habitat suitable
for the cisco and the population is extinguished. In
1952 Indiana had 41 lakes with known cisco popula-
tions (Frey, 1955a). It is certain that a number of
these populations have been completely extirpated
since then, and it is not at all certain how long the
others will survive.
The species of midge larvae associated with deep-
water sediments have different requirements for
dissolved oxygen, so that as the oxygen content of
the hypolimnion gradually declines over time, the
composition of the midge community likewise
changes progressively in favor of species capable of
tolerating lower oxygen concentrations. This led
early in limnology to the establishment of a series of
lake types based on the dominant species of off-
shore midges and presumably representing stages
in a successional series. Fortunately the head cap-
sules of the midge larvae, which are well preserved
in lake sediments, suffice to identify the organisms
to the generic and sometimes to the species levels.
In general, the pattern of succession in an in-
dividual lake corresponds to the model, with spe-
cies requiring high levels of oxygen occurring early
in the history of the lake; these subsequently are
replaced by species more tolerant of reduced
oxygen; they in turn are replaced by species still
more tolerant, and so on until the only species left is
a mosquito-like larva Chaoborus, which can endure
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BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
131
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132
THE INTEGRITY
anaerobiosis for a while, but eventually even it is
eliminated if conditions continue to deteriorate
The most incisive study to date is that of Hot-
mann (1971) on Schohsee m northern Germany. A
midge community associated with moderate oligo-
trophy dominated the offshore community until
early sub-Boreal time about 1500 B.C. IMS was r-
lowed by a transitional community las ing perhaps
2,500 years, and this in turn by a eutropinc com-
munity for the last 1 000 ^^^^
much more complex than indicated by this too briet
summary in that throughout the 10,000 years of
lake history there were migrations of originally
shallow-water species into deep water extinction
of deepwater species, and successional dominance
of one species or another as conditions graduaHy
changed. Actual quantitative studies of the benthos
in 1964-67 compared with similar studies m 1924
show that the populations are still changing (F.gure
3) . In this interval the populat.on of chironomids,
especially Chironomus, has declined drastically,
being replaced by an increasing population of ohgo-
chaetes. Chaoborus remained *«^"»-£*
situation is reminiscent of western Lake Erie,
where oligochaetes took over after the big killof f of
m S^tJerTfir^moved into the Bay of Quinte region
of Lake Ontario about 1784 Government reporte
describe the devastation of thousands of acres by
lumbering and the erosion problems resulting. The
initial impact of this land disturbance on the Bay
was to change the deepwater sediment from silt
dominance to clay dominance and to bring about a
marked decrease in organic content through ddu-
tion by clay (Warwick, 1975). Subsequently, the or-
ganic content increased gradually, although it is
still less than pre-impact level, but now there is a
pronounced decline in oxygen content of the deep
water in summer. The initial response of the midge
community was somewhat surprising; it becam
more oligotrophic than it had been before but then
it proceeded through several successional Phases to
a quite strongly eutrophic stage at present (Figure
4). Unlike previous investigators, Warwick pe-
lieves that the earliest stages in midge succession
are controlled by food supply more than by the
minimum annual concentration of oxygen m the
hypolimnion. The latter * important chiefly m the
later stages of succession. Besides the shift in Jithol
ogy from silt to clay, the sediments deriving ^rom
the impact period are marked by the appearan. e ol
the pollen of Ambrosia (ragweed), the abundance of
OF WATER
America for forest clearance and the initiation of
Qfect on our water resources is nothing re-
^. ™ 5 fa Uen diagram Of Langsee in
J^ff^T (F?ey 1955b), a lake that pres-
southern Austria ^y ^ ^ ^
jf^j^ti^lte of the rest of the
, " F. *JL_ and autumn-a condition known as
lake m spnng «,d ^umn^ & ^
part al c™^™™ M h fa obvious in the dia.
