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Communication at the NABS Annual meeting, Keystone, 2000
(239) HUMANS, ANIMALS AND FERTILIZERS: PATTERNS IN PERIPHYTON ABUNDANCE IN ALBERTA RIVERS FROM 1980 TO 1995.
G.M. Carr1, P.A. Chambers2, and M. Guy2. 1Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5, 2National Water Research Institute, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 3H5
Periphyton biomass has been monitored over the last twenty years in Alberta rivers and analyses of available data show that biomass has either decreased, remained the same, or increased depending on the river and stations examined. Some of the variability (approximately 30-35 %) in periphyton biomass in Alberta rivers can be attributed to river discharge and mean seasonal instream phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations. However, the link between anthropogenic activities and periphyton growth is unclear. In this study, we examine how human and animal density, percentage of drainage basin under crops, fertilizer application rates, and industrial loading to rivers are related to periphyton biomass. For stations where sufficient data exist, we examine how changes in human activity in the drainage basin from the mid-1980's to the mid-1990's are correlated with changes in periphyton biomass. From this information we predict how future changes in human activity will impact abundance of periphyton.
Presented at 8:45 AM on Thursday, June 1, 2000 in Landscape Perspectives I
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