Ref ID : 2388
Robert D. Orciari and William D. Hummon; A comparison of benthic oligochaete populations in acid and neutral lentic environments in Southeastern Ohio. Ohio Journal of Science (Ohio J.Sci.) 75(1):44-49, 1975
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Acid mine-drainage is a serious pollution problem associated with coal-mining operations. The influence of acid mine-drainage on benthic oligochaetes was assessed by comparing an oligochaete population in an acid-polluted impoundment (Lake Hope, Vinton County, Ohio) with a population from a non-polluted impoundment (Dow Lake, Athens County, Ohio). At monthly intervals during the Summer of 1971, faunal, water, and sedimentary samples were collected from a comparable cove in each lake. The H' species diversity of the benthic oligochaetes in samples from Lake Hope was found to be significantly lower than in those from Dow Lake, although the abundance of individuals in the two sampling areas was similar. Results of a similarity analysis based on shared species diversity indicated that SH' values were nearly as great among Lake Hope samples as among Dow Lake samples, but that both differed significantly from values between samples from the two lakes. Changes in water quality associated with acid mine-pollution, then, are reflected in altered values of intergrative biological parameters associated with community structure such as H' species diversity and SH' index of similarity.