^^e ^esTde5; changes in the non-tree pol-
gra 'inciudjng the appearance of various agricul-
lens ncin g^ of such cultivated
, as well as a disruption
vegetation. At this
bands of clay Star, separated
reduced sediment completely unlike the
sited prior to this but identical
Quite obviously, this is when
region about 2,300 years
^ clearance of the land
fc ^
lake, triggering the condition
of pi? acTrculation, now maintained by biological
«par the sudden import of large amounts
means. «*J»^ can haye ^ferent consequences
i a small volcanic lake in cen-
km from Rome, had an initial
of ^t^ty when formed about
* then & hase of ,ow prod c.
£>»" 'T ^^ when the construction of a
« _y ^ v^ Cassia ^ m R c compieteiy
• t rf nutrients and other substances
^ ^^ ^atershed (Hutchinson, et al. 1970).
^ ]ake re ded by dramatic increases in pro-
ductivit and sedimentation rates which did not
unta ^^^ 1QQQ years after the disturbance
[pi 6) Since tnen, productivity, as inferred
j^ the accumulation rates of SUch substances as
oreanic matter, nitrogen, et cetera, has subsided to
B ^ much ter than that existing before
disturbance. The lag in response and the long
duration Q{ the response are probably related to the
Monterosi is a closed basin with no perma-
streams draining its very small watershed and
withoutputoniyvia seepage.
lafee fa northern Gemany
Gros ser no ^ ^^ ^ d
tamo Thienemann and his associates. In
thereby ^ gu^ ^^^ ^ ^ ^ raised
i overflooding much
the
-------
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
SCHOHSEE BENTHOS 1924 AND 1964/67
133
NUMBERS/I^
103
1fl2
I01
P
1924
-
1
12-
1964/67
l£lm
UHIHUNOF
WIDAE/CHIRO
1924
DEI
1964/67
^^^^^™
24m
>TH
NOMUS
1924
>2t
1964/67
lm
CHIRONOMIDAE
CHIRONOMUS
NUMBERS/M2
102 _
101
10* E
10*
CHAOBORUS FLAVICANS
1964/67
=
IERS/M
1924
12-1
2
1964/67
9m
1924
20-
DEF
1964/67
24m
•TH
1924
>2
4m
•
-
12-1
^"
9m
TUBIFI
1924
^•^^^-™
20-:
DEP
CIDAE
1964/67
^^_^^_
24m
TH
1924
^•^MBI^H
>2'
^_.«
Im
-------
134
THE INTEGRITY OF WATER
PHASES IN THE GL.ENORA-B CORE
UJ
u.
o
UJ
0-
5-
IO-
15-
20-
25-
30-
35-
4O-
50-
S5-
90-
115-
140-
164-
Ihe MODERATELY
EUTROPHIC
PHASE
The MESOTROPHIC
PHASE
Ihe IMBALANCED
OLIGOTROPHIC
PHASE
Ihe INITIAL IMPACT
PHASE
Ihe PRE -SETTLEMENT
OLIGOTROPHIC
PHASE
Cr.ifprtofnus spp
PfOCtOdjyS Is S 1 SPP
Phqenppwclfo cl corrKitip ( Ztir }
Bfjir.o sp Jfingjfajcfl ly&e
Sv/icfl^octajius ^gmifirers Hit;',
CfiirtMorm* spp
Aficrppjtfil^) SPP
Toriylorsini Type H
'>itWfiidJ 4Z«rf J
At^npd'OmfSQ depecfinow Saftrn
WoJC'Olriiloclodivs cfiang' Scelli
Poroctotfopcl/np SP gb^cum Jype
Phaeflopsgc^o cf cflfpcino I Ze;i )
FIGURE 4
mm per year at the beginning of postglacial time to
only about 0.5 mm per year 9,000 years later, sud-
denly jumped 20-fold to more than 10 mm per year.
