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Impact of season-long water abstraction on invertebrate drift composition and concentration

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Abstract

Surface water abstraction from rivers for irrigated agriculture is one of the largest uses of freshwater resources in the world. Water abstraction has important impacts on the structure of riverine assemblages. However, little work has examined the chronic, season-long impacts on ecosystem functions. Invertebrate drift is an important ecosystem function of river systems influencing nutrient cycling, food webs, and invertebrate population dynamics. We examined the season-long impact of reduced discharge resulting from multiple points of abstraction on drift assemblage composition, concentration, and total drift load. Early in the season, water abstraction had little impact on drift assemblage composition. However, later in the irrigation season, the drift assemblage at sites impacted by water abstraction diverged from upstream, control sites. The degree of change in assemblage composition at impacted sites was related to the amount of water abstracted such that sites with the lowest discharge also had assemblages that differed most strongly from control sites. Drift assemblages at impacted sites became dominated by tolerant microcrustaceans. In addition, water abstraction resulted in an increase in drift concentration (ind./m3). However, despite this increase in concentration at impacted sites, total drift load (# of invertebrates drifting in the river) decreased with decreasing discharge.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, 2121 South 1st St., Hermiston, OR, 97838, USA

    David Wooster & Sandra J. DeBano

  2. National Aquatic Monitoring Center, US Bureau of Land Management, Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Scott W. Miller

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  1. David Wooster
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Correspondence to David Wooster.

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All authors agree that the following ethical standards were met when the research was conducted, the data were analyzed, the manuscript was written, and the manuscript was submitted. None of the authors of this manuscript currently have research projects or research proposals in review with any of these people. In addition, none of the authors of this manuscript have been co-authors or are currently co-authors on manuscripts in preparation with any of these people.

Human and Animal Rights

Our research did not involve human or any vertebrate animal subjects. Our research involved only the collection of aquatic invertebrates, none of which, to the best of our knowledge, are threatened, endangered or in any way protected by United States federal or state laws. Finally, all authors have consented to having the manuscript submitted to Hydrobiologia.

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Handling editor: Marcelo S. Moretti

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Wooster, D., Miller, S.W. & DeBano, S.J. Impact of season-long water abstraction on invertebrate drift composition and concentration. Hydrobiologia 772, 15–30 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2611-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2611-8

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