Spatial and temporal variation of algal assemblages in six Midwest agricultural streams having varying levels of atrazine and other physicochemical attributes

Potential effects of pesticides on stream algae occur alongside complex environmental influences; in situ studies examining these effects together are few, and have not typically controlled for collinearity of variables. We monitored the dynamics of periphyton, phytoplankton, and environmental factors including atrazine, and other water chemistry variables at 6 agricultural streams in the Midwest US from spring to summer of 2011 and 2012, and used variation partitioning of community models to determine the community inertia that is explained uniquely and/or jointly by atrazine and other environmental factors or groups of factors. Periphyton and phytoplankton assemblages were significantly structured by year, day of year, and site, and exhibited dynamic synchrony both between site-years and between periphyton and phytoplankton in the same site-year. The majority of inertia in the models (55.4% for periphyton, 68.4% for phytoplankton) was unexplained. The explained inertia in the models was predominantly shared (confounded) between variables and variable groups (13.3, 30.9%); the magnitude of inertia that was explained uniquely by variable groups (15.1, 18.3%) was of the order hydroclimate>chemistry>geography>atrazine for periphyton, and chemistry>hydroclimate>geography>atrazine for phytoplankton. The variables most influential to the assemblage structure included flow and velocity variables, and time since pulses above certain thresholds of nitrate+nitrite, total phosphorus, total suspended solids, and atrazine. Time since a ≥30 μg/L atrazine pulse uniquely explained more inertia than time since pulses ≥ 10 μg/L or daily or historic atrazine concentrations; this result is consistent with studies concluding that the effects of atrazine on algae typically only occur at ≥30 μg/L and are recovered from.

Ecosystem characteristics of remnant, headwater tallgrass prairie streams

North America has lost >95% of its native tallgrass prairie due to land conversion, making prairie streams one of the most endangered ecosystems. Research on the basic ecosystem characteristics of the remaining natural prairie streams will inform conservation and management. We examined the structure and function of headwater streams draining tallgrass prairie tracts at Osage Prairie in Missouri and the Konza Prairie Biological Station in Kansas and compared those values with literature values for streams draining agricultural watersheds in the region. We quantified physicochemical and biological characteristics for 2 yr. Streams at Osage and Konza were characterized by low nutrients and low suspended sediments (substantially lower than impacted sites in the region), slight heterotrophic status, and high temporal variability. Suspended sediments and nutrient concentrations were generally low in all prairie streams, but storms increased concentrations of both by 3- to 12-fold. Spring prescribed burns were followed by a slight increase in chlorophyll and decreased nutrients, potentially due to greater light availability. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities at Osage showed seasonal patterns that were probably linked to variable hydrology. We found nine amphibian species using the Osage streams as habitat or breeding sites, but little usage at Konza was probably due to dry conditions and low discharge. Our study indicates that two remnant tallgrass prairie streams along a longitudinal gradient are fairly similar in terms of physicochemical features and have good water quality relative to agricultural watersheds but can differ considerably in macroinvertebrate and amphibian abundance.