Cold Water Bodies Research Articles

Aquatic toxicity of eighteen phthalate esters

AbstractThe extensive database of acute and chronic aquatic toxicity data for 18 phthalate esters was reviewed and summarized for freshwater and saltwater aquatic microorganisms, algae, invertebrates, and fish. Phthalate esters have been tested with six species of microorganisms, including bacteria and protozoans. Fifteen algal species have been tested, including green and bluegreen algae in both freshwater and saltwater. Nineteen freshwater and saltwater invertebrate species inhabiting surface waters and sediments and 21 freshwater and saltwater fish inhabiting cold and warm water bodies have been tested. The results of most studies indicate that acute and chronic toxicity to microorganisms, algae, aquatic invertebrates, and fish are limited to the lower molecular weight phthalate esters (i.e., dimethyl‐, diethyl‐, diallyl‐, dipropyl‐, dibutyl‐, diisobutyl‐, and butylbenzylphthalate). In contrast, higher molecular weight phthalate esters are not acutely or chronically toxic to aquatic organisms. Although conflicting data on chronic effects for high molecular weight phthalate esters have been reported for daphnids, these inconsistencies are attributed to physical effects imposed on daphnids when exposed to test concentrations in excess of true water solubilities. Altogether, nearly 400 test results covering more than 60 species of microorganisms, algae, invertebrates, and fish are reported for both freshwater and saltwater aquatic species. While most investigators used several common species and standard protocols to assay conventional endpoints, many nontraditional species and toxicological endpoints were also used. This has created a toxicological database of both sufficient depth to compare many similar tests and sufficient breadth to encompass virtually all important types of aquatic habitats and classes of aquatic species.

A study of a cold water body near the southern Yellow Sea Warm Current water : Lan, Shufang, Chuancheng Gu and Bingzhao Fu, 1986. Stud. mar. sin., 27:55–64. (In Chinese, English abstract.) Inst. of Oceanol., Acad. Sinica, People's Republic of China

A study of a cold water body near the southern Yellow Sea Warm Current water : Lan, Shufang, Chuancheng Gu and Bingzhao Fu, 1986. Stud. mar. sin., 27:55–64. (In Chinese, English abstract.) Inst. of Oceanol., Acad. Sinica, People's Republic of China

Trophic and spatial interrelationships in the fish species of an Ontario temperate lake

Analysis of the fish faunas of Lake Opinicon and other small, cold temperate Ontario water bodies shows that the component species differ in body size, morphology, abundances, habitats, diurnal and seasonal habitat utilization patterns, diets, dietary changes with age, reproductive strategies, and population turnover rates. These differences are detailed. The number of species occurring in a lake is partly due to historic factors, the number of habitats available, and morphological, behavioral and ecological adaptations that, by channelling their owners towards alternative resources, permit species to co-occur. Diet overlap values between most species are low except for the congeneric bluegill and pump-kinseed sunfishes, where values are moderate. These are the two commonest species in the lake and other parameters must increase the ecological differences between these two species. Lake Opinicon is a highly variable ecosystem. Part of this variability stems from the seasonal nature of the environment and the fact that different resources reach their peak abundance at different times of the year. Ecological overlap levels between fish species fluctuate greatly in the course of the season as species switch from, or move on to, different resources. Population levels in different habitats also vary seasonally. Species adaptations and interaction patterns were presumably evolved over a long period; most of these adaptations undoubtedly developed before the component species colonized the lake.