HW 5 Answers

Question 1 of 8
10.0 Points
Chemical A has a 96-hr LC50 of 1 mg/L, and chemical B has a 96-hr LC50 of 15 mg/L. A
solution has a concentration of 1 mg/L A and 15 mg/L B. A 96-hr toxicity test of this solution
produces 25% mortality. The joint toxic action of this solution is called _____.

A.concentration addition
B.antagonism
C.no addition
D.partial addition
E.synergism
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Question 2 of 8
10.0 Points
How does pH affect the chemical form of a toxicant in water?

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Part 2 of 3 - In-stream Biology

An important aspect of in-stream surveys is that they reflect cumulative effects. In the Ely Mine
exercise, you have only been considering copper as a contaminant. In many sites, you can have
multiple contaminants to consider. The numerical environmental quality guidelines that you have
been working with only consider site contaminants, but the in-stream biota reflects the integrated
combined effects of all contaminants where they live.
Aquatic Invertebrates. For the aquatic invertebrates, you will find two different measures of
health, and two different habitats being investigated. The two measures are species abundance and
species richness. Species abundance is simply the number of individual organisms found in your
sample. More critters mean a better environment. Species richness is the number of taxa present in
the sample. Again, more taxa generally mean a better environment. In your assessment, remember
that you are looking for impairment relative to the reference site for THAT stream.

The two habitats that are included in the dataset are the Riffle-Targeted Habitat (RTH) and the
Depositional-Targeted Habitat (DTH). The RTH invertebrates are also called "epifauna." These are the
invertebrates that cling to cobbles and pebbles in high-energy riffles. They are a reflection of surface-
water quality. The DTH invertebrates are also called "infauna." They occur in sediment in slower
flowing pools where fine-grained sediments are deposited. They are a reflection of sediment quality.
As you compare these results, in your final summary report, to the chemical parameters that you
looked at earlier, keep this pairing in mind.

Fish. To assess the fish population, we will use the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), which you have
learned a little about previously. IBIs are measures of aquatic health. They are commonly developed
on a regional basis and on an ecosystem type basis. They incorporate parameters such as species
abundance, species richness, and relative proportions of contaminant sensitive and contaminant
tolerant species, among other factors (e.g., functional feeding groups, growth strategies). As above,
a high value is good and a lower value is not so good. Also, remember to compare the results to the
values for the reference site for THAT stream.

Question 3 of 8
10.0 Points
For the in-stream biology fish IBI surveys, which streams show impairment? Pick all that are
correct.

A. Ompompanoosuc River
B. Ely Brook
C. Schoolhouse Brook

Question 4 of 8
10.0 Points
For the in-stream aquatic RTH invertebrate surveys, which sites show impairment? Pick all
that are correct.

A. Ely Brook abundance

B. Schoolhouse Brook abundance
C. Ompompanoosuc River abundance
D. Ely Brook richness
E. Schoolhouse Brook richness
F. Ompompanoosuc River richness
Part 3 of 3 - Bioassays

Bioassays are laboratory experiments where organisms are exposed to samples collected
from the study site. For the weekly homework, we are looking at the results of exposing
two different aquatic invertebrates to sediment from the Ely Mine study area. These data
are found under the Bioassay tab in the spreadsheet. The two organisms are Hyalella
azteca and Chironomus dilutus. H. azteca is an amphipod and C. dilutus is a midge. For
both organisms, a specific number of organisms are placed in beakers with the sediment
samples. The overlying water is replaced on a daily basis for the duration of the
experiments. H. azteca was exposed for 28 days; whereas, C. dilutus was exposed for 12
days. For both organisms, two different endpoints were considered - survival and growth.
Survival is the number or percentage of organisms that survived to the end of the
experiments. For H. azteca, growth was measured in terms of length of the organisms;
whereas, for C. dilutus, it was their dry weight. All experiments were done in triplicate, so
we have a measure of their reproducibility, which is shown as the standard error. Like the
in-stream surveys, bioassays reflect the cumulative effects of all contaminants present.

Control samples and reference sites are also used to evaluate experiment quality. The lab
used a "clean" soil (FL in the table) as a control. The lab expects to see greater than 85%
survival in experiments that are properly set up. If you have done a proper job selecting
your reference sites at your study area, you would also expect to see survival rate greater
than 85%. If your control samples do not meet this criterion, then you must discard all of
your results. If your reference sites do not meet this criterion, then you initially have to
question if you properly selected your reference sites.

For survival, impairment is reflected (obviously) in lower survival rates. For growth,
impairment is reflected in lower growth. As you interpret these results, remember that
survival is absolute, but you need to compare growth to your control and reference
samples. You also should consider results for a stream relative to the results of the
reference for that stream.

Question 5 of 8
10.0 Points
For the Hylella azteca bioassay experiments, which streams show impairment? Multiple
answers may be correct.

A. Ely Brook Survival

B. Ely Brook Growth
C. Schoolhouse Brook Survival
D. Schoolhouse Brook Growth
E. Ompompanoosuc River Survival
F. Ompompanoosuc River Growth
Question 6 of 8
10.0 Points
For the bioassay data, which control or reference site survival experiments yielded acceptable
results for specific organisms? Select all that are correct.

A. Hyalella azteca: Lab control

B. Hyalella azteca: Ely Brook
C. Hyalella azteca: Schoolhouse Brook
D. Hyalella azteca: Ompompanoosuc River
E. Chironomus dilutus: Lab control
F. Chironomus dilutus: Ely Brook
G. Chironomus dilutus: Schoolhouse Brook
H. Chironomus dilutus: Ompompanoosuc River

Question 7 of 8
20.0 Points
Discuss how the surface-water quality parameters that you worked with in Homeworks 3 and 4
compare to the biological data from this week. Do the two approaches give similar results or
are there significant differences in the conclusions that you reach? Explain why or why not.

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Question 8 of 8
20.0 Points
Discuss how the sediment-quality parameters that you worked with in Homework 1 compare to
the in-stream biology (DTH species) data and the bioassay data from this week. Do the three
 approaches give similar results or are there significant differences in the conclusions that you
reach? Explain why or why not.
The sediment-quality parameters of Homework1 agree with the data from the in-stream biology (DTH
species). The sediment-quality parameters showed that all the sediment sites exceeded the aquatic
sediment probable effects concentration (PEC). The in-stream biology (DTH species) data also showed
impairment in all the streams. For comparison of the sediment-quality parameters of Homework1 with
the bioassay data, little discrepancy was noted. For the bioassay data, no impairment was observed for
the Ompompanoosuc River. This is not through with the sediment quality parameters.

Reason: DTH species are reflection of sediment quality; this means that the sediment-quality results
must agree with the in-stream biology (DTH species) data. Bioassay data reflects the cumulative effects
of all contaminants present and thus may have little discrepancy when compared to sediment quality.