Effects of Fintrol (Antimycin A) Application on Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Lynn Camp Prong Watershed, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Gibbs WK. 2013. Effects of Fintrol (Antimycin A) Application on Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Lynn Camp Prong Watershed, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Fintrol was applied to 12.8 km of Lynn Camp Prong and to 4.8 km of its tributaries in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during September 2008 to remove non-native rainbow trout Onchorhynchus mykiss and to restore a viable population of native brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis. Chemical applications have become widely utilized as fish removal and restoration tools and although Fintrol is designed to minimize effects on non-target species, benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Macroinvertebrate samples were collected before, during, and after treatment. Indicators, metrics, biological index scores, and community compositional values were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA) to determine differences between control, treatment, and neutralization sites over time. SIMPER procedures were used to analyze taxa contributions to differences among sites. Overall, negative effects to the macroinvertebrate community due to Fintrol application were minimal and short-term. However, most results indicated positive effects after treatment among the major stream-dwelling benthic macroinvertebrate orders. Brook trout restoration efforts that have utilized Fintrol within GRSM and throughout the southeast have collectively demonstrated minimal effects to the macroinvertebrate community, and recovery occurred within a short time period. In most instances, increased drift and benthic macroinvertebrate abundances after treatment indicated a thriving macroinvertebrate community in the absence of predation.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Gibbs, W
- Date of Issue
- 2013-05
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- antimycin A, Benthic, Brook Trout, Dissertation, Fintrol, Macroinvertebrates, Oncorhynchus, Rainbow Trout, Restoration, Salvelinus
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Aquatic Macroinvertebrates and Algae , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Freshwater Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Fishes