Response of a New Zealand mayfly (Deleatidium spp.) to acid mine drainage: implications for mine remediation.

Investigating the toxicity of acid mine drainage (AMD) on benthic communities in receiving waters can be highly challenging because of the difficulty in unraveling the effects of acidity, dissolved metals, and precipitates. Furthermore, the survival of different species may vary depending on any natural adaptation they may have acquired to low pH, metals, or sedimentation. We investigated the effect of different pHs and AMD on the survival of a common New Zealand leptophlebiid mayfly (Deleatidium spp.) in 96-h laboratory trials. Our results indicate that the primary driver of toxicity in AMD was pH, although some mortality could be attributable to the presence of dissolved heavy metals at low pH (