Coupled benthic–hyporheic responses of macroinvertebrates to surface water pollution in a gravel-bed river

Abstract

Interactions between the hyporheic and benthic zones play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of river ecosystems, but simultaneous assessments of hyporheic and benthic macroinvertebrate responses to surface water pollution are limited. We examined how hyporheic (50 cm below surface) and benthic (surface) invertebrates responded to water pollution that originated from a point source (wastewater treatment plant) in a gravel-bed river in Hokkaido, Japan. Dissolved nutrient levels and algal biomass were significantly higher at sample sites down- than upstream of the point source. Furthermore, nitrate concentrations increased gradually from up- to downstream sites, which suggest the presence of diffuse pollution sources in the surrounding areas. Closely synchronized fluctuations of water temperature and similar water quality in the surface and hyporheic zones indicated that the hyporheic zone was highly hydrologically interactive with the surface water. Chloroperlidae (mostly Alloperla ishikariana) had a disproportionately high abundance in the hyporheic zone relative to the benthic zone, regardless of the surface water quality. Numerically dominant invertebrate taxa increased in abundance below the point source of pollution in both the benthic and hyporheic habitats. High N stable isotope ratios (SIR) of the invertebrates in both habitat types indicated that invertebrates assimilated anthropogenic N via the ingestion of pollution-contaminated food resources. End-member mixing analyses based on C SIR demonstrated that assimilation of anthropogenic N occurred because of the increase in available food resources originating from the biofilm. The trophic structure of invertebrates changed less markedly in the hyporheic zone than in the benthic zone, suggesting that the hyporheic assemblage was less sensitive than the benthic assemblage to the changes in surface water quality. Overall, our findings showed that the numeric responses of the invertebrate assemblage to anthropogenic changes in surface water quality were similar and coupled between the benthic and hyporheic zones.