[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]








                                                                             TASK A.2
      IN                                                                     NA270ZO356-01





           WISGC)NSIN
                GOASrAL

             PROGRAM


                                      CONTAMINATED SEDIMENT ASSESSMENT BENTHIC
                                        MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY - STUDY





                                                                 Grant Recipient:


                                     WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES





                                                                    FFY 93



















                      EPARTMENT
             QL       41STRATION,
             214      1. BOX 7868,
             C36        Wl 53707'
            FFY93     8-266-8234
             1994
             c.2















                                    Contaminated Sediment Assessment
                              Macroinvertebrate Community Structure Study
                                                    of
                          Wisconsin Great Lakes Coastal Harbors and Tributaries








                                           Christin K. Campbell
                                             Linda M. Talbot







                                Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
                                 Bureau of Water Resources Management




                                                 DRAFT


                                              January 1994









                                            with support from
                                 Wisconsin Coastal Management Program
                            Division of Energy and Intergovernmental Relations
                                      Department of Administration
                                            State of Wisconsin





































                                          Acknowledgement


                    FUNDED IN PART BY THE WISCONSIN COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.


          Financial assistance for this ResearchlStudy Project was provided by  the
          Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, administered by the  Office of
          ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
          Administration pursuant to Grant #NA270ZO356-01 and the WISCONSIN COASTAL
          MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.


          THE WISCONSIN COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, part of the Wisconsin Department of
          Administration, and overseen by the WISCONSIN COASTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL, was
          established in 1978 to preserve, protect and manage the resources of the Lake
          Michigan and Lake Superior coastline for this and future generations.












                                              INTRODUCTION


                  Wisconsin's Great Lakes coasts contain Areas of Concern (AOCs), identified by
            the International Joint Commission, where much of the point source pollution has been
            abated, and contaminated sediments are now a significant source of pollution to the
            aquatic system. These areas are so designated because of the impairment of uses that
            have been identified, for example: restrictions on dredging, degradation of benthos'
            (bottom dwelling biota and habitat), loss of fish and wildlife habitat, and advisories on
            fish consumption. Sediment and water quality monitoring and assessments have become
            necessary tools in obtaining information on which to base remedial action decisions for
            these areas.


                  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' (WDNR) Sediment
            Management and Remediation Techniques (SMART) program has the task of helping to
            guide sediment quality assessment, monitoring and remediation activities within the state.
            This requires that the best methods available for sediment quality assessment be sought
            out and reviewed for use by the WDNR with regard to the inherent heterogeneity of
            contaminated site characteristics around the state. To this end, the SMART program is
            implementing the use of the Sediment' Quality Triad as an approach (Chapman 1986;
            Chapman 1990) for sediment assessments in Areas of Concern (AOCs) and other
            contaminated sites around the state. This approach allows sediment quality assessments
            based on a "weight of evidence" strategy which utilizes three measurable aspects of a
            sediment: bulk chemistry, toxicity and in situ effects. The in situ effects are often
            measured by assessing benthic invertebrate communities and impacts on them.

                  This study was conducted to assess the benthic invertebrate community structures
            at coastal sites where bulk chemistry, toxicity and bioaccumulation data have already
            been gathered. In 1991 and 1992, the Y*IDNR conducted studies funded by the
            Wisconsin Coastal Management Program (WCMP) examining sediment deposits with
            likely or known contamination at 18 sites in Lake Superior, Green Bay and Lake
            Michigan (WDNR, 1992; Y-IDNR, 1993). Sediments from these sites were sampled for
            bulk chemistry, then used in laboratory tests of bioaccumulation and acute and chronic
            toxicity for the 1991 study (YvDNR, 1992). The following year (WDNR 1993), in situ
            bioaccumulation tests using caged fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were
            performed to compare in situ and laboratory bioaccumulation tests.

                  In this study, we have returned to 14 of these sites to conduct benthic invertebrate
            community surveys in an attempt to measure biological impact or community differences
            at each site. Although the benthic invertebrate data from this study will not be
            evaluated in conjunction with the other Triad data for these sites in this report, these
            data will provide the third component of the Triad to complement with the other studies'
            data, and will allow for the additional assessment of these sites using the Triad approach.











