Koroleva I.M. The status of whitefish population from Chuna Lake in the Lapland Biosphere Reserve Russia. International Journal of Environmental Research. 2008, V.2, №2, p. 111-124.

Int. J. Environ. Res., 2(2): 111-124, Spring 2008 ISSN: 1735-6865 The status of whitefish population from Chuna Lake in the Lapland Biosphere Reserve Russia Kashulin, N. A.,* Terentiev, P. M. and Koroleva, I. M. Institute of the North Industrial Ecology Problems, Kola Science Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences 14a Fersman St., Apatity 184200, Russia Received 12 Aug 2007; Revised 20 Dec. 2007; Accepted 15 Jan. 2007 ABSTRACT: The current state of whitefish population and their organisms have been investigated in subarctic Lake Chuna exposed to long-term air pollution from copper-nickel industry. Both annual and long-term heavy metals and acid oxides loads on the lake have been determined. A qualitative assessment has been made for water and bottom sediments. The investigation results have been compared with those of the archived data (the 1950s -1960s studies) to reveal a number of changes. The lifetime of whitefish has shortened, with early maturity and spawning. Pathological changes of whitefish inner organs occur more frequently. Assessment was made for the Cu and Ni concentrations in whitefish organs and tissues, the seasonal dynamics and peculiarities of metal accumulation in two different species. The revealed changes of the biological constituent of the lake ecosystem alongside with hydro-chemical indices of air-borne load is suggestive of adverse impact of long­ term air-borne pollution on the Lake Chuna ecosystem. Key words: Whitefish, Population structure, Heavy metals, Air pollution, Lake, Subarctic, Chuna INTRODUCTION Protected areas occupy about 10% of the Murmansk region area (Veshnjakov, et al., 1999). The very existence of protected areas mitigates anthropogenic load on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. At the same time, industrial operations concentrated within a relatively small area in the Kola region produce adverse impact on the ecosystems: for instance, the biological reserves ofthe inland water-bodies are reduced, particularly, those of ichthyofauna (Kashulin, et al., 1999; Moiseenko, 1997; Moiseenko and Jakovlev, 1990; Moiseenko, et al., 2002). Some areas adjacent to the metallurgical and mining enterprises ofthe Kola Peninsula are the most polluted ones in the Arctic (AMAP, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). Special consideration should be given to toxic effects produced by heavy metals on biological systems (AMAP, 2000). Large copper-nickel plants operating on the territory of the Murmansk region emit acid-forming substances and heavy metals into the atmosphere. The main pollutants *Corresponding author: Email-nikolay@inep.ksc.ru are copper, nickel and sulfur dioxide. In 2000-2002, the annual SO2emission accounted for 167-196.5 thousand tons, those of copper and nickel accounted for 865 - 1079 and 1145 - 1570.5 tons per year, respectively (Mokrotovarova, 2003). The whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L .) is the most widespread species o f the fresh water ichthyofauna of the Kola Peninsula. This species is circumpolar distributed (Reshetnikov, 2003). The whitefish is sensitive to water pollution (Cooley, et al., 2002; Kleverkamp,2002; Kleverkamp, et al., 2000; Munkittrick and Dixon, 1989). So this species can be widely used in assessment of freshwater ecosystems polluted by different pollutants, including heavy metals (Kashulin, 1995; Kashulin, et al., 1999; Moiseenko, 1997; Moiseenko and Jakovlev, 1990; Ptashinsky and Kleverkamp, 2002). The purpose of the present study is to assess the whitefish population in Lake Chuna located on the territory ofthe Lapland biosphere reserve. A series of ichthyological studies was performed on the territory ofthe reserve in the early 1950s and 1960s 111