Cladoceran diversity dynamics in lakes from a northern mining region: responses to multiple stressors characterized by alpha and beta diversity

Abstract

The lakes surrounding the iron ore mining region of Schefferville, Quebec, Canada, sit within a landscape of historical disturbances, two of which have been relatively well documented over time: metal contamination and nutrient loading. Based on the analysis of sediment cores, we used cladoceran zooplankton subfossil assemblages from two lakes located in Schefferville to track both alpha and beta diversity over the last 100+ years. We showed that high metal concentrations were correlated with decreased cladoceran diversity, and that the site that experienced both direct wastewater input and atmospheric metal loading (Lake Dauriat) had the greatest declines in cladoceran richness. In both lakes, turnover in cladoceran assemblages was highest in the mining period. During the period of mine closures and improvement of wastewater treatment, some decreases in metal enrichment in the sediments and increases in cladoceran richness were observed in Lake Dauriat. Overall, a combined use of species richness and beta diversity metrics showed alpha and beta diversity are not always congruent, and that there are various ways to interpret scenarios of temporal beta diversity in northern freshwater systems.