Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Response of the waterlouse Asellus aquaticus to multiple stressors: effects of current velocity and mineral substratum

  • Published:
Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Stress and Recovery

Abstract

Experiments were performed to study theindividual and combined effects of currentvelocity and substratum composition on thewaterlouse Asellus aquaticus (L.). Bothfactors affected growth, mortality, behavior,and food consumption of A. aquaticus.Short-term effects of increasing currentvelocity depended on the type of substratum. Critical currentvelocity for detachment was almost the same onsand as on a polished surface whereas on gravelA. aquaticus could withstand highercurrent velocities by hiding in interstitialspaces. Long-term experiments with differentcombinations of current velocity and substratumcomposition showed that current velocity had agreater effect than substratum on survival andgrowth. Substratum, however, had a greaterinfluence on the distribution of individuals inthe experimental units. Since growth wasreduced at high current velocity and no changesin levels of food intake were observed it isconcluded that a substantial amount of energyis required for withstanding current at higherflow rates. Furthermore, mortality showed astrong inverse correlation to growth. Theinteraction of effects of natural habitatfactors may be better understood using anexperimental and modeling approach focusing onenergy budgets.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adcock, J. A., 1982. Energetics of a population of Asellus aquaticus (Crustacea, Isopoda): respiration and energy budgets. Freshwat. Biol. 12: 257–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barmuta, L. A., 1990. Interaction between the effects of substratum, velocity and location on stream benthos: An experiment. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 41: 557–574.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basset, A., 1993. Resource-mediated effects of stream pollution on food adsorption of Asellus aquaticus (L.) populations. Oecologia 93: 315–321.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, M. S. & A. M. Hatcher, 1992. The energy budget: a useful tool? Ann. Zool. Fennici 35: 231–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. E. & L. S. J. Cook, 1993. Catastrophic macroinvertebrate drift and sublethal effects on brown trout, Salmo trutta, caused by cypermethrin spraying on a Tasmanian stream. Aquat. Toxicol. 27: 201–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diaz, R. J., R. Rosenberg, A. D. Ansell, R. N. Gibson & M. Barnes, 1995. Marine benthic hypoxia: A review of its ecological effects and the behavioural responses of benthic macrofauna. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 33: 245–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doeg, T. J. & G. A. Milledge, 1991. Effect of experimentally increasing concentrations of suspended sediment on macroinvertebrate drift. Austr. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 42: 519–526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erman, D. C. & N. A. Ermanl, 1984. The response of stream macroinvertebrates to substrate size and heterogeneity. Hydrobiologia 108: 75–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feltmate, B. W., R. L. Baker & P. J. Pointing, 1986. Distribution of the stonefly nymph Paragnetina media (Plecoptera: Perlidae): influence of prey, predators, current speed, and substrate composition. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 43: 1582–1587.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folt, C. L., C. Y. Chen, M. V. Moore & J. Burnaford, 1999. Synergism and antagonism among multiple stressors. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 864–877.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, H. M. & B. G. Simmonds, 1933. Metabolic rates of aquatic arthropods from different habitats. J. exp. Biol 10: 67–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graça, M. A. S., L. Maltby & P. Calow, 1993. Importance of fungi in the diet of Gammarus pulex and Asellus aquaticus. II. Effects on growth, reproduction and physiology. Oecologia 96: 304–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gresens, S. E., 1997. Interactive effects of diet and thermal regime on growth of the midge Pseudochironomus richardsoni Malloch. Freshwat. Biol. 38: 265–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, C. A. S., J. A. Stanford & F. R. Hauer, 1992. The distribution and abundance of organisms as a consequence of energy balances along multiple environmental gradients. Oikos 65: 377–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanazato, T. & S. I. Dobson, 1995. Synergistic effects of low oxygen concentration, predation kairomone, and a pesticide on the cladoceran Daphnia pulex. Limnol. Oceanogr. 40: 700–709.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynes, H. B. N., 1970. The Ecology of Running Waters. Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 555 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, P. D. & K. M. Brown, 1997. The role of current and light in explaining the habitat distribution of the lotic snail Elimia semicarinata (Say). J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 16: 545–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampert, W., 1984. The Measurement of Respiration. In: Downing, J. A. & F. H. Rigler (eds), A Manual on Methods for the Assessment of Secondary Productivity in Fresh Waters, second edition. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford: 413–468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, J. & A. G. Hildrew, 1993. Flow refugia and the microdistribution of lotic macroinvertebrates. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 12: 385–393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, J. & A. Mole, 1999. Interactive effects of current flow and substratum texture on the microdistribution of lotic macroinvertebrates. Arch. Hydrobiol. 146: 83–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Layzer, J. B. & L. M. Madison, 1995. Microhabitat use by freshwater mussels and recommendations for determining their instream flow needs. Regul. Rivers: Res. Manage. 10: 329–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Bras, S., 1990. Sensitivity of Asellus aquaticus L. (Crustacea, Isopoda) to lindane in relation to biotic (size and metabolism) and abiotic factors (concentration of insecticide and temperature). Rev. Sci. Eau 3: 183–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemly, A. D., 1993. Metabolic stress during winter increases the toxicity of selenium to fish. Aquat. Toxicol. 27: 133–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenihan, H. S., F. Micheli, S. W. Shelton & C. H. Peterson, 1999. The influence of multiple environmental stressors on susceptibility to parasites: An experimental determination with oysters. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 910–924.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, S. D. & R. C. Bailey, 1992. Community development of epilithic invertebrates in streams: Independent and interactive effects of substratum properties. Can. J. Zool. Rev. Can. Zool. 70: 1976–1983.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maltby, L., C. Naylor & P. Calow, 1990. Effect of stress on a freshwater benthic detritivore: scope for growth in Gammarus pulex. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 19: 285–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maltby, L., 1991. Pollution as a probe of life-history adaptation in Asellus aquaticus (Isopoda). Oikos 61: 11–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, J. H., D. W. Sutcliffe & L. G. Willoughby, 1978. Feeding and growth of Asellus aquaticus (Isopoda) on food items from the littoral of Windermere, including green leaves of Elodea canadensis. Freshwat. Biol. 8: 505–519.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, J. H. & L. G. Willoughby, 1978. Fungi as food for the aquatic invertebrate Asellus aquaticus. Trans. Br. Mycol. Soc. 70: 143–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merritt, R. W. & K. W. Cummins, 1996. An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America, 3rd edn. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 862 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minshall, G. W., 1984. Aquatic insect-substratum relationships. In: Resh, V. H. & D. M. Rosenberg (eds), The Ecology of Aquatic Insects. Praeger Publishers, New York: 358–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, P. M. & M. A. Learner, 1982. The life history and production of Asellus aquaticus (Crustacea: Isopoda) in the River Ely, South Wales. Freshwat. Biol. 12: 435–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, M. A., A. E. Bely & K. E. Berg, 1992. Response of invertebrates to lotic disturbance: a test of the hyporheic refuge hypothesis. Oecologia 89: 182–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peeters, E. T. H. M. & J. J. P. Gardeniers, 1998. PREMIOS: A Tool for impact-assessment in streams using multiple logistic regression equations for macroinvertebrates. Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Report number M285, 47 pp.