This has resulted in half the 15 meters of sediment
in the lake deriving from only the last 700 years of
the lake's existence. The big increases at this time
in the accumulation rates of such substances as
zinc, copper, cobalt, and aluminum reflect the in-
creased input of mineral substances to deep water
from the overflooded land and probably from the
watershed' also. Correspondingly big increases in
the accumulation rates of organic matter, chloro-
phyll derivatives, and diatom silica reflect the big
increase in production within the system resulting
from this changed regime (Figure 7).
The lake level had been raised to power a mill
dam, as was common in northern Germany at this
time, and also to facilitate the production of eels,
but the concomitant flooding of valuable agricul-
tural lands resulted in a long-continuing strife be-
BLACK REDUCED
SAPROPEL a TH
CD 10 5 5 2O
MIXED OAK FOftEST
GYTTJ6 • SAPROPEL
ICK CL1T
i Mtromictlc Phase
STABLE FIN6LV-lAtll»*TE[> 6TTTTJA
SILT
Halomictic Plait
FIGURES
-------
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
135
EStiM«T(0»»'[ 0>
OF ic*iiABi.c ORGAN
10TTED ACA.NSIOE
FIGURE 6
tween the mill operators and fishermen on the one
hand and the manor owners and farmers on the
other. Finally, in 1882 the lake level was lowered by
1.14 m. Up to this time the accumulation rates of
most mineral substances had been declining irregu-
larly, and likewise the indicators of biological activ-
ity. The sudden lowering in lake level resulted in
the erosion and deposition offshore of sediments
that had accumulated in shallow water, yielding a
discrete horizon of coarse-grained sediments and
associated sharp peaks of various mineral constitu-
ents. Accumulation rates of chlorophyll derivatives
and diatom silica declined at this time, perhaps
through light limitation of production by increased
inorganic turbidity. The large increase in chloro-
phyll derivatives in very recent time, reflecting
high productivity, is attributed to the heavy use of
agricultural fertilizers and phosphate detergents
and to the draining of the surrounding wetlands.
Such an increase of organic matter and other indi-
cators of production toward the surface is common-
place among lakes being stressed by man, fre-
quently resulting in a completely different type of
sediment than anything deposited earlier.
Grosser Plo'ner See is but one of a number of in-
stances where the productivity of a lake has been
markedly increased by raising its water level. The
present high productivity of Grosser Plb'ner See is
shared by many lakes of the region, all accom-
plished within the past few decades in direct re-
sponse to man's increasing impact on the systems.
Ohle (1973) has used the term "rasante Eutro-
phierung" (racing eutrophication) for this rapid re-
sponse of lakes to cultural influences, in contrast to
the generally slow, balanced development occur-
ring naturally.
The most abundant animal remains in lake sedi-
ments are the exoskeletal fragments of the Clado-
cera, particularly the family Chydoridae (Frey,
1964). They are abundant enough for the construc-
tion of close-interval stratigraphies similar to those
of pollen and diatoms and for the calculation of vari-
ous diversity indices and distribution functions.
Since the deepwater sediments represent an inte-
gration over time and habitat, the population of re-
mains recovered from the sediments is partly artifi-
cial, in that all the species represented probably did
not co-occur at the same time and place. Yet the di-
versity indices of the chydorids do show certain
demonstrable relationships to such variables as
productivity and transparency and, as shown in
Figure 8, the relative abundance of the various spe-
cies in an unstressed situation conforms almost pre-
cisely to the MacArthur broken stick model for con-
tiguous but non-overlapping niches (Goulden,
1969a). Hence, the species distribution predicted by
this model can be used to assess the extent of imbal-
ance in the system.
-------
136
THE INTEGRITY OF WATER
15 .
g AI/m2«Q
0 5 tt 15 20 25 30
5 _
I
10 „
15 _
15.
gDiot Si02/n/«o
g Chlorophyll/
FIGURE?
