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Parasite communities as indicators of recovery from pollution: parasites of roach (Rutilus rutilus) and perch (Perca fluviatilis) in Central Finland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2003

E. T. VALTONEN
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä SF 40100 Jyväskylä, Finland
J. C. HOLMES
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2F9
J. ARONEN
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä SF 40100 Jyväskylä, Finland
I. RAUTALAHTI
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä SF 40100 Jyväskylä, Finland
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Abstract

We compared parasite communities in fish taken from a polluted lake (L. Vatia) and two control lakes before (1986) and after (1995) nine years of markedly reduced chemical and nutrient loading from a pulpmill in central Finland. Discriminant analyses of the 1995 data, using a function based on the 1986 data, showed that the parasite communities in the fish from the two control lakes had changed relatively little, whereas those from L. Vatia had converged on those from the mesotrophic control lake, indicating substantial recovery from the effects of pollution. Only a few species of parasites provided evidence for recovery. These were anodontid glochidia, which had increased markedly in perch, Rhipidocotyle fennica in roach and R. campanula in both fish species. This suggests that the recovery of the polluted lake involved increased populations of anadontid clams in shallow waters. On the other side decrease of Dermocystidium percae on perch fins and Ichthyophthirius multifiliis on roach indicate increased immune responses in the fish, reflecting better water quality. Other parts of the system have apparently not yet recovered.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Fig. 1. The study area in central Finland. The three study lakes Peurunka, Vatia and Saravesi are shown and their connections to other parts of the chain of lakes and obstacles to fish migration.

Figure 1

Fig. 2. Production of pulp and amount of effluents from the Äänekoski mill. Data from the Environmental Protection Division, Metsä-Sellu Oy. Legends: BOD7, biological oxygen demand; P, total phosphorous; AOX, adsorbable organic halogens, production is pulp produced in tons per year.

Figure 2

Table 1. Parasites of roach from three lakes in Central Finland, 1986 and 1995. Data from 1995 in bold are significantly different from 1986 data, data from L. Vatia in italics are significantly different from data from L. Saravesi (P<0·05 with Bonferroni correction). Number of fish studied see, Table 3

Figure 3

Table 2. Parasites of perch from three lakes in Central Finland, 1986 and 1995. Data from 1995 in bold are significantly different from 1986 data, data from L. Vatia in italics are significantly different from data from L. Saravesi (P<0·05 with Bonferroni correction). Number of fish studied, see Table 3

Figure 4

Table 3. Data on communities of parasites in roach and perch from three lakes in Central Finland, 1986 and 1995. Data from 1995 in bold are significantly different from 1986 data, data from L. Vatia in italics are significantly different from data from L. Saravesi (P<0·05 with Bonferroni correction)

Figure 5

Table 4. Classification of individual fish by the discriminant function based on 1986 data. Classified distributions of the 1995 fish shown in bold are significantly different (G-test for homogeneity, Sokal & Rohlf, 1995) from 1986 distributions (P<0·01)

Figure 6

Table 5. Discriminating parasites and their coefficients for the first two canonical discriminant variables (CV1, CV2) that separate roach or perch from three lakes in Central Finland. Variables are ranked in order of addition by the stepwise analysis run on log-transformed intensity data

Figure 7

Fig. 3. Locations of group centroids of parasite infracommunities in roach and perch from three lakes in Central Finland in 1986 and 1995. Lines separate areas classified by maximum likelihood as L. Peurunka (P), L. Vatia (V) or L. Saravesi (S), based on discriminant function analyses of parasites from fish from 1986. Centroids labelled 95 are for 1995 data analysed by the 1986 discriminant function.