Effects of Experimental and Cultural Lake Acidification on Littoral Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages. Stephenson, M., Mierle, G., Reid, R., A., & Mackie, G., L. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 51(5):1147-1161, 1994.
Effects of Experimental and Cultural Lake Acidification on Littoral Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages [pdf]Paper  abstract   bibtex   
A simple method for the assessment of littoral benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) assemblages in lakes was developed at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in northwestern Ontario and applied to 64 lakes in cen- tral Ontario. The presence (1) or absence (0) of BMI taxa was established at five sites on each lake, using a kick-and-sweep net technique. Summing presence/absence scores across sites ranked the importance of each taxon in each lake on a scale of 0 to 5. Relationships between the BMI assemblages were assessed using nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), based upon the Kendall's T correlation matrix. Correlations between NMDS dimension 1 and 2 scores and environmental variables identified factors that may struc- ture BMI assernblages. The BMI assemblages of three experimentally acidified and seven reference lakes at the ELA were correlated strongly with lake pH. The BMI assemblage structure of central Ontario lakes was predicted by lake area and sensitivity to acidification (NMDS dimension 1) and by lake elevation (NMDS dimension 2). The BMB assemblages of small or Ca-poor and acidic lakes include fewer oligochaetes, mayflies, and Cryptochironomus and Stictochironomus (chironomids) and more Odonata, Trichoptera, Chironomus, Conchapelopia, Microtendipes, and Procladius (chironomids), and Crangonyx (Amphipoda) than other central Ontario lakes.

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