Life Sciences Commons^™

The Impacts Of Anthropogenic Activity And Climate Change On The Formation Of Harmful Algal Blooms (Habs) And Its Ecological Consequence, Zhangxi Hu, Aifeng Li, Zhun Li, Margaret R. Mulholland

OES Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hydropower To The People: Implications Of A Comparative Macroinvertebrate Study On Either Side Of The Central Hidroeléctrica Topo In Tungurahua, Ecuador, Grace Mazur

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study uses macroinvertebrates as bioindicators to assess the water quality upstream and downstream of a hydroelectric project in Ecuador’s eastern cloud forest. Ecuador has increasingly turned to hydropower to supply its energy needs as pressure mounts to turn away from fossil fuels. This transition has been realized on the Río Topo, located in the province of Tungurahua. This study aims to determine how the Central Hidroeléctrica Topo (CHT), a diversion hydroelectric project (HEP) constructed on the Río Topo in the 2010s, has affected the water quality of the river. Samples were taken of benthic (bottom-dwelling) macroinvertebrates in the Río …

The Importance Of Winter Dinoflagellate Blooms In Chesapeake Bay— A Missing Link In Bay Productivity, Nicole C. Millette, Sophie Clayton, Margaret R. Mulholland, Leah Gibala-Smith, Michael Lane

OES Faculty Publications

It is widely assumed that phytoplankton abundance and productivity decline during temperate winters because of low irradiance and temperatures. However, winter phytoplankton blooms commonly occur in temperate estuaries, but they are often undocumented because of reduced water quality monitoring in winter. The small body of in situ work that has been done on winter blooms suggests they can be of enormous consequence to ecosystems. However, because monitoring is often reduced or stopped altogether during winter, it is unclear how widespread these blooms are or how long they can last. We analyzed an over 30-year record of monthly phytoplankton monitoring samples …

Arkansas Bulletin Of Water Research - Issue 2021-2022, Erin Grantz, Lillie Haddock, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research

The Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research (Bulletin) is a publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC). We publish the Bulletin to communicate the major findings of research funded by the Water Resources Research Act Section 104(b) in Arkansas. This research is relevant to Arkansas water stakeholders, and the Bulletin provides an easily searchable and aesthetically engaging access option.

This is the fourth publication of the Bulletin. This issue contains final reports from research projects that were funded by the 104(b) program in fiscal years 2019 and 2020. The articles in this issue can be cited as an AWRC publication. …

Nutrient Improvements In Chesapeake Bay: Direct Effect Of Load Reductions And Implications For Coastal Management, Rebecca R. Murphy, Jennifer Keisman, Jon Harcum, Renee R. Karrh, Mike Lane, Elgin S. Perry, Qian Zhang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In Chesapeake Bay in the United States, decades of management efforts have resulted in modest reductions of nutrient loads from the watershed, but the corresponding improvements in estuarine water quality have not consistently followed. Generalized additive models were used to directly link river flows and nutrient loads from the watershed to nutrient trends in the estuary on a station-by-station basis, which allowed for identification of exactly when and where responses are happening. Results show that Chesapeake Bay’s total nitrogen and total phosphorus conditions are mostly improving after accounting for variation in freshwater flow. Almost all of these improving nutrient concentrations …

Simulated Response Of St. Joseph Bay, Florida, Seagrass Meadows And Their Belowground Carbon To Anthropogenic And Climate Impacts, Marie Cindy Lebrasse, Blake A. Schaeffer, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill, Megan M. Coffer, Peter J. Whitman, Wilson B. Salls, David D. Graybill, Christopher L. Osburn

OES Faculty Publications

Seagrass meadows are degraded globally and continue to decline in areal extent due to human pressures and climate change. This study used the bio-optical model GrassLight to explore the impact of climate change and anthropogenic stressors on seagrass extent, leaf area index (LAI) and belowground organic carbon (BGC) in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, using water quality data and remotely-sensed sea surface temperature (SST) from 2002 to 2020. Model predictions were compared with satellite-derived measurements of seagrass extent and shoot density from the Landsat images for the same period. The GrassLight-derived area of potential seagrass habitat ranged from 36.2 km2 …

