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1 April 2014 Effects of Sedimentation on the Profundal Benthic Macroinvertebrates of a Great Plains Reservoir
Brian J. O'Neill, Jenna Steffen, Mark Jakubauskas
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Reservoir sedimentation has become a large and pervasive problem throughout the entire United States. Sedimentation gradually destroys and eliminates the services for which reservoirs were constructed (flood protection, water storage, and recreation), yet sedimentation is also an ecological problem. Organisms that depend on the deep parts of lakes cannot survive if their habitats are being buried by sediments. Perry Lake, in northeastern Kansas, has lost 23% of its original volume. Sediment thicknesses (depth of sediment accrued since lake formation) in the main lake range from 2–140cm, and upper portions of the lake have become unnavigable. To measure the effect of sedimentation the diversity and density of profundal invertebrate macrofauna were sampled. Thirteen taxa were collected and assemblages were dominated by oligochaetes, midges (chironomidae), and the Phantom Midge Chaoborus. No significant associations between sediment thickness and invertebrate metrics were found, however sediment size was correlated positively with % insects and total invertebrates and negatively correlated with blood worms (Chironomus riparius). Water depth was also negatively correlated with total invertebrates. While sedimentation will be a problem in the future for Perry Lake, the current rate of sedimentation seems to not be affecting the profundal invertebrates. Erosion control should concentrate on limiting the entry of small-particle sediments to the lake.

Brian J. O'Neill, Jenna Steffen, and Mark Jakubauskas "Effects of Sedimentation on the Profundal Benthic Macroinvertebrates of a Great Plains Reservoir," Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 117(1-2), 61-68, (1 April 2014). https://doi.org/10.1660/062.117.0108
Published: 1 April 2014
KEYWORDS
benthos
Chaoborus
Chironomus
density
diversity
oligochaete
Perry Lake
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