Modern Trends in Applied Aquatic Ecology PDF
Preview Modern Trends in Applied Aquatic Ecology
Modem Trends in Applied Aquatic Ecology Modem Trends in Applied Aquatic Ecology Edited by s. R. Ambasht and Navin K. Ambasht Banaras Hindu University Varanasi, India Springer-Science+Business Media, LLC ISBN 978-1-4613-4972-3 ISBN 978-1-4615-0221-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-0221-0 © 2003 Springer-Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers in 2003 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover Ist edition 2003 10987654321 Ali rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. CONTRIBUTORS LIST 1. Jacob John Postgraduate Coordinator School of Environmental Biology Curtin University GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845 AUSTRALIA E-Mail: [email protected] 2. Paul A. Keddy Department of Biological Sciences Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, Louisiana, USA E-Mail: [email protected] 3. Lauchlan H. Fraser Department of Biology University of Akron Akron, OH 44325-3908, USA E-Mail: [email protected] 4. Brian Whitton School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences University of Durham Durham DHI 3LE, UNITED KINGDOM E-Mail: [email protected] 5. Alain Vanderpoorten Department of Botany Duke University P.O. Box 90339 Durham, NC 27708, USA E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected] v vi Contributors list 6. Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Uomo e dell'Ambiente Universitit di Pisa Via A Volta 6, 1-56126 Pisa ITALY E-Mail: [email protected] 7. Donat-P. Hider Friedrich-Alexander Universitiit Erlangen-Niimberg Institut fUr Botanik und Pharmazeutische Biologie Staudstr. 5, D-91058 Erlangen GERMANY E-Mail: [email protected] 8. H. E. Zagarese Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche Universidad Nacional del Comahue 8400 - San Carlos de Bariloche ARGENTINA E-Mail: [email protected] 9. Barbara Tartarotti Institute of Zoology and Limnology University of Innsbruck Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck AUSTRIA E-Mail: [email protected] 10. D. A. Anon Suarez Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche Universidad Nacional del Comahue 8400 - San Carlos de Bariloche ARGENTINA E-Mail: [email protected] 11. Rajeshwar P. Sinha Friedrich-Alexander Universitiit Erlangen - Niimberg Institut flir Botanik und Pharmazeutische Biologie Staudstr. 5, D-91058 Erlangen GERMANY E-Mail: [email protected] 12. Nandor Oertel Hungarian Danube Research Station Hungarian Academy of Science God, HUNGARY Contributors list vii 13. Janos Salanki Balaton Lirnnological Research Institute Hungarian Academy of Science Tihany, Pf35, 8237 HUNGARY E-Mail: [email protected] 14. Arthur J. McComb School of Environmental Science Murdoch University Perth, WA 6150, AUSTRALIA E-Mail: [email protected] 15. Jane M. Chambers School of Environmental Science Murdoch University Perth, WA 6150, AUSTRALIA E-Mail: [email protected] 16. R. S. Ambasht Honorary Scientist Department of Botany Banaras Hindu University Varanasi - 221 005, INDIA E-Mail: [email protected] 17. Navin K. Ambasht Ecology Research Laboratory Department of Botany Banaras Hindu University Varanasi - 221 005, INDIA E-Mail: [email protected] 18. Robert Zwahlen Environment and Social Development Specialist Electrowatt Engineering Ltd (EWE) P.O. Box 8037 Hardturmstr. 161, Zurich SWITZERLAND E-Mail: [email protected] PREFACE Organisms and environment have evolved through modifying each other over millions of years. Humans appeared very late in this evolutionary time scale. With their superior brain attributes, humans emerged as the most dominating influence on the earth. Over the millennia, from simple hunter-food gatherers, humans developed the art of agriculture, domestication of animals, identification of medicinal plants, devising hunting and fishing techniques, house building, and making clothes. All these have been for better adjustment, growth, and survival in otherwise harsh and hostile surroundings and climate cycles of winter and summer, and dry and wet seasons. So humankind started experimenting and acting on ecological lines much before the art of reading, writing, or arithmetic had developed. Application of ecological knowledge led to development of agriculture, animal husbandry, medicines, fisheries, and so on. Modem ecology is a relatively young science and, unfortunately, there are so few books on applied ecology. The purpose of ecology is to discover the principles that govern relationships among plants, animals, microbes, and their total living and nonliving environmental components. Ecology, however, had remained mainly rooted in botany and zoology. It did not permeate hard sciences, engineering, or industrial technologies leading to widespread environmental degradation, pollution, and