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Distribution, systematics and spatial organisation of the aquatic invertebrate fauna in a northern river impacted by wastewaters from the pulp and paper industry (Komi Republic, Vychegda River).

Assessment of long-term impact of paper mill industry on the biological diversity in the production area.

All material was collected in the European part of Russia, Komi Republic: Vychegda River

Vychegda is the largest right tributary of the Northern Dvina River. It flows through the territory of the Komi Republic and the Arkhangelsk Oblast (). The length of the river is 1,130 km, the catchment area is 121,000 km². Vychegda is a typical lowland river. The average density of the river network in the Vychegda River basin is 0.62 km/km². Vychegda belongs to rivers with incomplete meandering. Its discharge ranges from 162 to 601 m³/s. In the river bed of the Vychegda River, the top (346 km long), middle (489 km long) and bottom (296 km long) parts are distinguished.

Our study area is located in the middle reaches of the river. The Middle Vychegda Basin occupies a vast valley; the floodplain is wide, usually bilateral, boggy, with numerous channels. Low-level, sloping shores alternate with high steep ones (3–18 m). The riverbed has a width of 100 to 680 m. There are many shallows and low alluvial sandy islands; the bottom of the river consists of sand, clay and pebbles. The current velocity is from 0.3–0.6 m/s (summer low water) to 1.5–1.8 m/s (high water) (Taskaev 1997). The ecosystem of the Vychegda River is experiencing a strong anthropogenic load as a result of municipal, agricultural and industrial effluents. In the waters of the river, a number of chemical elements and compounds exceed the Maximum Permissible Concentrations (MPC) (Kondratenok 2020). In some sections of the river, there is an increased temperature background (Elsakov and Shchanov 2016), which is the result of the inflow of wastewater from the sewage treatment facilities of the Mondi Syktyvkar JSC and the municipal wastewater of the City of Syktyvkar into the channel. The temperature increase over the background values is observed in the area over a distance up to 15 km from the source(Fig. 1).

Figure 1.  

The map of the study area.

The research was carried out in zone impacted by wastewaters of Mondi Syktyvkar JSC, in the middle reaches of the Vychegda River. On the section of the river (55 km long), seven sampling sites were selected: IB – background zone, above the zone of direct influence of wastewater from the pulp and paper industry (near Sedkyrkeshch Village), I – zone of direct influence of wastewater from the pulp and paper industry, II – 22.8 km lower than point I (near Kochchojyag Village), III – 6.4 km lower than point II (near Sluda Village), IV – zone of direct influence of wastewater from the pulp and paper industry (near Gavrilovka Village), V – 11.8 km lower than point IV (near Sotchem-vyv Village) and VI – 5.5 km lower than point V (near Ust'-Pozheg Village).

Throughout the period of our studies, weather conditions changed from year to year. For instance, in 2018 and 2020, the temperature indicators were similar: the average monthly air temperature in July reached +19.5°С and 20.0°С, respectively. In July 2019, the lowest average monthly temperature over the period of our work was registered: +15.4°C (with a deviation from the norm by -2.1°C). The water temperature in the studied section of the river varied in accordance with the air temperature. The minimum water temperature values were registered in July 2019: from 16.3°C to 17.1°C. In warmer 2018 and 2020, the July water temperature ranged from 21.8°C to 25.8°C and from 23.8°C to 24.7°C, respectively. Water levels at the time of sampling in 2018 and 2019 were similar. However, in 2018, sampling was conducted during the period of an intensive decrease in the water level, and, in 2019 – during the period of an intensive rise in the water level due to significant precipitation. In 2020, during the sampling period, the water level was significantly lower than in the previous two years (Patova et al. 2021). Our studies in 2018-2020 showed improvement of the quality of the river water in places of discharge of wastewater and changes in the environmental situation in connection with the modernisation of the treatment facilities of the Mondi Syktyvkar JSC (in 2014-2019). In 2020, concentrations of some ions in wastewater discharge sites: Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, NH4+, Stat, K, Na, phenol, as well as COD, permanganate value, turbidity and, electrical conductivity increased relative to background points (Patova et al. 2021).

