Comparison of Asian clam field bioassays and benthic community surveys in quantifying effects of a coal-fired power plant effluent on Clinch River biota

摘要: Survival and growth of Asian clamsmay be more sensitive endpoints than benthicmacroinvertebrate community richness parametersat distinguishing biotic impairmentattributable to complex effluents fromcoal-burning utilities. We conducted (1) fieldbioassays with the clam (Corbiculafluminea) during 2000–02 (2) rapidbioassessments benthic macroinvertebratecommunities 2000–01 at sitesupstream/downstream American ElectricPower's (AEP) Clinch River Plant (CRP) inRussell County, Virginia (U.S.A). andgrowth transplanted C. fluminea weresignificantly impaired within CRP effluentplume (averages 35% 0.21 mm,respectively) relative all other study siteswithin 89% and1.58 mm). Conversely, metrics forEphemeroptera,Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera-Trichoptera (EPT), andtotal taxa were not reduced downstream theCRP. However, abundance forEphemeroptera EPT minimally atthe CRP-influenced site 2000–01. Moreimportantly, our results suggest that richnessmetrics for may inadequate assessing theeffects industrial on fluminea. These findings have implicationsfor bioassessment techniques employed tomonitor streams inhabited by imperiledfreshwater mussels because flumineaand Unionoidea are ecologicallysimilar recent certaingenera Unionidae thanC.