Effects of Copper, Nickel, and Sulfate from the Smelters at Sudbury, Ontario (Canada) on Microbial Communities in Lakes

ABSTRACT

Analysis of water and sediments from deep and shallow environments in lakes located 6–154 km east or southeast of the smelters at Sudbury, Ontario (Canada) revealed variable, interactive effects of copper, nickel, and sulfate from smelter fallout on lacustrine microfloras. Metal species in sediments were differentiated by sequential extractions, and the nature, abundances, and activities of microbial populations were represented by chlorophyll-a in water and by CO₂ production, fatty acids, phospholipids, dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, and spectral properties of humic matter in sediments. Smelter fallout declined logarithmically with distance from the smelters, and its effects on microfloras depended on the type of microorganism or microbial process and on environmental factors and the abundances of metal species and detoxifying agents. Extractable copper and nickel had toxic effects, which were not attributable solely to the exchangeable fractions, but in certain cases nickel counteracted copper toxicity. Sedimentary sulfide as a whole or sulfide produced by bacterial sulfate reduction, or low oxidation–reduction potential regardless of sulfide concentration, ameliorated metal toxicity by making the metals less bioavailable; and toxicity showed a “quantum jump” when detoxifying agents fell below certain critical concentrations, implying the existence of threshold levels of bioavailable metals above which toxicity increased abruptly. In some cases metal toxicity was lowest in the lakes closest to the smelters (because sulfate concentrations were highest) as well as in the lakes furthest away, and was highest at intermediate distances. The results also suggest that nickel pollution led to ecological succession whereby nickel-tolerant microbial populations replaced nickel-sensitive ones.

KEYWORDS:

• Heavy metals
• lakes
• microbial communities
• smelter fallout
• sulfate

Acknowledgments

The fieldwork was carried out by M. Mawhinney, M. Dahl, M. Benner, C. Logan, and W. Norwood. The water chemistry data, which were produced by the field crew and by the National Laboratory for Environmental Testing (Canada Centre for Inland Waters), were taken from Borgmann et al. (1998, 2001b). The particle size frequency and org. C analyses of the sediments were performed by J. Dalton, and the data were obtained from Borgmann et al. (1998). We thank W. Norwood for relevant technical information.

Funding

The research was financed by Environment Canada (currently called Environment and Climate Change Canada), a department of the Government of Canada.