HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cooper, C. M. Articles by Burris, J. W. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Cooper, C. M. Articles by Burris, J. W. Agricola Articles by Cooper, C. M. Articles by Burris, J. W.

Bryozoans—Possible Indicators of Environmental Quality in Bear Creek, Mississippi¹

ABSTRACT

Collections of samples of water and substrate materials from lakes and stream sections of Bear Creek, Miss., were studied to determine the species of Bryozoa present in different habitats of an aquatic ecosystem with an intensively cultivated flatland watershed (440 km²). Bear Creek (83 km long), a tributary of the Yazoo River in the Mississippi River alluvial delta, is actually a series of six riverine lakes connected by a sluggishly flowing stream. The watershed also includes several other oxbow lakes connected to the stream only during periods of high discharge. Water quality as characterized by total and suspended sediments, deposited sediments, pH, and coliforms deteriorated in a downstream direction. Four species of the sessile colonial invertebrate were indigenous to the three lakes in the system having the lowest total solids, sedimentation rates, and pH. These included Plumatella fruticosa (Allman), Lophopus crystallinus (Pallas), Fredericella sultana (Blumenbach), and Pectinatella magnifica (Leidy). Absence of bryozoans, especially environmentally sensitive Pectinatella magnifica, in downstream areas correlated with degradation of downstream habitat and increased total solids. Selective habitation of these invertebrates in the Bear Creek stream system indicates the possible use of these organisms as environmental indicators of habitat quality.

Key Words: index organisms • sediments • habitat

¹ Contribution from USDA-ARS Sedimentation Lab., P.O. Box 1157, Oxford, MS 38655 in cooperation with the Mississippi Dep. of Wildlife Conservation.

² Ecologist, USDA Sedimentation Lab., Oxford, MS 38655 and Biologist, Mississippi Dep. of Wildlife Conservation, Jackson, MS 39202.

Received for publication April 14, 1983.