Using ordination and clustering techniques to assess multimetric fish health response following a coal ash spill.
The effect of coal ash exposure on fish health in freshwater communities is largely unknown. Given the large number of possible pathways of effects (e.g., toxicological effect of exposure to multiple metals, physical effects from ash exposure, and food web effects), measurement of only a few health metrics is not likely to give a complete picture. The authors measured a suite of 20 health metrics from 1100+ fish collected from 5 sites (3 affected and 2 reference) near a coal ash spill in east Tennessee over a 4.5-yr period. The metrics represented a wide range of physiological and energetic responses and were evaluated simultaneously using 2 multivariate techniques. Results from both hierarchical clustering and canonical discriminant analyses suggested that for most species × season combinations, the suite of fish health indicators varied more among years than between spill and reference sites within a year. In a few cases, spill sites from early years in the investigation stood alone or clustered together separate from reference sites and later year spill sites. Outlier groups of fish with relatively unique health profiles were most often from spill sites, suggesting that some response to the ash exposure may have occurred. Results from the 2 multivariate methods suggest that any change in the health status of fish at the spill sites was small and appears to have diminished since the first 2 to 3 yr after the spill.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.
Mark S
MS
Bevelhimer
S Marshall
SM
Adams
Allison M
AM
Fortner
Mark S
MS
Greeley
Craig C
CC
Brandt
D000818:Animals; D055884:Chemical Hazard Release; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D060729:Coal Ash / Q000633:toxicity*; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes; D020387:Food Chain; D005618:Fresh Water; D006262:Health; D008670:Metals / Q000633:toxicity; D013714:Tennessee
D060729:Coal Ash; D008670:Metals
Canonical discriminant analysis; Coal ash; Fish health; Hierarchical clustering; Multivariate analysis