A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources, Danielle Kleinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although fresh water is one of Ecuador’s most abundant resources, high quality drinking water for its inhabitants is scarce (Wingfield et al., 2021). The most prevalent sources of water pollution in Ecuador are domestic waste, silver and gold mining, oil production, and agricultural chemicals (Buckalew et al., 1997). El Placer, a village located in Tungurahua, Ecuador, is highly dependent on agriculture as a source of income. The first objective of this study was to determine the effect of agriculture on the El Placer’s Tía Anita Stream through comparing the water quality at three sites with varying agricultural influence. The second …

Biochar Applications To The Remediation Of Lead And Polychlorinated Biphenyl Contaminated Water, Victory Itua Igberase

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the performance of biochar materials as adsorbents to remove Pb and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption and column experiment packed with biochar and geomaterials (pumice) in 1:1 volume ratio was evaluated to address the efficacy of biochar in removing Pb while only batch adsorption was employed for PCB removal with biochar materials. Overall, PT biochars performed the best (42–53 mg g−1) followed by BE biochars (10–32 mg g−1) and AB biochars (17–27 mg g−1) while high temperature biochars were favored in terms of maximum Pb adsorption capacity. Column Pb breakthrough showed similar results, with …

The Quantitative Assessment Of Pond Scum: An Examination Of The Biogeochemistry Of Phosphorus Cycling In The Belgrade Lakes, Abbey M. Sykes

Honors Theses

The internal recycling phosphorus in freshwater lake bottom sediments represents a significant source of hypolimnetic phosphorus (P) release for many of Maine’s lakes. In summer months, Maine lakes often thermally stratify and the lake hypolimnion develops anoxia, leading to a reduction in redox potential at the sediment-water interface. These reducing conditions facilitate the reductive dissolution of ferric iron, and, since phosphorus is often present in freshwater lake sediments as solid FeOOH-PO₄ complexes, results in release of soluble phosphorus into the water column. Our current study presents field and laboratory data from sediment fractionation extractions designed to quantify concentrations of …

Water Quality Assessment In The Occurrence Of Acanthaster Spp. (Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish, Cots) On Coral Reefs In Menjangan Island, Bali, Indonesia, Novia Arinda Pradisty, Eghbert Elvan Ampou, Rizki Hanintyo

Makara Journal of Science

Aquatic stressors are known to cause biological impairment that can result in biodiversity loss in several Marine Protected Areas (MPA), including in Menjangan Island, West Bali National Park. The objectives of this study were to correlate the changes in water quality parameters with the biological effect of Crown-of-Thorns starfish (CoTS) population dynamics and to assess the most applicable parameters for continuous environmental monitoring. Field observations and surveys were conducted three times in 2017, during the wet season, dry season and season transition, in order to assess the effect of seasonal variability. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) was performed to determine the relationship …

Payment For Ecosystem Services: Incentives To Support Environmental Quality & Farming In Vermont, Stephen Posner, Taylor Ricketts, Eric Roy

Reports and Policy Briefs

Environmental quality is an ongoing concern in the Lake Champlain Basin. Vermont farmers are in a unique position to manage land in a way that maintains and improves environmental quality. A payment for ecosystem services (PES) program for Vermont would both support the economic vi- ability of Vermont farms and incentivize farmers to improve water quality and soil health. How- ever, conceptual and practical implementation challenges remain.

Next Generation Sequencing Methods For Coastal Zone Water Quality Monitoring, Catherine Iskrenko

HCNSO Student Capstones

When analyzing the water quality of the coastal zone, culture-based techniques have been utilized most often to identify Fecal Indicator Bacteria in samples. Since the advent of the Sanger Method for DNA sequencing, other techniques have arisen that provide significantly more information on the microorganisms in sample, but they are still not the mainstream for water quality analysis. This capstone reviews and compares culture-based techniques, DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing, qPCR for biomarker, and 16S rDNA sequencing to highlight their merits and shortcomings for analyzing environmental water samples. The technique presented that provides the broadest range of information (including the identification …

Past, Present, And Future Water Quality In Lake Union/Ship Canal, Elliott Bay, And The Duwamish Estuary And The Benefits Of Combined Sewer Overflow Control And Other Projects, Jim Simmonds