  • Peeters, E. T. H. M., T. J. De Jager, J. A. J. Beijer & A. A. Koelmans, 2000. Effects of benzo(a)pyrene and sediment organic matter structure on bioaccumulation and growth of Asellus aquaticus. Arch. Environ. Contamin Toxicol. 39: 307–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poff, N. L. & J. V. Ward, 1991. Drift responses of benthic invertebrates to experimental streamflow variation in a hydrologically stable system. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 48: 1926–1936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, J. W., S. K. Lewis & K. G. Porter 1999. The effect of multiple stressors on the Florida Keys coral reef ecosystem: A landscape hypothesis and a physiological test. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 941–949.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, B. L., G. Cecchine & T. W. Snell, 1999. Effects of pentachlorophenol on predator avoidance behavior of the rotifer Branchionus calyciflorus. Aquat. Toxicol. 44: 201–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rakocinski, C., 1997. Interactive effects of darter predation and elevated discharge on macroinvertebrates of a Gulf Coast stream. J. Freshwat. Ecol. 12: 341–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, A. D., 2000. Effects of cadmium exposure on volume regulation in the lugworm, Arenicola marina. Aquat. Toxicol. 48: 151–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smock, L. A. & S. B. Gazzera, 1996. Effects of experimental episodic acidification on a southeastern USA backwater stream. J. Freshwat. Ecol. 11: 81–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statzner, B., 1981. The relation between “hydraulic stress” and microdistribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in a lowland running water system, the Schierenseebrooks (North Germany). Arch. Hydrobiol. 91: 192–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolkamp, H. H., 1982. Microdistribution of macroinvertebrates in lowland streams. Hydrobiol. Bull. 16: 133–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, C. R., 1996. Concepts in river ecology: pattern and process in the catchment hierarchy. Arch. Hydrobiol. Suppl. 113: 3–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, A. J., 1997. Experiments in Ecology. Their logical design and interpretation using analysis of variance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 504 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, J. V., 1992. Aquatic Insect Ecology. 1. Biology and Habitat. Wiley, New York, 438 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, R. E., A. De Zwaan & A. Bang, 1992. Interactive effects of ambient copper and anoxia, temperature and salinity stress on survival and hemolymph and muscle tissue osmotic effectors in Mytilus edulis. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 159: 135–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, C. E., B. R. Hargreaves, P. S. Orr & P. A. Lovera, 1999. Does UV radiation play a role in changes in predation and zooplankton community structure in acidified lakes? Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 774–783.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, D. A. & P. M. Welbourn, 1991. Effect of mercury on unidirectional sodium and calcium influx in Asellus aquaticus. Arch. Environ. Contamin. Toxicol. 21: 567–570.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8080, 6700 DD, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    E.T.H.M. Peeters, J.M. Camu, J.A.J. Beijer, M. Scheffer & J.J.P. Gardeniers

Authors
  1. E.T.H.M. Peeters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J.M. Camu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J.A.J. Beijer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Scheffer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J.J.P. Gardeniers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Peeters, E., Camu, J., Beijer, J. et al. Response of the waterlouse Asellus aquaticus to multiple stressors: effects of current velocity and mineral substratum. Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Stress and Recovery 9, 193–203 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021218721123

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021218721123

Search

Navigation