title: Does fine sediment source as well as quantity affect salmonid embryo mortality and development?
abstract: Fine sediments are known to be an important cause of increased mortality in benthic spawning fish. To date, most of the research has focussed on the relationship between embryo mortality and the quantity of fine sediment accumulated in the egg pocket. However, recent evidence suggests a) that the source of fine sediment might also be important, and b) that fitness of surviving embryos post-hatch might also be impacted by the accumulation of fine sediments. In this paper, we report an experiment designed to simulate the incubation environment of brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). During the experiment, the incubating embryos were exposed to different quantities of fine (<63 μm) sediment derived from four different sources; agricultural topsoils, damaged road verges, eroding river channel banks and tertiary level treated sewage. Results showed that mass and source are independently important for determining the mortality and fitness of alevin. Differences between species were observed, such that brown trout are less sensitive to mass and source of accumulated sediment. We demonstrate for the first time that sediment source is an additional control on the impact of fine sediment, and that this is primarily controlled by the organic matter content and oxygen consumption of the catchment source material.
authors.affiliation: Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton S017 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sear
authors.affiliation: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems Department, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB, UK.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.affiliation: Soils, Agriculture and Water, ADAS, Pendeford House, Wobaston Road, Wolverhampton WV9 5AP, West Midlands, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hulin
authors.affiliation: Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton S017 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton S017 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bateman
authors.affiliation: School of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pattison
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8BB, UK.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Naden
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers; D020317:Salmo salar / Q000254:growth & development*; D014337:Trout / Q000254:growth & development*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Atlantic salmon; Brown trout; Fine sediment; Organic matter; Sediment sources