The Dataset (Baturina et al. 2021b) provides current data on aquatic invertebrates fauna (zooplankton and zoobenthos) of the Vychegda River (the Northern Dvina Basin) in the zone impacted by wastewaters from the pulp and paper industry (Mondi Syktyvkar JSC). The goal of the project is to prepare a basis for assessing and analysing changes in benthic invertebrate and plankton communities and species diversity of aquatic invertebrate, under the influence of treated wastewater from the pulp and paper production. The collection of hydrobiological samples was carried out mainly during the summer dry season. Standard hydrobiological methods were used. The data mainly concern the description of the species composition of each hydrobiological sample. Data include 23 taxonomic groups of zoobenthos and 152 lower-rank taxa for some groups: Oligochaeta, Mollusca, Cladocera, Copepoda, Coleoptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and 120 taxa of zooplankton (Rotifera, Cladocera, Copepoda). A total of 8720 findings are included in the resource.

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Project No АААА-А17-117112850235-2 "Distribution, systematics and spatial organization of fauna and animals population in taiga and tundra landscapes and ecosystems at the Northeast European Russia"; agreement with Mondi Syktyvkar JSC № 45-2018/180405 "Assessment of long-term impact of Mondi Syktyvkar JSC on the biological diversity in the production area".

(Fig. 2) The data paper is based on one dataset (8720 occurrences).

Figure 2.  

Figure 2. The map of the research area (from Patova et al. 2021).

The dataset provides information on the number of individuals of aquatic invertebrates in zoobenthos samples and the number of individuals per cubic metre in zooplankton samples. Hydrobiological samples were collected on the part of the river located in the zone influenced by the pulp and paper industry (Mondi Syktyvkar JSC).

The research was carried out in zone impacted by wastewaters of Mondi Syktyvkar JSC, in the middle reaches of the Vychegda River. The material includes data collected during the period of modernisation of the enterprise.

On the section of the river (55 km long), seven points were selected (Fig. 2), which are located at different distances from the wastewater inflow locations of wastewaters discharge of the enterprise (Mondi Syktyvkar JSC). At each point, 2-3 samples of zoobenthos and 2-3 samples of zooplankton were taken, from the right, left bank and middle of the river (if possible). The studies were carried out in July 2018-2020.

Zooplankton samples were collected using plankton nets with subsequent filtration through mesh nylon nets with 82-100 µm mesh size (Morduhaj-Boltovskoj 1975). Quantitative zoobenthic samples were taken from different depths (from 0.5 to 3.5 m).

For each point, a general description of the studied river was done and pH, mineralisation and temperature were measured. The identification of organisms was carried out according to the keys to freshwater invertebrates. More than 40 % of taxa (10 of model groups from 24 groups of zooplankton and zoobenthos) were determined up to the species level or genus.

Each sample was provided with a description that includes: collection date, locality (with geographic coordinates), device description, depth of sampling, water temperature, habitat (with substrate type, aquatic vegetation type, distance to the zone impacted by wastewaters from the Mondi Syktyvkar JSC), collector name, determined by (identification).

The data were collected and identified by specialists from the Institute of Biology of Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Morphological analysis of specimens were performed using compound microscopes BIMAM R13-1 and Leica DM 4000B. Most of the Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda organisms from zooplankton samples and Oligochaeta, Cladocera, Copepoda, Coleoptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera from benthos samples were identified to the species level. The rest of the organisms from benthos samples were identified only as higher level taxa. For identification of species and higher-level taxa, we used both standards keys and data reported in modern studies specifically addressing the taxonomy of these groups (Rylov 1948, Chekanovskaja 1962, Lepneva 1964, Manujlova 1964, Smirnov 1971, Smirnov 1976, Kutikova 1977, Kutikova and Starobogatov 1977, Dumont and Pensaert 1983, Elliott et al. 1988, Lillehammer 1988, Koste and Shiel 1989, Boruckij et al. 1991, Shiel and Koste 1992, Tsalolikhin 1994, Nogrady et al. 1995, Segers 1995, Tsalolikhin 1995, De Smet 1996, De Smet 1997, Tsalolikhin 1997, Narchuk and Tumanov 2000, Tsalolikhin 2001, Nogrady and Segers 2002, Ueda and Reid 2003, Korovchinsky 2004, Starobogatov et al. 2004, Kotov and Stifter 2006, Teslenko and Zhiltzova 2009, Timm 2009, Alekseev 2010, Chertoprud and Chertoprud 2010, Bekker et al. 2012, Krivosheina 2012, Klimovsky and Kotov 2015, Tsalolikhin 2016, Wilke et al. 2019).