frequent episodes leading to mass deaths and diseases. Awareness of the dimensions of environmental problems threatening not only to the fast-deteriorating quality of human life but also survival has been generated by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED; Rio de Janeiro, 1992) and subsequent efforts of governments and nongovernment organizations. In this direction, there is an acute need for books on applied ecology. With the experience of writing our highly popular book, A Textbook ofP lant Ecology (14th edition in press), we undertook the task of preparing this multiauthored volume. In recent years, wetlands have drawn world attention, particularly through the Ramsar Convention, IUCN, International Association of Ecology Wetland Group, and UNEP. Water is vitally required by all organisms; it is the medium of life processes and nutrient transports in plants. Water is the ultimate source of atmospheric oxygen. Surface water flows have built extensive, productive alluvial plains all over the world. Therefore, application of ecology in managing water quality and aquatic organisms, and impact ofUV-B enhancement responses to other stresses in wetlands form ix x Preface the main themes of this book. Specific topics and subject specialists were identified. These world authorities have produced different chapters. Jacob John, at the outset, has explained the concept of aquatic system health and attributes of biomonitors. Ubiquitous diatoms have been found to be an ideal tool in preparing predictive models for the health of aquatic systems. Case studies of Western Australia and South Western Australia have greatly helped to validate the conclusions. Keddy and Fraser have developed four principles involved in the management of biodiversity in wetlands: (1) water level fluctuations (depth), (2) fertility range from distinctly infertile to highly fertile zones, (3) competitive hierarchies, and (4) centrifugal organizations of species from fertile, sheltered sites to infertile sites. In managing aquatic ecosystems, we must expand from traditional natural systems to constructed wetlands for treatment of wastewater. Lotic bodies such as rivers with highly dynamic seasonal phases and fluxes are important types of aquatic bodies. Brian Whitton has highlighted the importance of indicator plants to monitor heavy metals in rivers. Aquatic bryophytes are sensitive to changes in water chemistry. Vanderpoorten has shown how, through calibration techniques, aquatic bryophytes may be used for predicting water chemistry with least prediction errors. The value of the chapter is enhanced by explaining the limits of transposing regional models. Improved knowledge of ecophysiology is needed. The concept of succession tells about the ever-changing nature of biotic communities and environmental complexes, and has widely applied implications. Bendetti-Cecchi has contributed a comprehensive discussion on current understanding of plant succession in littoral habitats. There are large gaps in understanding of variable patterns of recovery that preclude accurate predictions. Most of the lakes and rivers have become the dumping place of wastes. They are presently experiencing symptoms of eutrophication, siltation, and contamination by toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and secondary ~alinization, which put great stress on aquatic vertebrates. Artificial wetlands created by extensive mining in the form of mine-voids or pit wetlands can be utilized for aquaculture and biodiversity conservation. Phytoremediation, that is, environmental remediation of contaminated soil and water by hyperaccumulator plants, is assuming great applied ecological importance. Jacob John has elaborated this energy-friendly or "green" tool of use of algae for remediation of mine-voids and other degraded wetlands. With regard to enhancing UV B levels at the surface of aquatic bodies, Hader has elaborated UV-B radiation impacts on primary producers found in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Bacterioplankton are more susceptible to UV-B than larger, eukaryotic organisms, and bacteria are the major degraders of organic material. Phytoplankton is the most important biomass producer of aquatic ecosystems. Protective mechanisms against UV-B by bacteria, cyanobacteria, and macroalgae are explained. Zagarese, Tartarotti, and Afton Suarez have regarded solar UV radiation as a strong and ubiquitous force in aquatic ecosystems. It causes impairment of essential biomolecules (nucleic acids and proteins), damage to exposed parts by way of sunburns and cataracts, and depression of immune systems. Indirectly, it photoactivates chemical pollutants. All these aspects ofUV-B impacts are reviewed by Zagarese et al. and Sinha has reviewed responses of cyanobacteria to other kinds