Bulletin
STATE OF ILLINOIS
DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION
DIVISION OF THE
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY
THEODORE H. PRISON, Chiel
Vol. XIX. BULLETIN Article V.
The Plankton of the Sangamon
River in the Summer
of 1929
BY
SAMUEL EDDY
PRINTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
URBANA, ILLINOIS
NOVEMBER, 1931
STATE OF ILLINOIS
DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION
M. F. Walsh, Director
BOARD OP NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
M. F. Walsh. Chairman
William Trelease, Biology Joiix W. Alvord, Engineering
Heney C. Cowles, Forestry Charles M. Thompson, Represent-
Edson S. Bastin, Geology ing the President of the Univer-
William A. Notes, Chemistry sity of Illinois
STATE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DIVISION
Theodore H. Prison, Chief
H. C. Oesterling, Editor
ScHNBPp & Barnes, Printers
Springfield, III.
1931
66752—1200
VoLiME XIX. Article V.
THE PLANKTON OF THE SANGAMON
RIVER IN THE SUMMER OF 1929
Samuf.l Eddy
The Sangamon River, a small river in the central part of Illinois,
has special interest to students of aquatic biology because it exhibits
in a remarkable way the effects of the installation of a sewage treatment
plant in alleviating pollution and at the same time the effects of the
erection of a dam to impound water for munici))al and industrial uses.
The present study is an attempt to determine to what extent these ef-
fects are reflected by changes in the abundance of certain kinds of
microscopic organisms, collectively called ]5lankton, which live sus-
pended in the water. As is well known, some kinds of plankton organ-
isms, if present in sufficient numbers in reservoirs, may give diagree-
able flavors to the water ; other kinds may aid in the natural purification
of polluted waters: and in streams and lakes generally plankton plays
a role of more or less importance as food for larger organisms, includ-
ing ti.shes. In our larger streams, such as the Rock River and the Illi-
nois River, the plankton is a very important factor in fish production.
In the Kaskaskia River, as an example of our smaller streams, the
plankton is so scanty that it can have very little importance. The San-
gamon River illustrates an intermediate stage in which the plankton is
abundant enough to enter into the food chains of fishes to some extent
but does not result in a yield of fishes appreciably greater than in the
Kaskaskia. The writer's observations of plankton development in the
upper part of the Sangamon from li)23 to li)2rt were included in a
general study on "Fresh-water Plankton Commimities," submitted as
a thesis in the Graduate School of the University of Illinois but not
yet published. Further collections, made during the summer of 11)2!),
showing the variety and abundance of organisms present at selected
stations along the lower part of the river as well as the ujiper part,
are reported in this paper.
The Sangamon River rises in McLean County and at first flows
eastward into the northwestern part of Champaign County, where it
turns southward and passes the villages of Foosland, Fisher, and
Mahomet. It then Hows in a general S()Uth\\cstwar feet lower in September than it
was when the June and July collections were made. The Decatur lake,
however, did not fiuctuate nnich. as the gage reading above the dam
was (ill). 25 in June and jul\- and ii()9,;i5 in September.
Tlie temperature of the water at the time of collecting was about
what would be expected under normal summer conditions. In June
it ransjvd from 2 1° to 25^C. and in |ul\- from 25' to 28 "C". Xo tem-
PlANKTO.N of TIIH SANliAMOX RiVElt 473
perature data were obtained on the Scpteinlier trip, as the therniuineter
was broken in the field.
Hydrogen ion determinations were made at all stations and were
found to run consistently about pH 7.(i. This seemed normal for the
river, as the readings agreed with those obtained by the writer in pre-
vious observations. On the upper river from 1023 to 192!), the read-
ings in summer always ranged around pH T.G, drop[)ing to pH 7.0 or
lower in winter.
