Limnologica 41 (2011) 90–95 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Limnologica journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/limno Review Methods for biological assessment of salt-loaded running waters – fundamentals, current positions and perspectives Horst Ziemann a, Claus-Jürgen Schulz b,∗ a Am Königsborn 6, D-99096 Erfurt, Germany b Thüringer Landesanstalt für Umwelt und Geologie, Göschwitzer Straße 41, D-07745 Jena, Germany article info abstract Article history: Salinisation of running waters is a severe problem in many parts of the world. Monitoring and manage- Received 10 June 2010 ment of such waters require ecological methods which consider the hydrochemical effects of salinisation Accepted 21 September 2010 on the aquatic communities in order to set targets to protect habitats and biodiversity. Several bioassays have been developed for this purpose and are surveyed here. They are based on the salt sensitivity of Keywords: the following groups of organisms: diatoms, ciliates and macroinvertebrates. In this paper experiences Ciliates gained so far are also considered as well as practical applications originating from this research. Diatoms © 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Macroinvertebrates Halobion Index Salinity Index River salinisation Contents Fundamentals........................................................................................................................................... 90 Chemical basics of salinity of inland rivers ....................................................................................................... 90 The P-value........................................................................................................................................ 91 Biotoxic effects of salinised waters ............................................................................................................... 91 Terminology: primary and secondary salinisation; thalassogenic and athalassogenic waters.................................................. 92 Methods measuring the biological effects of salinisation ........................................................................................ 92 Diatom-based methods................................................................................................................................. 92 Sensitivity of diatoms towards salinity and the specific conductance index .................................................................... 92 The Halobion Index ............................................................................................................................... 92 Practical applied aspects .......................................................................................................................... 93 Relations between Halobion Index and water chemistry ........................................................................................ 93 Ecotoxicological testing procedures.................................................................................................................... 93 Use of LC-values and Salinity Index .............................................................................................................. 93 Applications of the ecotoxicological approach: a risk assessment framework .................................................................. 94 The ciliate assay ........................................................................................................................................ 94 Perspectives ............................................................................................................................................ 94 References .............................................................................................................................................. 94 Fundamentals aquatic organisms (Schönborn 2003). Fresh waters are typically cal- cium hydrogen carbonate waters (standard ion combination, Rohde Chemical basics of salinity of inland rivers 1949). Depending on the geological conditions prevailing in the catchment area, it is distinguished between (i) siliceous waters Salinity is a major characteristic of all waters. It is an abi- which are poor in electrolytes and (ii) carbonate waters rich in otic factor which markedly influences the living conditions of electrolytes (Braukmann 1987; Schönborn 2003). The term “salinity” is usually used for the total concentration of dissolved inorganic ions in the water, namely Na+,K+,Mg2+,Ca2+, ∗ − 2− − −1 −1 −1 Corresponding author. Cl ,SO4 and HCO3 . It is specified as mg L ,gL and g kg , E-mail address: [email protected] (C.-J. Schulz). respectively. Another summarising measure often used is the elec- 0075-9511/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.limno.2010.09.005 H. Ziemann, C.-J. Schulz / Limnologica 41 (2011) 90–95 91 Fig. 1. (a) Relations between chloride concentrations and total salinity (S) as found for the rivers Wipper, Unstrut and Weser (Germany). (b) Relations between chloride concentrations and the total salinity chloride quotient (S/Cl−) as found for the rivers Wipper, Unstrut and Weser (Germany). ◦ trical conductivity (EC). It is standardised to 25 C and expressed total salinity (S,ingL−1) and the percentage the alkali metal ions − − as ␮Scm 1 or mS cm 1. Since the ion proportions of inland salt contribute to the sum of alkali metal and alkaline earth metal ions waters differ considerably (Albrecht 1954; Schmitz 1959), a cate- (in mval L−1, Ziemann 1981, 1997a): gorization based on salt concentration only may be problematical. + (Na+ + K ) × 100 Therefore the different proportions of further ions are sometimes P = × S (1) + + + + 2+ + 2+ used (Hedgepeth 1959). Na K Ca Mg Typical salt waters may be characterised as alkaline salt waters. As demonstrated by Ziemann (1981, 1997a), this relation holds According to the degree of salinisation, ion proportions change good for fresh water and a transition zone up to the border of continually from fresh to salt water what may influence the biolog- salinised water where alkaline ions dominate over calcium ions. ical effect of salinisation (Ziemann 1997a). During this change the Their antagonistic activity is thus not effective any more. This is chemical character of the water also shifts from calcium-hydrogen- the case if the ratio Na+/Ca2+ (in mval L−1) is >1, corresponding to a carbonate to alkali-chloride-dominated. P-value between 80 and 100. A close correlative connection exists Although the degree of salinisation of inland waters is usually between the P-value and the chloride concentrations up to about characterised by the chloride concentration, it is not possible to 1000 mg L−1. Thus it seems to be possible to estimate the ecological conclude the total salt concentration from the chloride concentra- impact of salinity by means of the chloride concentration without tion. However, from the ratio between total salinity (or electrical the time-consuming determination of the P-value (Ziemann 1997b, conductivity) and chloride concentration the geochemical type of Fig. 2.) the water and a given salinisation can be deduced (Table 1, from Ziemann 1997b). Biotoxic effects of salinised waters Chloride concentrations exceeding ∼50–60 mg L−1 and ratios <12–15 point at types of waters which deviate from the basic The biotoxic effects of salinisation are usually due to (i) the − limnic type. Fig. 1a and b shows the changes of the salinity/Cl - osmotic effects of the total salt concentration and (ii) to the ion ratio occurring with increasing salinity when comparing several proportions (Schönborn 2003; Ziemann 1971). In general, the waters in Thuringia (Central Germany). The ratio decreases with predominating ion concentration is correlated with salinity and increasing chloride concentrations, reaching a value around 2 in changes when salinity increases or decreases. Often salt waters strongly salinised waters independently of the basis. Fig. 1a and are found to contain comparatively increased proportions of sin- b also illustrates the differences in aquatic chemistry between gle ions such as Mg2+ and SO42− which modify the biological effect the rivers Unstrut and Wipper (Thuringia, Germany) on the one of these waters in comparison to those of typical alkali-chloride hand with their high proportions of calcium sulfate in compari- waters (Schönborn 2003; Ziemann 1967). In some cases, special son to other rivers of this region (e.g., rivers Werra and Weser) on toxic effects may occur due to a surplus of single ions such as K+ the other hand. Here, concentrations are considerably lower. As a originating, for example, from brines from potash works or sodium consequence, in the rivers Werra and Weser sodium chloride dom- inates already at distinctly lower total salt concentrations than in the rivers Unstrut and Wipper (Ziemann 1967). correlation between chloride concentration and P-value The P-value P = 5,044 + 0,131 Cl 160 The so-called “P-value” is a quantification of the combined effect 140 of salt concentration and ion proportion, calculating the product of 120 100 Table 1 80 Ratios between total salinity and conductivity, respectively, and chloride concentra- 60 tions of some common chemical types of waters according to data from Thuringian P-value 40 running waters (Germany). 20 Ratio total Ratio Chemical type of 0 salinitiy/Cl− conductivity/Cl− waters 10 50 100 250 500 750 1000 >8...<12 >10...<15 Siliceous waters chloride concentration [mg l-1] >12 >15