Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN 37831, USA.
Environ Manage. 2011 Jun;47(6):1077-95. doi: 10.1007/s00267-010-9610-3. Epub 2011 Jan 28.
The benthic macroinvertebrate community of East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) in East Tennessee was monitored for 18 years to evaluate the effectiveness of a water pollution control program implemented at a major United States (U.S.) Department of Energy facility. Several actions were implemented to reduce and control releases of pollutants into the headwaters of the stream. Four of the most significant actions were implemented during different time periods, which allowed assessment of each action. Macroinvertebrate samples were collected annually in April from three locations in EFPC (EFK24, EFK23, and EFK14) and two nearby reference streams from 1986 through 2003. Significant improvements occurred in the macroinvertebrate community at the headwater sites (EFK24 and EFK23) after implementation of each action, while changes detected 9 km further downstream (EFK14) could not be clearly attributed to any of the actions. Because the stream was impacted at its origin, invertebrate recolonization was primarily limited to aerial immigration, thus, recovery has been slow. As recovery progressed, abundances of small pollution-tolerant taxa (e.g., Orthocladiinae chironomids) decreased and longer lived taxa colonized (e.g., hydropsychid caddisflies, riffle beetles, Baetis). While assessments lasting three to four years may be long enough to detect a response to new pollution controls at highly impacted locations, more time may be needed to understand the full effects. Studies on the effectiveness of pollution controls can be improved if impacted and reference sites are selected to maximize spatial and temporal trending, and if a multidisciplinary approach is used to broadly assess environmental responses (e.g., water quality trends, invertebrate and fish community assessments, toxicity testing, etc.).
东田纳西州东福克溪（EFPC）的底栖大型无脊椎动物群落已被监测了 18 年，以评估在美国（美国）能源部主要设施实施的水污染控制计划的有效性。已经采取了几项行动来减少和控制污染物进入溪流源头的排放。其中四项最重要的行动是在不同时期实施的，这使得可以评估每项行动。1986 年至 2003 年间，每年 4 月在 EFPC（EFK24、EFK23 和 EFK14）的三个地点以及两条附近的参考溪流中采集大型无脊椎动物样本。在实施每项行动后，在源头地点（EFK24 和 EFK23）的大型无脊椎动物群落中发生了重大改善，而在下游 9 公里处（EFK14）检测到的变化无法明确归因于任何行动。由于溪流在其源头受到影响，无脊椎动物的再殖主要限于空中移民，因此恢复速度较慢。随着恢复的进行，耐污染的小型分类群（例如，直翅目摇蚊）的丰度减少，寿命更长的分类群（例如，石蛾、溪石蛾、蜉蝣）定居。虽然持续三到四年的评估可能足以检测到对高影响地点新污染控制的反应，但可能需要更多的时间来了解全部影响。如果选择受影响和参考地点来最大程度地进行空间和时间趋势，并采用多学科方法广泛评估环境反应（例如，水质趋势，无脊椎动物和鱼类群落评估，毒性测试等），则可以改善污染控制效果的研究。
