Preliminary Investigation into the Use of Crayfish as a Sensitive Species to Pollutants in the Clark Fork River Near Missoula, MT

摘要

Crayfish appear to be, at least theoretically, a good indicator of water quality associated with point source pollution. An attempt to evaluate the sensitivity of crayfish to heavy metal contamination associated with the Hoerner-Waldorf (Champion International) pulp and paper mill along 30 miles of the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers near Missoula, Montana, was initiated in the fall of 1977. The analytical procedures used were standard for evaluation of heavy metals in soft tissue by atomic absorption spectra. Results of the preliminary study showed variation in concentration as a function of the animal part analyzed. Changes in concentration as a function of proximity to the pulp mill was not demonstrated; both sample number and sites were probably inadequate to show any relation to a point source, if one existed. It is concluded that crayfish chemical variation may be an important environmental indicator of pollution provided a statistically and ecologically valid sampling program were instituted to test the system.