Determinations of dissolved o.xygen in the water at each station
on the June trip were as follows: Alahomet 4."; 5 cc. per liter, Monticello
4.06, Decatur 4.G2, Harristown 4.06, lUiopolis 4.62, Riverton 4.25,
Petersburg 4.25, and Chandlerville 6.4T. No determinations can be
given for Springfield, as the June collections and data from that sta-
tion were accidentally lost. There was only a slight fluctuation in the
amount of dissolved oxygen in the water at the various stations. At
all points examined, the supply seemed sufficient for the support of
abundant aquatic life.
A summary of the plankton collections is given in Taljle I, and
the constituent organisms are listed in Tables II, III, and IV.
The general taxonomic composition of the jilankton found in the
river below Monticello was the same as that observed in most shallow
lakes and larger streams of North America. Certain typical forms
were conspicuous in their proper seasons, namely : two protozoans,
CodoiicUa cratcra and Ccratiuui lurundincUa; rotifers of the genera
Bmcliioiiiis, Syitc/iacta, Polyarthra, and KcratcUa; various cladocerans,
particularh- Moiiia affiiiis, Daplinia loiiijispiiia, and Bosiniiia loiii/i-
rostris; and two copepods, Diaptoiiuis siciloidcs and Cyclops bicnspid-
atus. A few bottom organisms, usually diatoms and protozoans, were
often conspicuous in the plankton collections from the shallow portions
of the river where the current could easily sweep them up from the
liottom. They did not often appear in the collections from Lake De-
catur but were quite common in the collecti(jns from the ntlicr stations,
especially at Alonticello, Idarristown and IlliopoHs.
The collections made in June showed no i)lankton at .Mahomet ;ui(l
only a very scanty plankton at .Monticello. The first heavy plankton
occurred at Lost Bridge in Lake Decatur. Both the volume of the
plankton and the number of species in the collections decreased down-
stream as far as Petersburg and Chandlerville, where the number of
species increased slightly, though the volume of the plankton contiiuied
to decrease. Of the 50 species observed in the collections from the
entire river in June, 36 appeared in Lake Decatur and 12 appeared
farther downstream in relatively small numbers. Evidently a large
474 Illinois Xatt-kal History Surx-et Billetix
amount of the downstream plankton owed its origin to the increase in
Lake Decatur. Characteristic species which were most conspicuous
in Lake Decatur and showed a decrease downstream were DifHugia
lobostouia, CodoucUa cnitcra, Brachionus angiilaris, Polyartlira trigla,
KcmtcUa cochlcaris. Aloiiia affiiiis, Daphnia lonciispina, Bosiuiiia longi-
rostris, Cyclops bicitspidatus, and Lysigomum (Mclosira) gramdatum.
Several other members of the plankton conspicuous in the lake did not
appear at all below. The flagellates, Trachcloiiionas volvociiia and
Euglcna viridis. decreased downstream to Petersburg and then started
to increase. The only form that showed a decided increase below the
lake was one of the algae, Actiiiastruiii liaiitcsclii.
The collections made in July showed that the plankton then had
a distribtition very similar to that of the preceding month. At Ma-
homet there was no plankton at all. and at Monticello it was very scanty.
Of the 58 species found in the July collections, 4T first became abundant
in Lake Decatur. Only S species occurred downstream which did
not occur in the lake, and these were usually rare or inconspicuous.
never forming an important part of the plankton. Many forms which
were conspicuous in Lake Decatur showed a decided decrease below
Decatur and apparently had their origin in the lake. Examples of
these were the following: Paiidorina iiioruiii, Plcodoriiw illiiioiscnsis.
CodoncUa cratcra, Difhugia lobostouia. Trachclonwnas cnsifcra. Eu-
glcna viridis, Ccratiuut liinindiiiclla, Eudoriiia clcgans. three species
of the genus Brachionus and species of FUinia ( Triarflira). Asplaiichiia.
