Riverine In-Situ Bioassays, Oil Sands Region

Fish Status and Ecosystem Health - Caged Invertebrates



In situ exposures of Hyalella azteca in Athabasca River tributaries - Summary of activities (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014)



In situ exposures with Hyalella azteca were conducted within the oil sands region to assess differences in survival and growth of invertebrates caged at natural sites (i.e., exposed to naturally occurring sources of bitumen) compared to sites influenced by oil sands mining activity (i.e., exposed to both naturally occurring and anthropogenic sources of bitumen).Hyalella were collected from a wetland within the Athabasca River watershed but outside the area of oil sands development and activity. They were then placed in cages submerged at 3 sites on the Ells River, 3 sites on the Firebag River, and 4 sites on the Steepbank River. Five cages were deployed per site, each cage containing 20 Hyalella. Cages were removed two weeks after deployment, and Hyalella were counted and weighed as a group to determine growth. The data show no differences in survival or growth of Hyalella caged in situ at any of the 10 sites, when comparing natural sites to sites influenced by oil sands mining activity within each river (i.e., upstream to downstream sites) or between rivers.



Caged Mussels



Mature mussels (Pyganodon grandis) were collected from a site outside the oil development area (Clearwater River and Long Lake, Alberta) and placed into cages at various sites in the Athabasca River and tributaries for 4 to 6 weeks during the months of August, September and October 2012, 2013 and 2014. The data revealed that mussel growth and survival rates were not affected. Mussels exposed to river water for 4 to 6 weeks were less likely to survive when kept outside of the water for long periods of time (days). Further investigations are warranted to confirm these observations.

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Metadata Record Information

File Identifier
b450e107-e3f5-4c3f-a31d-0e3931278624 XML
Date Stamp
2022-06-28T20:28:27
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy Level
Dataset
Author
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( Public inquiries centre)

Fontaine Building 12th floor, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd, Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 0H3,
1-800-668-6767

http://ec.gc.ca
 

Data identification

Title

Riverine In-Situ Bioassays, Oil Sands Region
Date (Publication)
2014-02-07
Date (Creation)
2014-01-23
Date (Revision)
2015-12-11
Status
On going
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Topic category
  • Environment
Maintenance and Update Frequency
As needed
Spatial representation type
Text, table
Principal investigator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Adrienne Bartlett ( Research Scientist, Aquatic Contaminants Research Division)

867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, Ontario, L7S 1A1, Canada
905-336-6257

905-336-6430

Principal investigator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - François Gagné ( Research Scientist, Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division)

105 McGill Street, Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 2E7, Canada
514-496-7105

514-496-7398

Keywords

Theme

  • oil sands, monitoring, levels and trends, environmental monitoring, Prairie and Northern Region - Alberta, observation / measurement, Prairie and Northern - Northwest Territories, monitoring station, hyalella, amphipods, crustaceans, molluscs, mussels, growth, contaminants, survival, caged invertebrates

  • Observation/Measurement

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

  • Oil sands

  • Aquatic animals

ECCC Information Category EN

  • Water - Quality

Business Functions

  • Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste

  • Monitor / Assess Substance and Waste Levels in Air, Water, Soil, Biota

Geography

  • Prairie - Alberta (AB)

  • Water - Drainage regions - Peace–Athabasca

external.theme.EC_Branch

  • Science and Technology Branch

external.theme.EC_Directorate

  • Water Science and Technology

external.theme.EC_Program_PAA

  • 1.3.2. Ecosystem Assessment and Approaches

external.theme.GC_Security_Level

  • Unclassified
 
Use Limitation

Open Government Licence - Canada ( http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada)

Access Constraints
License
Use Constraints
License
Begin Date
2011-01-01

Extent

N
S
E
W
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Ref. system Reference Systems

Reference system identifier
EPSG / EPSG:4326 /
 

Distribution

Distributor
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( Public inquiries centre)

Fontaine Building 12th floor, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd, Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 0H3,
1-800-668-6767

http://ec.gc.ca
 
 

Overviews

N
S
E
W
thumbnail




Keywords

Observation/Measurement oil sands, monitoring, levels and trends, environmental monitoring, Prairie and Northern Region - Alberta, observation / measurement, Prairie and Northern - Northwest Territories, monitoring station, hyalella, amphipods, crustaceans, molluscs, mussels, growth, contaminants, survival, caged invertebrates
Business Functions

Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste Monitor / Assess Substance and Waste Levels in Air, Water, Soil, Biota
ECCC Information Category EN

Water - Quality
Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

Aquatic animals Oil sands
external.theme.EC_Branch

Science and Technology Branch
external.theme.EC_Directorate

Water Science and Technology
external.theme.EC_Program_PAA

1.3.2. Ecosystem Assessment and Approaches
external.theme.GC_Security_Level

Unclassified


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