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

To help protect regional water quality, in 2012 King County initiated a study to review the impacts of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and other sources of pollution to inform the region of the benefits of CSO control. King County’s Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring Study (Study) explored water quality in Lake Union/Ship Canal, Elliott Bay, and the Duwamish Estuary, where the County is planning projects to reduce the frequency of CSOs to an average of one untreated overflow per site per year over a 20-year moving average. Reducing CSO frequency to this degree is known as CSO “control” and is …

Nitrogen Inventory In The Nooksack-Fraser Transboundary Watershed, Jiajia Lin, Jana Compton, Jill Baron, Chris Clark, Donna Schwede, Shabtai Bittman, David Hooper, Barb Carey, Peter Homann, Hanna Winter, Peter Kiffney, Nichole Embertson, Heather Mackay, Robert Black, Gary Bahr

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Nooksack-Fraser transboundary area (2639 km2) is home to communities with a strong base in farming, fisheries and outdoor recreation. Water quality issues impact parts of this area, where sewage effluent and animal waste are potential sources of both fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) and nitrogen (N) in the environment. Excessive nitrogen loading can lead to eutrophication in coastal areas, and nitrate contamination of groundwater. The Nooksack-Fraser Transboundary Nitrogen (NFT-N) project was developed to determine the sources and fates of N in the watershed using data on energy use, transportation, fertilization, wastewater treatment plants, livestock operations, wildlife and more. This project …

Impact Of Septic Systems In Drayton Harbor Water Quality, Jennifer Hayden

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Septic systems are personal wastewater treatment systems for rural properties. Over 3,000 septic systems exist in the Drayton Harbor watershed. Septic systems that are not maintained properly can create problems for homeowners, negatively impact water quality, and pose a public health threat. Whatcom County Health Department (WCHD) began implementing a septic system operation and maintenance (O&M) program in 2008 in the Drayton Harbor watershed when most of Drayton Harbor was classified as Prohibited for shellfish harvesting due to elevated fecal coliform bacteria levels. The local health officer’s designation of Drayton Harbor as a Marine Recovery Area in 2008 allowed WCHD …

Nooksack Tribe Collaborative Teaming To Address Shellfish Harvest Closures In Drayton Harbor, Oliver Grah, Jezra Beaulieu

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Nooksack Indian Tribe reservation is located at the foot of the North Cascades Mountains, near Deming, WA, and approximately 13 miles east of Bellingham and the Salish Sea. Drayton Harbor is part of the Salish Sea and is the Tribe’s traditional shellfish gathering area. Drayton Harbor is also an important shellfish gathering and production area for commercial and recreational uses. The Harbor has been under a TMDL for fecal coliform bacteria for more than 10 years for non-compliance with state water quality standards. Although re-opened to year-round harvest in late 2016, Drayton Harbor’s shellfish have been subjected to various …

Engaging The Community In Drayton Harbor's Comeback Story, Betsy Peabody

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

During the 1980 and 1990s, bacterial contamination in Drayton Harbor resulted in bay-wide closures of tribal, commercial and recreational shellfish harvest. In 2001, Puget Sound Restoration Fund partnered with local shellfish farmer extraordinaire Geoff Menzies to launch the Drayton Harbor Community Oyster Farm. With Geoff at the helm, the community farm invigorated a 20+ year community-wide effort to restore 810 acres of growing area to Approved harvest status in 2016. At the outset, seeding oysters in a bay prohibited to harvest, and involving volunteers in oyster farming, was a gamble. But the vision was that if people became immersed in …

Raising The Standards For Water Quality Objectives In Burrard Inlet: Interaction Between Public, Ecological And Cultural Values Through Indigenous-Provincial Collaboration, Anuradha Rao, Bridget Doyle, John Konovsky, Patrick Lilley

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Water Quality Objectives (WQOs) in British Columbia set limits within which various parameters should remain to enable sensitive uses of water bodies. The current WQOs for Burrard Inlet are more than 25 years old and do not reflect current science, all pollutants of concern or a complete understanding of uses and values, for example uses of particular importance to First Nations. As part of its work to implement the Burrard Inlet Action Plan, Tsleil-Waututh Nation is leading an initiative with the Province of BC to update the Burrard Inlet WQOs. One goal in doing so is to ensure that ecological …