Polyarthra. Synchacfa, Pcdalia. and Trichoccrca. ( Rattiiliis). and Lysi-
goniuui (Mclosira) graiiulatuni. Only a few forms which decreased
below Decatur showed a slight increase at Chandlerville. A peculiar
feature was an increase in the number of Cyclops bicitspidatus. Kcra-
tella cochlcaris, Diaphanosoma brachyiiniiii, and Brachionus aiigularis
at Harristown and Illiopolis. In general, the July plankton showed a
decided decrease below Decatur. Just as in June, the lake apparently
was acting as a reservoir, develoiiing an abinidant jilankton which was
then carried downstream and gradually thinned out in the lower river
as the water was diluted by tributaries.
The September collections were made under somewhat different
conditions from those in June and July, for the level of Lake Decatur
was slightly below the crest of the dam, so that little or no water
])assed over, and the chief source of the water in the river below De-
catur was the effluent from the city's sewage disposal plant. The cur-
rent in the river was not as swift as at higher river levels, and under
such conditions the larger tributaries, jiarticularly the South Fork and
Salt Creek, might he expected to add a small amount of ]ilankton.
Plaxktox of the Sancamox River 475
While there still were no plankton organisms found at Mahomet, the
plankton was more ahundant at Monticello than previously. In Lake
Decatur the collections were found to have a somewhat smaller volume
and to include fewer species than previously. Downstream from the
lake, however, many species, apparently originating in it. especially
protozoans and algae, showed a steady increase in abundance ; and sev-
eral species additional to the lake list make their first appearance just
below Decatur. Many conspicuous members of the plankton, par-
ticularly rotifers, appeared first at Riverton after the union with the
South Fork and were abundant downstream from there. A decided
increase in both abundance and species was noted at Springfield, which
may in part be due to slack water above the dam. A further increase
at Petersburg indicated that other conditions were favorable for greater
])lankton production.
Only a few species abundant in Lake Decatur showed a tendency
to decrease rather than increase downstream. These were Difflitgia
lobostoiiia, Codonclhi cnitcra. Brachio/iiis aiiijiihiris, KcratcUa cochlcaris,
and some of the cladocerans and copepods. Of the GG species found in
the September collections, only 25 occurred in Lake Decatur, and 3:5
species occurred in the downstream collections which did not appear in
the lake. Many of the latter showed a tendency to increase downstream.
The increase was marked at Springfield and Petersburg, indicating that
the lower river was maintaining a plankton population due in part to
the low water stage and the reduction of the current. Such conditions
in the river approach lake conditions, the waters remaining longer in
the pool-like stretches. Since no water was then coming directly down-
stream from the lake, all the water in the river was effluent from the
sewage disposal plant. Agersborg (1929) found this effluent to be
teeming with annelids, rotifers, copepods, protozoans and algae, and
states that these are organisms such as live in small ponds, though fail-
ing to mention any species which are typical of either clean-water or
sewage plankton. It is doubtful if many, or any at all, of the lake forms
survive passage through the sewage disposal plant, comjirising as it does
both sand filters, tanks and Dorr sc]):irators ; and still more doubtful
that there is any important develoijment of additional plankton species
until after the ])assage through the ]ilant is comiileted.
Sphacrotilns nalniis, although \ery aljundant in the sewage dis-
])osal plant, did not ajijiear at any time in the collections. It is probable
that the origin of many of the downstream i)lanklon species at this
period was ir, the quiter stretches of the river, which were seeded by the
plankton originating in the lake at times when the water was passing
over the dam.
476 Ii.i.ixois XATfRAL History SuR^EY Bulletin"
The question often arises whether the plankton in a given part of
a stream is developed there under local conditions or whether it is car-
ried down from u]istream. This survey indicates that, at times, part
of the plankton, at least, is carried downstream. Wiebe (192S) and
the Minnesota State Board of Health (1928) show that clean plankton
from upstream is carried through polluted areas in the Mississippi
below Minneapolis and St. Paul. In the ."^angamon the downstream
decrease oljserved in June and July may be due partly to the fact that
local development was not sufficient to counterbalance the dilution
from tributaries. In September, when the low stage of the water
cut ofT the direct supply from the lake, local conditions down-
stream became more favorable for the development of plankton.
