Aquatic Stressors that Can Potentially Cause Biological Impairment
Stressors that Can Potentially Cause Biological Impairment
- Dissolved oxygen (DO) regime alteration
- Hydrologic regime alteration (includes flow or depth conditions; timing, duration, frequency, etc.)
- Nutrient regime alteration
- Organic-matter regime alteration
- pH regime alteration
- Salinity regime alteration
- Bed sediment load changes, including siltation
- Suspended solids and/or turbidity alteration
- Water temperature regime alteration
- Habitat destruction
- Habitat fragmentation (e.g., barriers to movement, exclusion from habitat)
- Physical crushing and trampling
- Toxic substances
- Herbicides and fungicides
- Halogens and halides (e.g., chloride, trihalomethanes)
- Fish-killing agents (e.g., rotenone)
- Insecticides
- Lampricides
- Metals
- Molluscicides
- Organic solvents (e.g., benzene, phenol)
- Other hydrocarbons (e.g., dioxins, PCBs)
- Endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Mixed, cumulative effect
- Interspecies competition
- Complications due to small populations (e.g., inbreeding, stochastic fluctuation, etc.)
- Genetic alteration (e.g., hybridization)
- Overharvesting or legal, intentional collecting or killing
- Parasitism
- Predation
- Poaching, vandalism, harassment, or indiscriminate killing
- Unintentional capture or killing (e.g., artillery explosions, roadway casualties)
- Vertebrate animal damage control (includes trapping, shooting, poisoning)
- Radiation exposure increase (e.g., increased UV radiation)
References
- Adapted from Richter BD, Braun OP, Mendelson MA, Master LL (1997) Threats to imperiled freshwater fauna. Conservation Biology 11:1081-1093.