Trait-based surveillance of flood channel effects on the River Thames

An artificial anabranch was opened to the main River Thames by the end of 2001. Chironomid pupal exuviae have been sampled from sites along the main river since 1977 including sites above and below the anabranch. Two sites on the anabranch have also been surveyed since its opening. Long-term surveillance of the chironomid assemblage prior to construction of the anabranch provided a reference state by which its impact could be assessed. Feeding and habitat preferences were attributed to chironomid taxa while additional environmental -tolerance traits were derived from the long-term data of the Thames. Canonical Correspondence Analysis, with spatial variation partialled out, was used to select temporal environmental variables explaining chironomid taxa distribution. Taxa with significant t-values in the regression with selected environmental variables were then included in the subsequent analysis of variance of traits by General Linear Modelling. From 1977 up to 2001 lower Thames sites, above and below the anabranch, showed no significant changes in any of the traits investigated. Four surveys from 2002 to 2009 have revealed some significant changes downstream of the anabranch, both in comparison with before-construction and between sites. These changes suggest the anabranch is providing a sink for poor-quality sediments. Immediately downstream of the anabranch fine sediment-dwelling chironomids have declined within the Thames, chironomids sensitive to ammonia have increased while chironomids tolerant of organic pollution have decreased. doi: 10.5324/fn.v31i0.1360. Published online: 17 October 2012.