The dataset included our own species list of plankton and benthos fauna of the Vychegda River, based on 63 zooplankton and zoobenthos samples collected in 2018-2020. Samples were taken by standard hydrobiological methods using the Petersen dredge (sampling area 0.025 m²), while those from shallow depths and on rocky bottoms (i.e. gravel) were collected by a hydrobiological scraper (0.09 m²) with mesh size ≤158 μm (Zinchenko 2014) for zoobenthosand a net with mesh nylon nets (82–100 μm) for zooplankton (Morduhaj-Boltovskoj 1975). Samples were preserved in 4% formaldehyde (in the field) and examined under light microscopes in the laboratory. Further identification of aquatic invertebrates was carried out in laboratory conditions. The identification of species of invertebrates was carried out with the preparation of temporary or permanent specimens, under a microscope using keys to identify each taxonomic group. For each sample, the following were described: collection date, locality (with geographic coordinates), device description, sampling depth, water temperature, habitat (with substrate type, aquatic vegetation type, distance to the zone impacted by wastewaters from the Mondi Syktyvkar JSC), collector name, identificator name. For some species, permanent preparations have been made. Design of sampling was based on the regular arrangement. The material includes data collected during the period of modernisation and reduction of emissions of the enterprise.

The studied area is located in the middle part of the Vychegda River (Еuropean North-East of Russia, Komi Republic) (Fig. 1). The Vychegda is the largest right tributary of the Northern Dvina River. The study was carried out in the areas impacted by wastewaters from the Mondi Syktyvkar JSC, which is the largest pulp and paper industry enterprise in the European part of Russia.

On the section of the river (55 km long), seven points were selected (Fig. 2): IB – background zone, above the zone directly influenced bywastewaters from the pulp and paper industry, I – zone directly influenced by wastewater from the pulp and paper industry, II – 22.8 km lower than point I, III – 6.4 km lower than point II, IV – zone directly influenced by wastewater from the pulp and paper industry, V – 11.8 km lower than point IV, VI – 5.5 km lower than point V.

The dataset includes data on aquatic invertebrates from 40 zoobenthos samples and 23 zooplankton samples.

The dataset contains information obtained from sampling for aquatic invertebrates (zooplankton and zoobenthos) (Table 1). Some invertebrates were identified from type to species or taxa (subspecies) of a lower rank. The dataset includes detailed information: 1. taxa (family, genus, species, subspecies) of some (model) groups of zoobenthos: Oligochaeta (1720 occurrences), Mollusca (161), Cladocera (680), Copepoda (680), Coleoptera (160) , Ephemeroptera (1120), Plecoptera (240), Trichoptera (480) and Diptera (360); 2. taxa of the highest rank of zoobenthos groups: Hydrozoa, Nematoda, Hirudinea, Ostracoda, Tardigrada, Hydrachnidia, Araneae, Collembola, Hemiptera, Megaloptera and Odonata (440 occurrences); 3. taxa (species, subspecies) of zooplankton: Rotifera (1638), Cladocera (762) and Copepoda (279). A total of 8720 occurrences are included in the resource. In the dataset, full taxonomic affiliation is given for each record, including: Type, Class, Subclass, Order, Family, Subfamily, Genus, Subgenus, Species, lifestage, individuals per sample (for zoobenthos) and individuals per m³ (for zooplankton).

Our study showed how wastewater from a pulp and paper mill can affect aquatic invertebrates. For this purpose, we chose six sampling sites in the middle reaches of the Vychegda River, in the zone affected by the treated wastewater of the Mondi Syktyvkar JSC at different distances from the wastewater discharge points. According to the state of invertebrate communities in general, the river waters in the studied area can be classified as "oligotrophic" (in terms of zooplankton) or "satisfactory" (in terms of zoobenthos). The exception is the sites located downstream of the wastewater discharge points that are classified as "eutrophic" (in terms of zooplankton) and the treated wastewater discharge points which are classified as "unsatisfactory" (in terms of zoobenthos). However, given the high indicators of the quantitative development of aquatic invertebrate communities and their high species diversity, we can say that there is no toxic effect of wastewater in the studied area, but there are processes of anthropogenic eutrophication of the river.

Analysis of the species composition of model groups – microcrustaceans, oligochaetes, non-chironomid amphibiotic insects – revealed a sufficiently high level of community diversity. The diversity in the groups varied depending on the sampling site, but the differences in values for most of the sites were insignificant. The greatest diversity for all groups was observed at points III and V.

Amongst all the diversity of species of aquatic invertebrates found in the investigated section of the Vychegda River, we noted new species for the regional fauna, Elaphoidella bidens (Schmeil, 1983) and Moina macrocopa (Straus, 1820), as well as a rare species, Brachycercus harisella (Curtis, 1834), listed in the Red Book of the Komi Republic.

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