Does fine sediment source as well as quantity affect salmonid embryo mortality and development?
Does fine sediment source as well as quantity affect salmonid embryo mortality and development?
Fine sediments are known to be an important cause of increased mortality in benthic spawning fish. To date, most of the research has focussed on the relationship between embryo mortality and the quantity of fine sediment accumulated in the egg pocket. However, recent evidence suggests a) that the source of fine sediment might also be important, and b) that fitness of surviving embryos post-hatch might also be impacted by the accumulation of fine sediments. In this paper, we report an experiment designed to simulate the incubation environment of brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). During the experiment, the incubating embryos were exposed to different quantities of fine (< 63 ?m) sediment derived from four different sources; agricultural topsoils, damaged road verges, eroding river channel banks and tertiary level treated sewage. Results showed that mass and source are independently important for determining the mortality and fitness of alevin. Differences between species were observed, such that brown trout are less sensitive to mass and source of accumulated sediment. We demonstrate for the first time that sediment source is an additional control on the impact of fine sediment, and that this is primarily controlled by the organic matter content and oxygen consumption of the catchment source material.
Sediment sources, Brown trout, Atlantic salmon, Fine sediment, Organic matter
957-968
Sear, D. A.
ccd892ab-a93d-4073-a11c-b8bca42ecfd3
Jones, J. I.
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Collins, A. L.
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Hulin, A.
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Burke, N.
aec499df-006b-4025-87ea-819493efab92
Bateman, S.
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Pattison, I.
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Naden, P. S.
849d8314-8369-4bd6-bfb8-fafdd7f08823
15 January 2016
Sear, D. A.
ccd892ab-a93d-4073-a11c-b8bca42ecfd3
Jones, J. I.
a7509386-7b2d-4176-9292-3588f8218e5c
Collins, A. L.
0ab4072f-a112-48e5-9625-1d229aa63660
Hulin, A.
df7fda19-9402-44a0-a26a-70c6061740d0
Burke, N.
aec499df-006b-4025-87ea-819493efab92
Bateman, S.
5f34c849-6036-4535-b398-d6520dd43dc8
Pattison, I.
dd3b13b4-1475-4c1a-9e6f-b28fdb252766
Naden, P. S.
849d8314-8369-4bd6-bfb8-fafdd7f08823
Sear, D. A., Jones, J. I., Collins, A. L., Hulin, A., Burke, N., Bateman, S., Pattison, I. and Naden, P. S.
(2016)
Does fine sediment source as well as quantity affect salmonid embryo mortality and development?
Science of the Total Environment, 541, .
(doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.09.155).
Abstract
Fine sediments are known to be an important cause of increased mortality in benthic spawning fish. To date, most of the research has focussed on the relationship between embryo mortality and the quantity of fine sediment accumulated in the egg pocket. However, recent evidence suggests a) that the source of fine sediment might also be important, and b) that fitness of surviving embryos post-hatch might also be impacted by the accumulation of fine sediments. In this paper, we report an experiment designed to simulate the incubation environment of brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). During the experiment, the incubating embryos were exposed to different quantities of fine (< 63 ?m) sediment derived from four different sources; agricultural topsoils, damaged road verges, eroding river channel banks and tertiary level treated sewage. Results showed that mass and source are independently important for determining the mortality and fitness of alevin. Differences between species were observed, such that brown trout are less sensitive to mass and source of accumulated sediment. We demonstrate for the first time that sediment source is an additional control on the impact of fine sediment, and that this is primarily controlled by the organic matter content and oxygen consumption of the catchment source material.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 30 September 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 November 2015
Published date: 15 January 2016
Keywords:
Sediment sources, Brown trout, Atlantic salmon, Fine sediment, Organic matter
Organisations:
Geography & Environment, Earth Surface Dynamics, Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 389596
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/389596
ISSN: 0048-9697
PURE UUID: 541804d8-28ec-49aa-b8b9-b426688ebfbb
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Date deposited: 09 Mar 2016 13:16
Last modified: 27 Apr 2022 01:36
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Contributors
Author:
J. I. Jones
Author:
A. L. Collins
Author:
A. Hulin
Author:
N. Burke
Author:
S. Bateman
Author:
I. Pattison
Author:
P. S. Naden
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