Changes To Washington State's Recreational Use Criteria And Implications For Surface Waters, Bryson Finch, Chad Brown

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Washington State’s surface water quality standards set limits on pollution in lakes, rivers, and marine waters in order to protect beneficial uses, such as swimming and fishing. Washington State Department of Ecology has recently announced a rulemaking to update recreational use criteria (RUC). Recreational use criteria are intended to protect human health while enjoying water-related activities. Recreational use criteria are based on bacterial indicators rather than direct measurements of pathogens. Washington’s current bacterial indicator, fecal coliform, was removed from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recommendations in 1986. The EPA is now requiring states update their RUC to the new bacterial …

How Did Large Scale Climate Anomalies Impact 2015 Phytoplankton Blooms In Puget Sound?, Juhi Lafuente, Christopher Krembs, S. L. Albertson, Allison Brownlee, Julia Bos, Laura Hermanson, Mya Keyzers

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Washington State Department of Ecology has been routinely monitoring marine water quality throughout the Puget Sound since 1973. An established historic baseline from 1999 to 2008 allows us to examine how water quality varies year to year as a result of both natural and human influences. The recent large scale climate anomaly, the Blob, impacted this region when a mass of warm water entered Puget Sound in fall 2014. In conjunction with higher than normal air temperatures, patterns of estuarine circulation and stratification were regionally altered in Puget Sound. Changes to these physical patterns affect ecosystem functions starting at …

Long-Term Water Quality Trend Analysis In The Lone Tree Creek Watershed And Surrounding Marine Waters, Shannon Buckham, Nicole Casper

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Lone Tree Creek watershed is located on the Reservation of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC) and is an important area both ecologically and culturally. Lone Tree Creek and the surrounding Skagit Bay nearshore environment provide important salmon and shellfish habitats, as well as recreation areas, and therefore have been the focus for ongoing research since 1997. Water quality parameters in the creek, lagoon, and two bay sites have been monitored since the late 1990s and early 2000s, and an additional pocket estuary site was added to monitoring efforts in 2007. This study used Mann-Kendall analysis to determine how …

Social And Economic Impacts Of A 2017 Oyster-Transmitted Norovirus Outbreak In Hammersley Inlet, Puget Sound, Marisa Nixon

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Hammersley Inlet in Washington State is a highly productive growing area for oysters, with at least 34 different commercial shellfish growers operating in its tidelands. The oysters in Hammersley Inlet provide an important source of income, employment and recreation for surrounding Mason County. In early spring 2017, Hammersley Inlet was implicated in a shellfish-transmitted norovirus outbreak that resulted in growing area closures and recalls, significantly impacting small, local shellfish farmers. From its initial illness investigation, Washington State Department of Health (DOH) was unable to identify a point pollution source responsible for the outbreak, and some shellfish producing parcels remained closed …

Water Quality Effects Of Fish Habitat Restoration At Lone Tree Creek, Nicole Casper, Shannon M. Buckham

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Lone Tree Creek is located on the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC) Reservation. The creek’s watershed includes pocket estuary habitat, discharges over shellfish beds, an important resource for the Swinomish People, and flows into northern Skagit Bay. In 2006, extensive creek restoration replaced culverts, restored tidal influence to the pocket estuary, and planted riparian buffers, successfully restoring rearing habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon. Beyond fish habitat benefits, SITC wanted to assess long-term restoration effects on creek water quality and its associated pocket estuary, lagoon and bay. Water quality monitoring for conventional parameters and bacteria spanned 1997-2016 (10 years pre- and …

Coupled Impacts Of Climate And Land Use Change Across A River-Lake Continuum: Insights From An Integrated Assessment Model Of Lake Champlain's Missisquoi Basin, 2000-2040, Asim Zia, Arne Bomblies, Andrew W. Schroth, Christopher Koliba, Peter D.F. Isles, Yushiou Tsai, Ibrahim N. Mohammed, Gabriela Bucini, Patrick J. Clemins, Scott Turnbull, Morgan Rodgers, Ahmed Hamed, Brian Beckage, Jonathan Winter