of stresses. Aquatic ecosystems, the main receiving body of the runoff material from excessively pesticide-loaded agricultural fields and toxic materials released into the environment by modem anthropogenic activities, need to be studied for life forms that have biomonitoring and bioindicator values. Oertel and Salanki have elaborately defined biomonitoring and its relationship t() toxicology. Origin of types of toxic chemicals and their effects on river and lake ecosystems, accumulation and synergism, action mechanisms, advantages, and Preface xi limitations of biological versus chemical monitoring are nicely reviewed by McComb and Chambers. Biological early warning systems (BEWSs) such as fish and multi sensor monitors of the Rhine Action Program are described, together with advantages and shortages. Ambasht and Ambasht have reviewed work on the conservation role of ecotonal vegetation in checking soil erosion, water runoff, and nutrient losses across embankment slopes of river corridors and lake margins. Proper application of research results in selection of plants, naturally growing and artificially planted on sloping margins of wetlands, that can prevent eutrophication, siltation, upwelling of rivers, lakes, dam water storages, and floods considerably. Finally, Zwahlen has taken up the entirely man made aquatic ecosystems created by dam projects for "identification," assessment, and mitigation of environmental impacts. The chapter is of immense value to students as well as to policymakers and executors of high dams at a very early stage of the planning process. Otherwise, if the project is contested at the half-way point, not for engineering but environmental and social reasons, then delay causes not only loss of time but also colossal loss of extra money. Zwahlen's chapter provides necessary information required at the early stage of planning of Dam projects and watershed management programs. Acknowledgements During the course of preparation and publication we received help from many people and thank them all. We are particularly grateful to all the chapter authors, who very readily agreed to take the trouble of writing these chapters, with the purpose of introducing the topics and then discussing the latest findings, ideas, and concepts from applied ecology viewpoints. We are indeed so grateful to our editor, Andrea Macaluso, and others at Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers for taking great interest and more than normal pains in giving a proper shape to the volume and publishing it so nicely and in such a short time. For his help during the preparatory phase, we thank Dr. R. Prasad. We also thank our family members Mrs. Annpuma, Dr. Pravin, Mrs. Sandhya, Mrs. Anupama, Ms. Prakriti, Ms Sukriti, and Ms. Soumya for their help and forbearance. We are thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, for awarding Emeritus Scientistship to RSA and Senior Research Associateship to NKA, and the authorities of the Banaras Hindu University for providing facilities. Thanks are also due to the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi for the award of Honorary Scietistship to RSA. R. S. Ambasht Navin K. Ambasht Banaras Hindu University, India CONTENTS 1. Jacob John (Australia) Bioassessment of Health of Aquatic Curtin University Systems by the Use of Diatoms 2. Paul A. Keddy & Lauchlan H. Fraser (USA) The Management of Wetlands for Univ. Louisiana & Univ. of Akron Biological Diversity: Four Principles 21 3. Brian A. Whitton (UK) Use of Plants in Monitoring Heavy Durham University Metals in Freshwaters 43 4. Alain Vanderpoorten (USA) Hydrochemical Determinism, Duke Univ., Durham NC Ecological Polymorphism, and Indicator Values of Aquatic Bryophytes for Water Quality 65 5. Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi (Italy) Plant Succession in Littoral Universita di Pisa Habitats: Observations, Explanations, and Empirical Evidence 97 6. Jacob John (Australia) Phycoremediation: Algae as Tools Curtin University for Remediation of Mine-Void Wetlands 133 7. Donat-P. Hilder (Gennany) UV-B Impact on the Life of Aquatic Erlangen Universitat Plants 149 8. H. E. Zagarese, Barbara Tartarotti (Austria) The Significance of Ultraviolet and D. A. Aii6n Suarez (Argentina) Radiation for Aquatic Animals 173 9. Rajeshwar P. Sinha (Gennany) Stress Responses in Cyanobacteria 201 Erlangen Universitat 10. Nandor Oertel and Janos Salanki Biomonitoring and Bioindicators (Hungary) in Aquatic Ecosystems 219 11. Arthur J. McComb and The Ecology of Wetlands Created Jane M. Chambers (Australia) in Mining-Affected Landscapes 247 Murdoch University 12. R. S. Ambasht & Navin K. Ambasht (India) Conservation of Soil and Nutrients Banaras Hindu University through Plant Cover on Wetland Margins 269 xiii
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