Resilience of macroinvertebrate communities in acidified and limed streams

Abstract

Benthic macroinvertebrate communities in 13 acidified South Swedish streams were sampled in 1981. The same localities were revisited in 1994 when most of the streams had been limed. Untreated streams were used as references. Species richness and proportion of predators increased between the two years. The differences are probably due to the warm and dry summer in 1994. However, the proportions of acid-sensitive species in various groups of streams were about the same the two years, indicating that liming had an insignificant effect on the return of these species. The resilience of the bottom fauna may be attributable to biotic conditions or the failure of the practiced liming methods to maintain healthy chemical conditions.