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Global climate change (GCC) is projected to bring higher-intensity precipitation and higher-variability temperature regimes to the Northeastern United States. The interactive effects of GCC with anthropogenic land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) are unknown for watershed level hydrological dynamics and nutrient fluxes to freshwater lakes. Increased nutrient fluxes can promote harmful algal blooms, also exacerbated by warmer water temperatures due to GCC. To address the complex interactions of climate, land and humans, we developed a cascading integrated assessment model to test the impacts of GCC and LULCC on the hydrological regime, water temperature, water quality, bloom duration and severity …

Coupled Impacts Of Climate And Land Use Change Across A River-Lake Continuum: Insights From An Integrated Assessment Model Of Lake Champlain's Missisquoi Basin, 2000-2040, Asim Zia, Arne Bomblies, Andrew W. Schroth, Christopher Koliba, Peter D.F. Isles, Yushiou Tsai, Ibrahim N. Mohammed, Gabriela Bucini, Patrick J. Clemins, Scott Turnbull, Morgan Rodgers, Ahmed Hamed, Brian Beckage, Jonathan Winter, Carol Adair, Gillian L. Galford, Donna Rizzo, Judith Van Houten

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Global climate change (GCC) is projected to bring higher-intensity precipitation and higher-variability temperature regimes to the Northeastern United States. The interactive effects of GCC with anthropogenic land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) are unknown for watershed level hydrological dynamics and nutrient fluxes to freshwater lakes. Increased nutrient fluxes can promote harmful algal blooms, also exacerbated by warmer water temperatures due to GCC. To address the complex interactions of climate, land and humans, we developed a cascading integrated assessment model to test the impacts of GCC and LULCC on the hydrological regime, water temperature, water quality, bloom duration and severity …

Slides: Environmental Flows In The Era Of 'River Anthropology', Rebecca Tharme

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Rebecca Tharme, Riverfutures Ltd.

18 slides

Slides: Environmental Flow Case Studies: Southern And Eastern Africa, Rebecca Tharme, Kelly Fouchy, Susan Graas, John Conallin, Michael Mcclain, Unesco-Ihe, Felister Mombo, Sokoine University Of Agriculture

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Rebecca Tharme, Riverfutures Ltd.

17 slides

Bacterial Indicators Of Fecal Pollution: Exploring Relationships Between Fecal Coliform And Enterococcus Groups In Central And South Florida Surface Waters, Shelby G. Craig

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Ambient and recreational surface waters worldwide experience fecal pollution due to a variety of anthropogenic sources. Fecal waste has been proven, for over a century, to harbor pathogenic microorganisms which subsequently cause a variety of disease and illness in human hosts. The benefits of utilizing fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) as a simple, inexpensive means to detect fitful human pathogens within a variety of water matrices are vast. However, no universal agreement exists in regard to which indicator is best suited for detection of fecal contamination and pathogens in environmental waters, and no single standard for bacterial indicators has been federally …

Reducing Water Extractable Phosphorus In Poultry Litter Using Chitosan Treatment, Zachary Simpson, Brina Smith, David A. Zaharoff, Brian E. Haggard

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Phosphorus (P) is an important factor in the eutrophication of freshwater, and watershed sources include effluent discharges and the landscape. Poultry litter applied to the landscape can be a potential source of P, which is dependent on rainfall, runoff and dissolution. Chitosan, the deacetylated form of the biopolymer chitin, has been shown to have an effect on reducing water extractable phosphorus (WEP) in poultry litter when applied as a powder. The intent of this study was to measure the effect that poultry litter treatment (PLT), acetic acid and incubation time have on chitosan’s ability to reduce WEP in poultry litter. …

Urban Stream Syndrome In A Small Town: A Comparative Study Of Sager And Flint Creeks, T. S. Wakefield

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Utilizing rapid bioassessment procedures and aquatic physiochemical techniques, a three-year investigation of Sager and Flint creeks was completed. Bioassessment indices and physiochemical parameters of the 2 streams were compared and the effects of urbanization on both watersheds were assessed. Correlating data concerning land usage in both watersheds and alterations of both streams' geomorphology were also utilized to conclude that Sager Creek shows a higher degree of urban stream syndrome than Flint Creek.