The wave-zone benthic communities of Onondaga Lake: A highly disturbed aquatic system in central New York

The wave-zone benthic macroinvertebrate community of the littoral zone of Onondaga Lake was characterized based on samples taken in the summer of 1989. Onondaga Lake is an industrially polluted, hypereutrophic lake in metropolitan Syracuse, NY. The littoral zone is highly impacted by industrial deposits and has a limited population of macrophytes. The macroinvertebrate community of the lake is characterized by unusually low species (taxon) diversity. The chironomid community is particularly depauperate. The macroinvertebrate community of the lake, and the chironomid assembly in particular, is comprised of forms known to be tolerant of pollution. The community is dominated by chironomids; other significant components include oligochaetes and the amphipod (Gammarus fasciatus), forms tolerant of unnaturally high salinity. Overall population densities are similar to those in other lakes. The degraded condition of this community reflects the combined effects of the polluted condition of the water column and the alterations to the near-shore sediments caused by earlier industrial discharges.