                                                  METHODS


            Site Desctiptions

                  The fourteen sites chosen for this study contain soft sediment deposits and were
            sampled in previous years for bulk chemistry, and toxicity and bioaccumulation tests
            (WDNR 1992; WDNR 1993). The sites are located in 1) the St. Louis River Harbor in
            Lake Superior, 2) the Menominee River in Green Bay, and 3) Kenosha, Port
            Washington'and Kewaunee Harbors in Lake Michigan (Table 1).

            Table 1 - Site Descriptions - St. Louis River, Lake Superior

             Site    Description                                                           Depth
             ALZ     Allouez Bay, near middle - reference site                             5-6 ft
             NWC Near 21st Ave. NW Channel, northeast of the WLSSD outfall.                7 ft

             MPL     Northeast of the northernmost Minn. Power and Light Co. dock.         6 ft
             STR     Southeast quadrant of Stryker Embayment.                              4.5 ft

            C     A list of the other sites will be added when these data are fully received and
            analyzed.



            Field Collection


                  Sampling was conducted during April, May and June of 1993. Five benthic core
            samples and five artificial substrate samples, were taken at each site in the St. Louis
            River and Menominee River. Only core samples were obtained at the Lake Michigan
            harbors. Sediment cores, fifteen centimeters deep, were obtained with a 3" diameter
            polycarbonate piston corer and gently sieved in a #60 mesh (250 um openings) wash
            bucket (Wildco, Michigan). Samples were placed in polyethylene jars and preserved with
            10 % formalin for at least two hours to preserve oligochaetes before replacing the
            formalin with 70%-80% ethanol preservative.

                  Modified Hester-Dendy type multiple plate artificial substrate samplers (Klemm
            et al. 1990) were placed at each site at the time of core collection. Samplers were
            suspended less than a foot above the sediment on a subsurface styrofoarn buoy anchored
            to a cement brick. Each set of five samplers were attached to a surface buoy or
            shoreline tree for retrieval purposes. Artificial substrates were retrieved as carefully as
            possible after six weeks and were placed directly into a plastic jar with 70%40% ethanol
            preservative.

                  Samples from the St. Louis River sites were sorted and identified at the Lake
            Superior Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Superior. All other samples were








            processed at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. All samples were fully sorted
            and counted and identified to species if possible unless sample size was prohibitive in
            which case subsamples were used following QA/QC rules.

            Data Analysis

                  Methods for data analysis will be added upon completion of data analysis.




                                                  RESULTS


            St. Louis River


                  The water temperatures near the sediment surface ranged between 7.5'c and
            9.8*c during the collection of benthic grab samples and placement of the artificial
            substrates in May. Temperatures ranged from 14.5'c and 17'c and dissolved oxygen
            between 7.2 and 9.3 mg/l during artificial substrate collection six weeks later. Secchi
            depth readings ranged from 0.5 ft to 2.3 ft. Turbidity was greatest at the reference site
            ALZ compared to all other sites in the St. Louis River.

                  The artificial substrate samplers were partially entangled with each other at some
            sites indicating that the samplers had been disturbed during the six weeks, possibly by
            wind and wave action. Tangled samplers were noted and care was taken to keep
            samples legitimately separate and prevent the loss of organisms from the samplers during
            collection.


            St. Louis River


            Benthic invertebrate core samples

                  Total abundance. The total abundance of organisms (total number of organisms
            found) ranged from 70 at STR to 461 at NWC (Figure 1). NWC was the only site
            significantly different than the reference site ALZ (93 organisms). This could possibly be
            due to organic enrichment without serious oxygen depletion- at the NWC site from the
            nearby sewage treatment plant discharge.

                  Biomass. Measured biomass was highest at the reference site ALZ (63.3 mg), but
            it did not differ significantly compared to the other sites (11. 9 mg-24. I mg) because of
            high variability between sites. The total biomass of organisms from each site did not
            correlate with total abundance. This can be easily explained by the existence of various
            sized organisms at each site.