-------
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY-A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
137
In a series of 21 lakes in Denmark for which
measurements of annual phytoplankton photosyn-
thesis by radiocarbon uptake are available
(Whiteside, 1969), there is; a direct relationship be-
tween species diversity and transparency and an in-
direct relationship between species diversity and
productivity. There is also an inverse relationship
between transparency and productivity. The inter-
pretation of these relationships is that as lakes be-
come more productive, they become less transpar-
ent from the development of larger phytoplankton
populations, and with higher productivity the chy-
dorid community is thrown out of balance, quite
possibly from a reduction of habitat diversity
through the curtailment of species diversity and
areal extent of the aquatic plants which form the
major habitat of the chydorids. And since the chy-
dorids are but one component of a complex commu-
nity, one can assume that the community as a whole
has been stressed by an increase in productivity.
In another study in Denmark, Whiteside (1970)
attempted to establish the predictive value of
chydorid communities for lake type, and then
attempted to use these results in interpreting
changes in lake type in postglacial time in response
to climate and vegetational patterns of the water-
sheds. A hard water, eutrophic lake (Esrom Srf)
was sufficiently buffered internally that it went
placidly about its business during postglacial time
almost regardless of external stresses that would
be expected to have repercussions on the system,
whereas a soft water, oligotrophic lake (Grane
Langstf) reacted nervously to even small external
stresses. Thus, the response to a given stress can
be expected to vary greatly from lake to lake de-
pending on its particular suite of ecological condi-
tions and balances.
The MacArthur predictive model has been used
to assess community stresses resulting from the
rapid climatic change of the last interstadial
(Goulden, 1969a), from episodes of Mayan agricul-
ture in Central America (Goulden, 1966), and from
volcanic ash falls in a lake in Japan {Tsukada, 1967).
The last study (Figure 9) is interesting in showing
that a single instantaneous but massive perturba-
tion, as from an aslifall, can have marked and long-
lasting effects on the community structure of a
lake.
There are quite a few other studies on the re-
sponses of lakes to stresses that might be cited, but
I should like to give just one more. The paleolimnol-
ogy of North Pond in northwestern Massachusetts
is being studied intensively by Tom Crisman, a
graduate student at Indiana University. Many ma-
jor changes, almost as precipitous as those in Gros-
ser Ploner See, occurred in the lake shortly after
the pine forest represented by pollen zone B was re-
placed by deciduous hardwoods. Productivity in the
lake, as evidenced by the quantity of chlorophyll
derivatives in the sediments, increased dramatic-
ally at that time, along with nitrogen and phos-
phorus. A species of planktonic Cladocera, Bosmina
coregoni, which is usually considered characteristic
of more oligotrophic situations, was replaced al-
most instantaneously by Bosmina longirostris,
characteristic of more eutrophic situations (Figure
10). Since there is no clear evidence for any major
fluctuation in water level and since it is unlikely the
Amerindians could have modified the watershed to
any appreciable extent, the only correlate and pos-
sible cause is the shift in forest composition. But
this is difficult to reconcile with the data, because
watershed studies to date have demonstrated that
deciduous forests are more parsimonious than co-
niferous forests in releasing nutrients from the
system.
Let me attempt to summarize some of the major
points developed. Lakes change biologically during
their existence from changing inputs of nutrients
and energy and from changing internal control
mechanisms, associated in part with stratification
and depletion of oxygen content in deep water. The
biological changes in many instances have been
gradual, although in others they have been sudden,
associated with natural catastrophes, major
changes in water level, or even changes in the dom-
inant vegetation type in the watershed.
Lakes vary in their sensitivity to external stress
and in their rapidity and magnitude of response.
Man's chief impact is to stress the systems so se-
verely that they are thrown out of balance and the
-------
138
THF:
OF WATER
I 2349 10 13
SPECIES FJNK.
