Abstract
Acid mine drainage (AMD) is acknowledged to have long-lasting impacts on aquatic environments. Hence, mines have also been detected to pose problems years after closure due to the leaching of toxic drainage initiated by sulfide oxidation. To assess the effects of chronic but relatively low volume acid mine drainage derived from the Haveri copper–gold mine operating between 1938 and 1960 on a freshwater bay in southern Finland, we compared cladoceran assemblages from the pre-mining period with contemporary populations using paleolimnological approaches and multiple sediment cores. The cladoceran community of the pre-mining era differed significantly from the contemporary community of the lake (ANOSIM R = 0.91; p = 0.0001), but closely resembled the contemporary community of a nearby non-polluted reference site. Our results suggest that the differences in species compositions between pre-mining and contemporary samples are most likely caused by eutrophication and not by the AMD impact. Because AMD at our study site is most intense during the spring snowmelt period, cladocerans may avoid seasonal pollution peaks through winter dormancy. Possible pollution peaks resulting from heavy rains during the summer may have negative impacts on the cladoceran community, but such short-term impacts are probably rapidly counteracted by immigration from cleaner areas of the lake.
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