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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 56(6)

Response of stream macroinvertebrates to changes in salinity and the development of a salinity index

Nelli Horrigan A C , Satish Choy A , Jonathan Marshall A and Friedrich Recknagel B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Natural Resources and Mines (NR&M), 120 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, Qld 4068, Australia.

B School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: nelli.horrigan@nrm.qld.gov.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 56(6) 825-833 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF04237
Submitted: 9 September 2004  Accepted: 27 May 2005   Published: 27 September 2005

Abstract

Many streams and wetlands have been affected by increasing salinity, leading to significant changes in flora and fauna. The study investigates relationships between macroinvertebrate taxa and conductivity levels (µS cm−1) in Queensland stream systems. The analysed dataset contained occurrence patterns of frequently found macroinvertebrate taxa from edge (2580 samples) and riffle (1367 samples) habitats collected in spring and autumn over 8 years. Sensitivity analysis with predictive artificial neural network models and the taxon-specific mean conductivity values were used to assign a salinity sensitivity score (SSS) to each taxon (1—very tolerant, 5—tolerant, 10—sensitive). Salinity index (SI) based on the cumulative SSS was proposed as a measurement of change in macroinvertebrate communities caused by salinity increase. Changes in macroinvertebrate communities were observed at relatively low salinities, with SI rapidly decreasing to ~800–1000 µS cm−1 and decreasing further at a slower rate. Natural variability and water quality factors were ruled out as potential primary causes of the observed changes by using partial canonical correspondence analysis and subsets of the data with only good water quality.

Extra keywords: anthropogenic impacts, aquatic invertebrates, dryland salinity, ecological indicators, salt pollution.


Acknowledgments

Authors would like to acknowledge Glenn McGregor (NR&M), Jason Dunlop (NR&M) for their valuable comments and Ben Stewart Koster (Griffith University) and Mark Kennard (Griffith University) for suggestions regarding partial CCA. Financial support for this study was provided by the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality.


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