. DOCUMENT RESUME 130 209. 114 SE 035 923 TI'TL'E Applied Ecology SexiinawTrininq>Manual. INSTITUTION 'Office of Water Progiat.Operations (EPA) ,gCincinnati, Ohio. National Training and Operational Technology 1Center. [ TEPORT NO "EPA-430/1-79-014, PUB DATE Dec 79 NOTE 203p. ;..Contains occasional light and broken type.: . AVAILABLE. FROM EPA Instructional Resources Center 1200 Chambers Rd.,°,3rd Floor, Columbus, OH-43212 ($1.00'plus.,$0.03 per page). -EDRE PiXCE HF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Administration;- *Biological Sciences; *Data m Analyses; data Collection ; ,E6ological Factors; 0 , *Ecology; *Environmental Standards; Urine Hidlogy; *Rostsecon.dary Education; *Sctence Education; Water .Pollutioh IDENTIFIERS *Water Quality' .0 ABStRACT _ g . Presented is material on planning, administering, collecting, evaluating, interpreting, and reporting biological data. , relatbd.to water quality studies in both fresh and marine waters. Topics include -4uatic ecology, water pollution, taxonomy, 'bacteriology, bioissays, water quality"-sentlaacemet, and administration of water quality standard Each of the. 15 chapters .includes reading material and selected references. (CO).* I 111 1 4 , *******************41*****************************A***1**************** *. Reproductions supplied by EDRS ate' the best that can be made * * from the, origj.naldocument.. *********************************************************************** -, 4 United States National Training EPA-430/1-.79-014 Environmental Protection and Operational December 1979 Agency Technology Center I Cincinnati OH 45268 ., Water 16EPA Applied Ecology Seminar Training Manua U.S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER lERICI \i/Thisdocument has been feprgiluceti qs received from the person or organization originating it Minor change% have beerrmade to Improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions Stated in this docu ment do not necessarily represent official NIE position or policy 6 . A 1 1 4 2 EPA-430/1-79-'44 December 1979 , . Applied Ecology Seminar tt . o o to ct This1 seminar is for those concerned with planning, administering, collecting, evaluating, inteKpreting and reporting biological data .related to water quality Eitddies in both fresh and marine waters. After suscessfully completing the course,' the student will be able. to better utilize biologicariecludques which are fundamental in water pollution control. He/shviill better-understand the advantages and potential cohtributions of biological data and , investigations to ltdrainistrators, project leaders and 'others. Biologists will better understand the limitations and restrictions .placed on the administrator, aiid the nature of biological data which will be moat useful for the iinprdvemen of water quality. The training consists of formal presentations followed' by Informal,ig d ussions, a field trip and laboratory studies. L , % . .U, S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY .Cffice of Water Program Operations . National Training and Operational Technology Center 4 I- it . DISCLAIMER 11 . t . Referenge to commercial products,:-trade names dr manufacturers is for purposes of example and , illustration. Such referencesdo not constitute endorsement by the Office of Water Program Operations, U. S. Environmental Protectidn Agency. I .1 S 0 CONTENTS ( . -Title or Description Outline Number .... Global DeteriorationJ. and Our Environmental Crisis 1. The Aquatic Environment The Laws of Ecology 3 Aquatic Organisms of Significance in Pollution Surveys 4 Biologic4l Aspects of Natural Self Purification 5 .. Significance of Eutimphication 6 Pollutiou'of the Marine Environment 7 f s Water Temperature and Water Quality 8 - Biotic Effects of Solids .4 10 ri 'Effects of Pollution on Fish* Critical Problems in Systematics 1I 17 The System of Biblogical Classification. 12 . The Cycling of Radionuclides in the Aquatic EnvirOnment 13 Procedures for Fish Kill Investigations I 14 Special Application's arkd Procedures foi- Bioassay 16 Using Benthi.c Biotd in Water Quality Evaluations2 16. - 17 The Interpretation of Biological Data with Reference to Water...