A comparative study of macroinvertebrate biodiversity in highway stormwater ponds and natural ponds

Sondre Meland,Zhenhua Sun,Ekaterina Sokolova,Sebastien Rauch,John E Brittain

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140029

Abstract

The use of stormwater ponds along the highways is shown to be an effective alternative to conventional systems, which are usually sewers. These ponds have the potential to combine their primary function of pollution and peak flow control with the promotion of biodiversity. The present study focuses on comparing natural and highway stormwater ponds in terms of environmental conditions and biodiversity of macroinvertebrate communities. Twelve highway stormwater ponds and nineteen natural ponds (located within or in the vicinity of cultivated landscape) were explored for the number of taxa, community composition, and selected environmental variables: pH, conductivity, pond surface area, the number of ponds within 1 km radius, and the distance to nearest neighboring pond. Highway stormwater ponds showed much higher conductivity, which is a good proxy for chloride concentration and highway pollutants. In addition, the surface area of stormwater ponds was almost twice as big as that of natural ponds. The biological community composition was very different between the two types of ponds, and the number of taxa was slightly higher in the highway stormwater ponds. The most important variables responsible for the variation in the biological community composition were conductivity, pond surface area, and the number of ponds within 1 km radius. This study supports that, in addition to their role in pollution and peak flow control, stormwater ponds have the potential to provide a habitat that may otherwise be unavailable along the highway.

Highlights

The biological community composition was very different between the two types of ponds, and the number of taxa was slightly higher in the highway stormwater ponds
The unique taxa in the highway stormwater ponds were mainly composed of taxa from the families Coenagrionidae, Baetidae, Lymnaeidae, Veliidae, Libellulidae, and Ephemeridae; the unique taxa in the natural ponds were mainly composed of taxa from the families Haliplidae, Dytiscidae, and Hydrophilidae
The present study explored the number of taxa and community composition of mainly macroinvertebrates in highway stormwater ponds and natural ponds within and in the vicinity of cultivated landscape

Summary

Introduction

In the context of the decreasing number of natural ponds and the increasing environmental impacts of urbanization, such as floods (Li et al, 2020) and water pollution (Ferreira et al, 2020), a number of artificial ponds have been established in cities and along highways. Natural ponds are located in landscapes with less impervious surfaces, resulting in differences in hydrologic regime with stormwater ponds (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1993) It is unclear whether such artificial stormwater ponds can act as sustainable facilities to support aquatic biodiversity, and how such ponds compare to natural ponds in this respect

Results

Discussion

Conclusion