Impacts of exposure to mine tailings on zooplankton hatching from a resting egg bank

In the last five years, two colossal environmental disasters involving iron-enriched mine tailings have occurred in Brazil, affecting many aquatic ecosystems over the short, medium and long-terms. This study investigated whether these iron-enriched mine tailings affect the main biotic strategy to re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aquatic ecology 2021-06, Vol.55 (2), p.545-557
Main Authors: de Souza Santos, Gleice, Silva, Edissa Emi Cortez, Balmant, Florinda Moreira, Gomes, Paula Cristine Silva, Eskinazi-Sant’Anna, Eneida M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic ecosystems
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Control
Cysts
Disasters
Dormancy
Ecosystems
Eggs
Enrichment
Exposure
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Hatching
Iron
Juveniles
Lakes
Life Sciences
Mine tailings
Mine wastes
Plastics
Pollutants
Resting eggs
Restoration
Sediments
Species
Tailings
Zooplankton
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Summary:In the last five years, two colossal environmental disasters involving iron-enriched mine tailings have occurred in Brazil, affecting many aquatic ecosystems over the short, medium and long-terms. This study investigated whether these iron-enriched mine tailings affect the main biotic strategy to restore zooplankton populations affected by severe stress, i.e., hatching of dormant stages. A 30 day hatching experiment was conducted, using a resting egg bank from a natural lake, exposed to 3 concentrations of mine tailings: control (0 g), T25 (25 g) and T50 (50 g). A total of 22, 15 and 16 species hatched in the control, T25 and T50, respectively. Conochilus sp. , Filinia terminalis, Hexartha mira , Bosmina longirostris and Ceriodaphnia silvestrii hatched only in the control, which suggests that these species are sensitive to any concentration of mine tailings. A gradual decrease in richness and hatchling abundance was recorded, from the control (8.0 ± 1.0 SE species and 1597 ± 73.9 hatchlings) to T25 (4.6 ± 1.2 species and 1279 ± 136.5 hatchlings) and then to T50 (2.3 ± 1.2 species and 603.3 ± 61.9 hatchlings). Our results suggest that exposure of zooplankton resting eggs to iron-enriched mine tailings may negatively impact these egg banks in natural ecosystems, with potential impacts on the restoration of zooplankton communities after even short-term exposures. Graphic abstract
ISSN:1386-2588
1573-5125
DOI:10.1007/s10452-021-09844-7