Abstract

Rivinoja P. & S. Larsson 2000. Effekter av grumling och sedimentation på fauna i strömmande vatten- En litteratursammanställning. The effects of turbidity and sediment deposition on fauna in running waters - A literature review. Department of Aquaculture, SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), 901 83 Umeå. 49 pages. (In swedish) The effects of turbidity and sediment deposition on aquatic fauna in running waters is reviewed. At high flows most of the fine particles is normally transported in the water as suspended materials which leads to an increasing turbidity, while sediment deposition occurs during periods of low flow. Despite the source of this material it is often hard to know to what degree this material affects the stream biota and if the effects are due to the suspended material or the sediment deposition. Depending on the individual stream charactheristics and factors as climate and ambient soil conditions the amount of suspended material varies naturally. However, increasing turbidities generally have negative effects on watersheds and cause decreased primary production, change habitats and alter the community structure. Aquatic organisms can be affected directly or indirectly by a high turbidity and sediment deposition so the individual organism respons differs between species and among different lifestages within a species, e.g. eggs, alevins and adults. Turbidity can reduce benthic density by increasing drift of fauna and cause changes in individual behaviours as decreased feeding, territorial displacements and ceased migration of spawning fish. High turbidities can also lead to sublethal responses and cause clogging of gills in sensitive species. The effect of suspended material on animals depends on factors like particle chemistry, size and structure of particles, and the time of exposure. Deposited sediments can interfere with run-riffle-pool sequences and lead to changes in the community structure. Sediment deposition can also negatively affect the embryonic developement of organisms and increase the mortality of juvenile stages. Recovery from the effects of suspended material and sediment deposition is usually rapid once the input source of sediment is removed. The paper highlight a few case studies dealing with turbidity and constructions in running waters as well as discusses a few topics that should be adressed in future experiments if the ultimate goal is to minimize damage to the water ecosystem

Published in

Rapport / Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Vattenbruksinstitutionen
2001, number: 31
Publisher: Vattenbruksinstitutionen, SLU

SLU Authors

• Rivinoja, Peter

  • Department of Aquaculture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Larsson, Stefan

  • Department of Aquaculture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Aquacultural Science


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/17846