Effects of fluorene on zooplankton communities
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The effect of the hydrocarbon, fluorene, on zooplankton communities was assessed in 14 experimental ponds. Ponds were exposed to a single addition of either 0.12, 0.5, 2.0, 5.0 or 10.0 mg/liter fluorene. There was no dose-related response of zooplankton densities to fluorene. The addition of 0.5 and 0.12 mg/liter fluorene had no detectable affect on any aspect of the zooplankton community while the 2.0 mg/liter treatment seemed to enhance rotifer densities. The 5.0 and 10.0 mg/liter treatments were the only treatments to adversly impact zooplankton communities and caused similar changes to occur within the community. Zooplankton densities were reduced by more than 95% upon the addition of 5.0 and 10.0 mg/liter fluorene and zooplankton community structure was significantly changed as indicated by increased community diversity, increased similarity with control ponds, an increase in cladoceran body size, and a shift in cladoceran community composition. In these two treatments, rotifers recovered to pre-treatment levels within three weeks, copepods within eight weeks, and cladocerans within eight to ten weeks. Changes in zooplankton communities exposed to 5.0 and 10.0 mg/liter fluorene are thought to be the result of changing intercommunity interactions such as competition and predation and changing intracommunity interactions such as predation and food quality and quantity. Daily production of Ceriodaphnia reticulata ranged from [less than] 1 to 26 mg/m^3. Production estimates were unable to detect sublethal effects of fluorene. However, chronic laboratory exposure of Ceriodaphnia reticulata to fluorene concentrations greater than 0.154 mg/liter resulted in significant increases in development time of the various life stages and a significant decrease in production of young. Laboratory single-species test overestimated the toxicity of fluorene in field situtations but provided adequate protection for field communities.
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