•J -4 .6 .B "7.0 10X SO 50 70 90 0 20 40 60*loi/c~
coo
PERCCTT Of
FICI.-RE 10
TOTAL BOSWNi
rate of change is accelerated—what Ohle calls
"rasante Butrophierung." Both for natural and
man-induced stresses, the response of the total sys-
tem may be fast or slow, and likewise the rate of re-
covery. The lag may be considerably greater than
predicted from the water replacement time,
amounting to hundreds of years even fn small lakes
if our examples from the past have been correctly
interpreted. Hopefully, the response time, particu-
larly of recovery, wall be fairly short, but faced with
the unpredictability of the response time, we
should be much more solicitous about the stresses
placed on our lakes, as even with massive engineer-
ing input they may not recover as rapidly as hoped.
Eutrophication occurs naturally, but so does the
contrary process of oligotrophication. That is, a
lake can become less productive with time, if its nu-
trient budget is decreased, Paleolimnology has not
yet been able to resolve what the major controls of
productivity have been in the past for any particu-
lar lake, except by inference from our knowledge of
present controls. But since phosphorus, more than
any other single substance, is the dominant control
of productivity in temperate lakes, it is essential to
keep phosphorus inputs at. a minimum if we are to
have any hope at all of maintaining the integrity of
our lakes.
-------
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY—A QUALITATIVE APPRAISAL
139
^REFERENCES
Hritt N. W. 1955. Stratification in western Lake Erie in summer
of 1953: effects on the Hexagenia (Ephemeroptera) population.
I' Ecology 36:239-244.
Dieerfeldt, Gunnar. 1972. The postglacial development of Lake
Trununen. Regional vegetation history, water level changes
and paleolimnology. Folia Limnol. Scandinavica 18:1 104.
I Mjjjondsion, W. T. 1972. Nutrients and phytoplankton in Lake
Washington. Pages 172-188 in G. E. Likens, ed. Nutrients and
eutrophication. Amer. Soc. Limnol. Oceanogr. Spec. Symp. It
x, 328 pp.
Frey. D. G. 1955a. Distributional ecology of the cisco (Coregonus
artedul in Indiana. Invest. Indiana Lakes & Streams 7:177
228.
_, .. iii55b. Langsee: a history of meromixis. Mem. 1st, Ital.
Idrobiok Suppl. 8:141-164.
'; 1964. Remains of animals in Quaternary lake and bog
- sediments and their interpretation. Ergebnisse der Limnolo-
gie2:l 114.
. . 1974. Paleolimnology. Mitt. Internal. Verein. Limnol.
20:95 1£3.
:<3oulden, (!. E. 1966. La Aguada de Santa Ana Vieja: an inter-
pretative study of the cladoceran microfossils. Arch. Hydro-
biol. 62:5(73-405.
19<>9a. Interpretative studies of cladoceran microfossils
in lake s-jdiments. Pages 43 55 in D. G. Frey, ed. Symposium
on paleolimnology. Mitt. Internet. Verein. Limnol. 17:1-448.
__, I909b. Temporal changes in diversity. Pages 96-100 in
6. M. WoodweU and H. H. Smith, eds. Diversity and stability
in ecological systems. Brookha-'en Symposia in Biology, 22:
!-yi!.264P3.
•jBWmann, Wolfgang. 1971. Die postglaziale Entwicklung der
phirunonriidenund Chaoborus-Fauna (Dept.) des Schohsees.
' .Arch. Hy irobiol. Suppl. 40(1/2): I 74.
flutehwson, G. E. et al. 1970, lannia: an account of the history
;"«ad development of the Lago di Monterosi, Latium Italy.
V ''lt*aa. Ainer. Phil. Soc. N.S. 60(4):1 -178.
!OfcJe, Walcemar. 1972. Die Sedimente des Grossen Ploner
•8ees als .Dokumente der Zivilization. Jahrb. f. Heimatkunde
(Him) 2:7-27.
gfc . 1973. Die rasante Eutrophierung des Grossen Ploner
•Sew in J-Yiihgeschichtlicher Zeit. Die Naturwissenschaften
iHl):47.
Matsuo. 1967. Fossil Cladocera in Lake Nojiri and
r. Quaternary Res. 6(3):101 110. In Japanese.