---- Quality The Physical and Biological Components of th.e Estuarine.Ecosystem 1. andTheir-Analysis '18 Case 1:reparan and CourtroomProcedure 19 r 1-7 O C GLOBA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY I FROM LOCAL TO REGIONAL TO GLOBAL or he must be thebusiness, doctor who PROBLEMS sees the marks of death in a community that believes Itself well and does not want to a be told otherwise, " Aldo Leopold _ A Environeental problenis do not stop at national frontiers, or ideological barriers. Pollution in the atmosphere and, oceans IICHANGES IN ECOSYSTEMS ARE taints all nations, even those benignly. OCCURRING CONTINUOUSLY favored by geography, climate, or n'atu'ral resources. A Myriad interactions take-place at every moment of the day. as plants and animals 1 The smokestacks cd one country often respond to variations in their surroundings ' pollute the air and water of another. and to each other.Evolution has'produceti for each species, including man, si genetic 2Toxic effluents poured into an inter- composition that limits how far that national river can kill fish in a Species can 'go in_adjusting to sudden -t neighbdring nation.and ultimately changes in its Surroundings. But within pollute international seas. these limits the several thousand species. in an ecosystem, or for that matted the B In Antarctica, thousands of miles 'fron1 millions in the biosphere, continuously pollution sources, penguins and fish adjust to outside stimuli,: Since inter- contain DnT in their fat.Recent layers actions are so numerous, they form long Of snow and ice onthe white continent chains of reactions. contain measurable amounts of lead. The increase can be correlated with the B Small changes in one part of an ecosystem earliest:days of lead smelting and com- are likely to be felt and compensated for btistion of leaded gesolines. PCB's are eventually throughout the system. univeAsally distributed. Dramatic examples Ofnhiange can be seen where man has altered the course of C International cooperation; therefore, is nature.It is vivid-1,y evident in his v;a1- necessary on many environmental fronts. intentionedbut poorly thoUght but tampering with river, lake, and other ecosystems. 1 Sudden accidenp that chaotically damage- the environment -.such as oil 1 The Aswan High' am Spills from a tanker at sea - require international cooperation 'both for 2 The St. Lawrence Seaway preventioh and for cleanup: 3, Lake -Kariba 2 Environmental effects cannot b e effectively treated by unilateral action. 4'The, Great, Liles'. be 3 The ocean can no longer. be considered 5Valley of Mexico a dump. ; 6California'earthquake (Scientific D "One of the penalties of'an ecological .American 3981, p. 333) education' is That one 'lives alone In a world of, wounde.: Much of the tlainagp. 7Everglades and-the_Miami, Florida .infli-bted on-land is quite: invisible to ,' JeVort laymen: An ecologist must:either .harden- his shell and make believe that the conse!-- 8C/Opperhill, Tennessee. (Copper Basin) % . nt.iencesof.sclence are none of his: . , .9(You may add others) 1 ..`. -r AT. gcoontioL-2fT7.19 global Deteriorarion and Our Environmental. Crisis .0 Ecosystem Stability 2 Invertebrates -1 The stability of a particuiar ecosystem a Asian Clams have a pelagic veliger depends' on its diversity. The more larvae, thus, a'variety of, hydro interdependencies in an ecosystein, the installations are Vulnerable to sub- greater the chances that it will be able sequent pipe clogging by the adult to compensate for changes imposed clams. upon it.. 1 bMelanian snails are intermediate 2 A cornfield or lawn has little naral hosts for various trematodes .stability.If they are not constan parasitic on-man. and careful.br cultivated, they will not remain cornfields or lawns but will 3Vertebrates . soon be overgrown with a wide variety of hardier planes constituting a more aAt least 25 exotic species of fish. stable 'ecosystem. have been established in North America. 3 The chemical elements that make up _- living systems also depend on cdmplex, b Birds, including starlings d diverse sources to prevent - cyclic cattle egrets. shortages or oversupply. c Mammals, including nutria. 4Similar diversity is essential for the / continued functioning of the cycle by 4 Aqutic plants / which atmospheric nitrogen is made available allow life to exist.This Over twenty common exotic species cycle depends on a wide variety of are growing wild in the United States. organisms, including soil bacteria and The problem of waterway clogging has fungi, which are often destroyed by been especially severe in parts of the 1 pesticides in the soil. Southeast. 5Pathogens and Pests 5 numerical -expression of diversity' 1 is often'used in defining stream water Introduction of insect pests anti tree quality. pathogens have had severe economic - effects. , D Biological Pollution Contamination of living native biotaa by III LAWS OF ECOLOGY introduction of exotic life forms has been o -r called biological pollution by Lacbner A Four prfncipleg have been enunciated by et tg. Some of these introductions are Dr..13th'y Commoner. compared to contamination as severe as 1 a dangerous chemical release. They 1 Everything is connected everything . also threaten to replace known wildlife else. resources with species of little or un- known Nalue. 6 2Everything must go somewhere. Tropidal areas:haveespecially,kbeen 3 Nature kakisest. ° vulnerable.