Cladophora blooms and ecosystem development: implications for restoration in the Upper Clark Fork River, MT
Valett, H.M., M.G. Peipoch, N. Banish, J. Dyste, P. Davis, and K. Bray
University of Montana Division of Biological Sciences THE CLARK FORK RIVER, MT - Largest river by volume in Montana - Class I river for recreation from Warm Springs Cr. to the Idaho border The Upper Clark Fork River (UCFR) drainage
FAIRMONT Western Montana’s mining history … ‘the richest hill on earth’ Butte Hill, 1890 The Copper Kings & the UCFR
Marcus Daly William A. Clark Augustus Heinze
Anaconda Smelter circa 1900
Neversweat Mine circa 1900 Clark Fork River Flood 1908
Higgins St Bridge Missoula, MT
UCFR circa 1970 Floodplain restoration in the upper river reaches
River restoration at the landscape scale 2013-2022: 80 km of floodplain - soil removal Sep 26 2016: Butte-Silver Bow officially opened its $34 million - revegetation Wastewater Treatment Plant - lowering of Milltown floodplain elevation dam removal and restoration site Δ Nutrient loading EPA designated reaches for restoration
Upper Clark Fork River OU
Reach C
Reach B
Reach A
upstrem restoration site
What are the long-term consequences of restoration? Restoration and game fisheries
Flathead Lake
Blackfoot R. (310/km) Missoula 7-mile riffle; Craig, MT (2,790/km)
Bitterroot R. (620/km) Helena Anaconda Missouri R. Butte
Big Hole R. Jefferson R. Gallatin R.
(1,860/km) Madison R. Fish density along the UCFR (#/km)
fish (#/km) 1987 1200 2009 2015 800
400
0 Reach C Reach B Reach A
Data from Pat Saffle, MT FWP 2000 Big Hole R.
1600 1987 1200 2009 2015 800 Bitterroot R.
400
0 Reach C Reach B Reach A
Data from Pat Saffle, MT FWP Pat Saffel Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Doug Martin Montana Natural Resource Damage Program
Darrel Reed Montana Department of Environmental Quality
What features need to be considered when restoring fisheries in Reach C of the UCFR?
Table 1. Constituents, sites, duration, and frequency of the three long-term core data sets, UCFR, MT. Data Set Sites Duration & Frequency Content 1) Sediment metals a) sentinel sites 2, 4, 6 1991 – 2012, ca. bi-monthly total recoverable As, Cd, Cu, Pd, Zn b) synoptic 23 sites ‘91, ’98, ’01, ‘09, & ’12 total recoverable As, Cd, Cu, Pd, Zn
2) Water quality 1–6 1985 – 2015, monthly* TP, SRP, NH4, NO3, TKN, temp, misc.
3) Periphyton 2, 3, 5 1995 – 2015, Aug & Sep chlorophyll a (chl), ash-free dry mass (AFDM) *since 2007 sites 1, 2, 3 and 5 have been monitored from May – Sep; monitoring of Sites 4 & 6 ceased in 2007 (see text below). Monitoring sites for Reach C habitat assessment 8 Bear 7 Creek
IV) Dates: TR-3 6 5 2015: 4 TR-2 STP early July Rock 3 Creek 2 mid July Harvey late July Creek Flint late Aug Creek Tr-1 1 late September 2016: April
I) USGS Gauges II) Reach C: flow, temp, DO, III) Tributary: flow, temp, DO, UCFR (2) nutrients, algae, drift nutrients, algae, drift Above: Within: Below: Tribs (2) TR-1) Drummond 1) Jens 2) Drummond 7) Clinton TR-2) Below STP 3) Below STP 8) Turah TR-3) Bear Creek Nic 4) Bear Creek Banish 5) Bear Mouth 6) Bonita Green algae
400 Site 2: Deer Lodge nuisance blooms
200 Cladophora biomass in the UCFR
400 Site 3: Garrison Chl a (mg/m2) 200
400 Site 5: Bonita
200
0 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 300 mg/m2 Cladophora biomass in the UCFR: Organic matter as Ash-free dry mass
120
)
2 80
40
AFDM(g/m 0 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Dissolved Nutrients Cladophora N=24
UCFR 20–45 μg/L
Cladophora N:P ≈ 16:1
UCFR Reach C: N:P ratios in summer <1 Excess P or N-limited UCFR 4–8 μg/L Benthic organic matter MidLateLateLate July September July August
