Ecological Study of the Effects of Strip Mining on the Microbiology of Streams

The microflora of Cane Branch of Beaver Creek in McCreary County, Kentucky, which drains an area that was strip-mined between 1955 and 1959, was studied and compared with that of Helton Branch which drains a comparable area where there has been no mining. Differences include: the establishment of Fe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Weaver, Ralph H., Nash, Harry D.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: UKnowledge 1968
Subjects:
strip mines
acid streams
acid mine water
aquatic microbiology
ecology
environment effects
Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment
Microbiology
Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Water Resource Management
Beaver Creek
Online Access:https://uknowledge.uky.edu/kwrri_reports/175
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1174&context=kwrri_reports
Description
Summary:The microflora of Cane Branch of Beaver Creek in McCreary County, Kentucky, which drains an area that was strip-mined between 1955 and 1959, was studied and compared with that of Helton Branch which drains a comparable area where there has been no mining. Differences include: the establishment of Ferrcbacillus ferrooxidans, for which procedures were developed for direct colony isolation from the stream; fewer saprophytic bacteria; more numerous and more diversified filamentous and unicellular fungi; and characteristic differences in algal flora. Representatives of 42 genera of filamentous fungi were identified. Of these, 21 were isolated only from Cane Branch. Representatives of five genera of unicellular fungi were found. One, Rhoclotorula, was found consistently in Cane Branch but never in Helton Branch. From 1966 to 1968, Bumilleria appears to have established itself as the dominate alga in Cane Branch at same distance downstream from the strip-mine drainage area, Seasonal differences in the microflora appear to be relatively insignificant, except for the algae.

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