2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/22/2018 | 11:15 AM - 11:30 AM | MONITORING OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AT A HIGH ELEVATION STREAM IMPAIRED BY CHRONIC METALS CONTAMINATION | 420 B
MONITORING OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AT A HIGH ELEVATION STREAM IMPAIRED BY CHRONIC METALS CONTAMINATION
The Arkansas River has been impaired by metal pollution due to historical mining in nearby Leadville, Colorado. By the late 1990s, implementation of water treatment facilities resulted in significant improvements in water quality. Despite improved water quality, macroinvertebrate community structure remains different between upstream reference sites and sites downstream of California Gulch, the inlet that contributes metal contamination. Our hypothesis for this discrepancy is that metal concentrations are low enough to not be directly toxic to macroinvertebrate communities, but high enough to alter the stream microbial communities. This change in the base of the stream food web would indirectly structure macroinvertebrate communities through altered microbial biomass (e.g. food quality). To address this, we sampled benthic sediments at multiple sites upstream and downstream of California Gulch, across multiple seasons (spring and fall), and years (2015 – 2017). Microbial community composition was measured using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Our results show: (1) microbial communities were indeed different between sites upstream and downstream of California Gulch, (2) downstream sediments were elevated in metals concentrations relative to upstream communities, and (3) dietary metals exposure is likely an important driver of macroinvertebrate community structure.
- Metal
- Genetics
- Bioassessment
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Presenters/Authors
Brian Wolff
(), Colorado State University, wolffba@gmail.com;
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William Clements
(), Colorado State University, William.Clements@colostate.edu ;
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Ed Hall
(), Colorado State University, ed.hall@colostate.edu;
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