160 Benthic Mid July Organic End July Matter 120 End August (g/m2) End September 80 summer BOM: Swan Bitterroot 40 Big Hole 6.7 Boulder g/m2 (n = 47) 0 Jens Drummond WWTP Bear gulch Bearmouth Bonita Clinton Turah Drifting organicDrifting matter Coarse Suspended Organic Matter (g/m3) 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 Jens Drummond
WWTP Bear gulch Mid JulyMid
Bearmouth EndAug Bonita
EndJuly Clinton End September End August End July Mid July
Turah EndSept
Drifting organic matter: Reach A – Reach C
0.4 Reach A Reach B Reach C
Suspended Organic Matter 0.2 (g/m3)
0 Dissolved Oxygen levels 24h cycle of DO concentrations (July, September, October) i) water column conditions
12 Night
Within/below 10 Cladophora mats
8 Over Cladophora mats
Over Cladophora mats 6
4
Dissolved Oxygen Oxygen Dissolved concentration (mg/L) concentration 2 Within/below Cladophora mats 0 0 5:3030 pm 60 10:3090 pm120 3:30150 AM 180 8:30210 AM 240 1:30270 PM300 24h cycle of DO concentrations (July, September, October) ii) sub-algal habitat
0.3 Night
0.2
0.1
Dissolved Oxygen Oxygen Dissolved concentration (mg/L) concentration
0.0 0 17:3030 60 22:3090 120 1503:30 180 2108:30 240 13:30270 300 Reach C – emerging conceptual model
1) water column habitat
Temp DO metals P N algae
Low DO (anoxia) black POM metals
2) sub-algal zone - bottom habitat Physicochemical and foodweb pathways for environmental influences on trout abundance in Reach C
Water Column Trout
Physicochemical Drifting prey Trophic Pathways Pathways
Benthic prey Sub-algal
heat Algal mats nutrients (N) O2 / Cu flow
Detritus Cladophora/ POM So….where does the N come from? animal waste NitrateNitrate flux vs.flux distance (Mg/month) - 1980s (n = 7 years) 9 6 3 N-fixation Winter 0 9
6 Spring 3 NO -N Flux 0 3 space holder (kg/month) 0.8 Summer 0.4
0.0
4 Fall 2
0 ANFO! 0 50 100 150 200 Distance Downstream (km) Blast Nitrogen Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil (ANFO) Tri-nitro Toluene (TNT) Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN)
20-30 explosions per ‘round’ - 49 miles of vertical shafts - 5,600 miles of horizontal workways Seasonal 15 18 Isotopic N O Sampling PETN TNT 14 sites in main stem 16 sites at tributaries Agriculture Urban SEASONAL SAMPLING Winter, Spring, and Summer completed Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil (ANFO) Tri-nitro Toluene (TNT) Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) Conclusions and implications:
Restoration planning needs to go beyond heavy metals alone: strategic planning requires landscape perspectives
Interactions among environmental stressors are key features: 1) metals 2) nutrients 3) flow and scour Translation to top predators requires understanding: 1) abundance and production of prey 2) efficacy of trophic transfer 3) structure of the fish community Benthic macroinvertebrate body burden (ppm)
1985 1995 2005
From Hornberger et al. (2009) Benthic macroinvertebrate body burden (ppm) April 2016, Reach C, Site 5
Copper 350 6X 20-yr average 300 250
200
ppm 150 100 50 0
2) We can measure metals in invertebrates - burdens are similar to reported values . measurable at UM Murdock Biogeochemistry lab . two techniques required
120 100 benthos Metal 80 Burden (blackflys, stoneflies) 60 (mg/kg) 40 20 0 1985 1995 2005 Peipoch, Banish, Valett 2015 Hornberger et al. 2009 Opportunities for Synergy: Ecology and ecological restoration - people matter
Ray Callaway Libby Metcalf
Marc Peipoch Cara Nelson
Social Ecological System (SES) Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) Jakki Mohr Theresa Floyd