When the current becomes \ery slow, the development of plank-
ton becomes local and is governed by local conditions. If the cur-
rent averaged one-half mile per hour, the time required for water
to flow from the source to the mouth would be about 20 days. How-
ever, at normal stages the river has many pool-like stretches which re-
tard part of the water, and rough estimates of the period of detention
in the lake at Decatur range from two weeks to two months, depending
on the river level. Thus the water remains in the lake at least twice as
long as in the rest of the river. The water and the plankton it bears
as it flows over the dam at Decatur will ordinarily be in the neighbor-
hood of Chandlerville about a week later. In this way. at normal levels,
there is a continual stream of water carrying plankton from the lake
and passing downstream. Even though the downstream conditions are
not favorable for plankton development, it seems possible for the water
to retain part of the original jilankton load for a week or more, so that
a series of collections made at various points in the lower course of
the river do not represent the development of plankton at each point
but give glimpses of various stages of senescence as the plankton moves
away from its source. It may be possible that the plankton observed
downstream in September had originated from the lake wlien the water
was still flowing over the dam, and that it was still progressing down-
stream. This, however, would hardly explain the origin of the plank-
ton observed in the river immediately lielow Decatur.
No evidence of the former pollution was observed in the plankton
of the Sangamon River. No pollutional organisms were found at Har-
ristown, about eight miles below Decatur, where Jewell ten years earlier
had found the plankton to be characterized by Sf'lwcrotihis ihitaiis.
nematodes, ciliatcs, and creejiing rotifers, with desmids and phytofiagel-
lates common when the water was high. In this area in 1!>2!) the plank-
ton was tvpical of clean water and was characterized by Codoiiclla era-
Plankton of the Sangajiox River 477
tcra. Pol\artlini triiila, rotifers of the genus Bracliiniius, Cyclop's biciis-
pidatiis, cladoccraiis. and Lysigonium (Mclosira) grannlatuui. Jewell
found the dissolved oxygen usually low in that part of the river,
especially during periods of low water. The determinations of dis-
solved oxygen made in lil2!) showed an abundant sujiply. The sludge
which was formerly so abundant had nearly disaj)peared, the water
was clear, and a number of fishes were observed.
Very little is known regarding the former condition of the plank-
ton below the jjolluted part of the river. Jewell's studies in 1918-1919,
which extended only as far as Springfield, showed that the influence
of pollution had ])artly ceased there and that a few typical clean-water
plankton organisms were present in the river at that point. The abund-
ant clean-water ]jlankton now found in that part of the stream, includ-
ing many more species than were reported by Jewell, indicates that the
plankton population in the lower river is much greater than formerly,
and this is due, no doubt, to the creation of the lake at Decatur and to
the removal of the jiollution barrier.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Agersborg, H. p. K.
1929. The Biology of Sewage Disposal. A Preliminary Study. Trans.
Am. Micros. See, Vol. 4S, pp. 158-lSO.
Greeley, S. A., and Hatfield, W. D.
1928. The Sewage Disposal Works of Decatur, Illinois. Proc. Am. Soc.
Civil Eng., Vol. 92, pp. 2237-22S6.
Jewell, M. E.
1920. The Quality of Water in the Sangamon River. 111. State Water
Surv. Bui. No. 16, pp. 230-246.
Minnesota State Board of Health.
1928. Report of the Investigation of the Pollution of the Mississippi
River from Minneapolis to LaCrosse. Metropolitan Drainage
Commission of Minneapolis and St. Paul, 2nd Annual Report,
pp. 90-102.
WiEBE, A. H.
1927. Biological Survey of the Upper Mississippi River with Special
Reference to Pollution. U. S. Bur Pish. Bui., Vol. 43, pp. 137-167.
478 Illinois Natural HisToity Survey Blxletix
Table I.
SUJIJIABY OI' PlANKTOX COLLECTIONS, Sangamon River. 1929.
station
Plankton of the Saxoamox Rivkr 479
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