2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/24/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | BIOFILMS ON PLASTIC LITTER IN AN URBAN RIVER: COMMUNITY COMPOSITOIN AND FUNCTION | Virtual Platform
BIOFILMS ON PLASTIC LITTER IN AN URBAN RIVER: COMMUNITY COMPOSITOIN AND FUNCTION
Plastic litter is a common pollutant worldwide. In aquatic ecosystems, plastic litter is a substrate for biofilms, but little research has compared the activity and composition of biofilms which colonize buoyant plastic litter in rivers to those colonizing a natural substrate: woody debris. We will incubate three common plastics of distinct textures, low-density polyethylene (firm), low-density polyethylene film (flexible), and foamed polystyrene (brittle), and wood (untreated veneer) in the Chicago River for six weeks. Substrates will be incubated just below the water surface with even distribution and depth and removed weekly. In the lab, we will measure biofilm respiration, flux of nitrogen gas and nitrate, chlorophyll, and biomass. DNA will be extracted for microbial community analysis using next-generation sequencing. We predict biofilm activity and composition on plastics will be distinct from one another and from those on wood, especially in the first weeks of incubation, and plastic biofilms will be less diverse than those on wood. This study will provide valuable insights into the effects of substrate on biofilm characteristics, as well as the ecological impacts of plastic pollution on urban rivers.
- Anthropogenic litter
- Microbial ecology
- Urban streams
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Presenters/Authors
Raul Lazcano
(), Loyola University Chicago, rlazcanogonzalez@luc.edu;
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Nonfinancial -