Recovery of a stream macroinvertebrate community from mine drainage disturbance

Abstract

Recovery of aquatic macroinvertebrates from the effects of mine drainage was documented using a ‘weight-of-evidence’ approach which included measures of physical, chemical, and biological data. Taxa richness; number of taxa in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera; and shredder taxa richness all increased downstream of the point source after water treatment was initiated. Cluster analysis of aquatic macroinvertebrate community data along with abundance of a metals sensitive mayfly (Rhithrogena hageni) also suggested recovery from metals effects. Response to decreased metal inputs was rapid and biological measurements of impacted sites attained levels comparable to upstream reference sites in two years. Our results suggest that aquatic communities impacted by metals, in the absence of degraded habitat and with nearby colonist pools, will recover quickly if low instream concentrations of toxicants are achieved.