                  Percent contribution by dominant -taxa The reference site, ALZ (33%), had the
            lowest percent contribution by the dominant taxa compared to the other sites NWC
            (45%), MPL (57%), and STR (53%).








                Species richness. Species richness (number of taxa identified) was highest at ALZ
          (18 taxa identified), and lowest at NWC and STR (12), but not significantly different
          between sites.

                Taxa Diversity. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index (d) at ALZ (3.3), as
          calculated from the total count at the site (as if samples were composited), was obviously
          greater than at the other sites (range 2.2 - 2.4). Statistical analysis (ANOVA) of the
          replicate sample data (means. were compared, n =5) revealed no difference between sites.


          Artificial substrate samples

                Total abundance. Invertebrate abundances were similar at sites ALZ (1109) and
          STR (1141) (Figure 2). NWC and MPL had higher total abundances of 2234 and 2432
          respectively.

                Percent contribution by dominant taxa. All sites were similarly dominated by a
          single taxon ranging from 33 to 40 percent contribution.

                Species richness. The number of species identified at each site was higher from
          the artificial substrates than the core samples, and ranged from 36 at NWC to 50 at
          MPL. @
                Taxa Diversity. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index (d) from a composited total
          was highest at MPL (3.3) and STR (3.2). Diversity index values at ALZ and NWC were
          2.6 and 2.2 respectively.

          a     Further data analysis will be completed.

          Table 1 Community measures

                          ALZ            NWC            MIPL           STR









             Table - Top five most abundant taxa from core samples                St. Louis River

               Family              Abundance

                                         ALZ               NWC                    MIPL           STR

               Chironomidae               33                  29                  24               18

               Nematoda                   31                  40                  18               6

               Naididae                   2                 207                   3                2

               Tubificid                  16                  90                  70               37

               Polychaeta                 0                   90                  4                4
             Most abundant       total from  ah four sites.


             Table - Ten most abundant       Families from   artificial substrate samples    St. Louis River

               Order               Family                   Abundance

                                                                ALZ          NWC         MPL         STR

               Oligochaeta         Naididae                     435               807      805        200
               Diptera             Chironomidae                   85              249      870        755
               Nematoda            Nematoda (Order)               2               515      597        ..24
               Gastropoda          Valvatidae                     0               661      27           35
               Hydroida            Hydridae                     339               3        4            0
               Amphipoda           Gammaridae                    198              1        3            54
               Ephemeroptera       Caenidae                       21              3        45          25
               Trichoptera         Polycentropdidae                1              18       35           18
               Gastropoda          Physidae                       0               61       0            2
               Acari               Acari (Order)                  0               8        19           3






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                                                  DISCUSSION


                   The Allouez Bay reference site contained more noticeable detritus and partially
            decomposed plant material on the sediment surface. It is possible that the greater
            diversity and species richness (although not significant) observed in the core samples at
            ALZ is a result of a greater diversity of habitat available compared to the other three
            sites where no detritus was evident during any of the sampling, and only soft sediment
            was available for invertebrate habitat. This observation was further born out by

                   Further discussion will be presented once the data from UW-Stevens Point is
            analyzed. All 'data from both contract labs was received late, with the UW-SP data
            being received in mid-December.




                                                 REFERENCES


            Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 1992. Contaminated sediment bioassay
            toxicity tests) study of Wisconsin Great Lakes coastal harbors and tributaries.

            Wisconsin DNR. 1993. In situ caged fish and laboratory bioaccumulation study with Lake
            Superior and Green Bay coastal sediments.

            Chapman, P.M. 1986. Sediment quality criteria from the sediment quality triad: an
            example. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 5: 957-964.

            Chapman, P.M. 1989. Current Approaches to developing sediment quality criteria.
            Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 8: 589-599.

            Klemm, D.J., P.A. Lewis, F. Fulk, and J.M. Lazorchak. 1990. Macroin vertebrate field and
            laboratory methods for evaluating the biological integrity of surface waters. EPA/600/4-
            90/030.


            @      Further references will be added once the discussion is developed.




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