Planktonic algae abundance and diversity are similar in urban stormwater ponds of different geographic locations and natural shallow lakes

Greta Minelgaite,Paul C Frost,Jes Vollertsen,Morten L Fejerskov,Marguerite A Xenopoulos,Diana A Stephansen

doi:10.1007/s11252-020-00967-7

Greta Minelgaite, Paul C Frost + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-00967-7

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Journal: Urban Ecosystems	Publication Date: Mar 13, 2020
Citations: 5	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Aalborg University, Trent University

Abstract

Elevated levels of different contaminants are typical to stormwater management ponds. Despite that, a number of works report stormwater ponds serving as habitats for a variety of biota. In this study we aimed to examine phytoplankton communities of urban ponds, as the basis of the aquatic food web, and compare them to those of natural shallow lakes. Stormwater ponds were selected from two distant geographic locations: three in Denmark and three in Canada. As a reference to natural systems, three Danish shallow lakes were sampled. The sampling was carried out in the spring, summer and fall of 2014. The phytoplankton communities in ponds were found to be at least as rich in taxa as natural shallow lakes. Their abundance and biovolume varied highly among the types of water bodies as well as in each pond or lake individually, depending on the sampling month. We did not find any significant differences among ponds and natural shallow lakes at the investigated taxonomic level, despite some distinction observed by multivariate DCA and CCA analyses. Little difference was found between Canadian and Danish ponds as well, even though they are separated by a large geographic distance. This study shows that stormwater ponds are habitats for diverse planktonic algae communities which have some similarities to those of natural shallow lakes. Also, the similarities observed between Danish and Canadian ponds indicate some consistence with the urban homogenization hypothesis, although this should be further looked into by future works examining a larger number and distinct types of ponds.

Highlights

Stormwater ponds are common in urban areas as a best management practice for control and treatment of stormwater runoff
The measured conductivity varied over the season in the ponds, but not the lakes. It is likely related with runoff salt content due to road deicing applied during the cold season, presence of other dissolved ions could have contributed to the measured values as well
Other parameters varied depending on the water body or sampling month and no significant differences were found among the three water body types, except for total suspended solids with significantly higher (p < 0.05) concentrations measured in Danish ponds compared with lakes

Summary

Introduction

Stormwater ponds are common in urban areas as a best management practice for control and treatment of stormwater runoff. They serve as reservoirs for surface runoff from impervious surfaces and as water treatment facilities. A limited number of studies describing phytoplankton communities in stormwater ponds have been published. It appears that the dominant groups of phytoplankton found in stormwater ponds is Cyanobacteria as demonstrated through microscopic counts (Vincent and Kirkwood 2014) or pigment analysis (Chiandet and Xenopoulos 2016), some of which might be responsible for the production of toxins. Given the dynamic nature of these communities, more studies are needed to understand their links with the hydraulic regime of the pond (Olding et al 2000), stratification patterns of ponds (Song et al 2013), and internal biogeochemical dynamics (Williams et al 2013)

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