. Bill. 1975. The impact cf man on the Bay of Quinte,
[ask* Ontiirio, as shown by the subfossil chironomid succession
tttdronociidae, Diptera). Proc. Int. Assoc. Limnol. Vol. 19. In
, M. C. 1969. Chydorid (Cladocera) remains in surficial
ist in Danish lakes and their significance to paleolimno-
interpretation. Pages 193-201 in D. G. Frey, ed. Sym-
on paleolimnology. Mitt. Internal. Verein. Limnol.
M8.
1970. Danish chydorid Cladocera: modern ecology and
118.
HUSSION
Cottai-ent: Your definition of the integrity of wa-
to be the capability of maintaining and
a composition of organisms that can
t i& its natural state. In your discussion you de-
Varying natural states and change of proc-
ess. How does that translate to a useful definition
today?
Dr. Frey: We had an example a couple of weeks
ago when two young Ph.D.'s who were modeling
ecosystems gave seminars at Indiana University.
They had linear models which didn't allow for any
change over time. However, in any particular lake
there will be changes over time, induced by
changes in climate and vegetation, soil develop-
ment, and so forth. The response of the aquatic
community to these'changes will probably be adap-
tive adjustments in species composition and in the
relative abundance of species, controlled in part by
the mobility of the species. I think a definition of in-
tegrity has to include the concept of a balanced, in-
tegrated, adaptive community.
Comment: Did you go into these?
Dr. Frey: No, they are objectives.
Comment: Have you made any comparisons with
other organisms over an historical period? Would
you be able to use changes in the plankton popula-
tion to .detect changes in the water, as you pointed
out is possible with fish populations? Would the
changes be subtle or quite apparent?
Dr. Frey: I didn't go into any of the long term
studies, because even the best of these are less than
100 years old. I know, for example, that there are
records for the Chicago water supply which docu-
ment the kinds and quantities of plankton in south-
ern Lake Michigan over many decades. Probably
the longest and most nearly continuous record of all
is that for Lake Zurich in Switzerland. Here the
deepwater sediments have been accumulating as
discrete annual layers since the late 1800's. As the
lake became more eutrophic under man's influence,
various species of algae invaded the lake and devel-
oped to bloom proportions. These are documented
by studies of the plankton. Significantly, the
blooms of the various species, particularly the dia-
toms, are also recorded in the appropriate annual
layers, so that Lake Zurich constitutes to some ex-
tent a calibration system for the interpretation of
real events and changes in a lake from what is re-
coverable from the sediments.
Most of these long term data series have been re-
ported elsewhere at various times. I didn't attempt
to summarize them, but instead concentrated on
the kinds of interpretations that can be made from
the sedimentary record.
Comment: I'd like to ask you a philosophical ques-
tion stemming from your definition of integrity. In
your opinion, are efforts to reverse a naturally oc-
curring trend toward eutrophication counter to the
integrity of that lake?
Dr. Frey: I had to leave out a number of pages of
my prepared text because of time limitations (but
-------
140
THE INTEGRITY OF WATER
these are included in the published paper). For the
chydorid cladocerans, which are well represented
in lake sediments, the species diversity of the com-
munity declines as the productivity of the lake in-
creases, indicating that the system is being
stressed. This should not be interpreted to mean
that Jill productive lakes are out of balance because
the rate of change is probably the important consid-
eration. Where the increased productivity is the re-
sult of man or of some essentially instantaneous
event such as a volcanic ash fall, the rate of change
in nutrient budgets or other environmental condi-
tions is so great that the community cannot keep
pace with orderly and adaptive adjustments. But
where the forcing variables change slowly over
time the aquatic biota is able to maintain an internal
balance. Hence, I am in favor of either reversing
the trend toward increasing productivity in our nat-
ural waters, except where this is specifically de-
sired, or at least sufficiently reducing the rate at
which eutrophication is occurring so that the sys-
tem is not stressed unduly.
------- |