Longitudinal Patterns of Microplastic Abundance and Potential for Food Web Uptake in the Yakima River

Document Type

Poster

Campus where you would like to present

Ellensburg

Event Website

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source

Start Date

16-5-2021

End Date

22-5-2021

Keywords

Microplastics, Ecology, Pollution

Abstract

Microplastic (MP) pollution is ubiquitous worldwide with plastics found even in pristine terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments, but the ecological consequences of widespread MP remain unknown concern is growing because. A growing number of MP studies in marine environments reveal XX and YY, however the impacts of plastic pollution on freshwater ecosystems have received less research attention. While many studies have investigated species-specific ingestion of MPs, very few have investigated the pathways of MPs into a local food web. Therefore, I will examine aquatic insects as a potential food web uptake mechanism and how microplastics are distributed in the insect community of the Yakima River. Because wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a known source of MP to freshwaters through laundering synthetic fabrics, I will focus my investigation upstream and downstream of the City of Yakima Wastewater Treatment Plant. I will sample stream water, biofilm (the algal and microbial layer that naturally grows on rocks in rivers), and aquatic insects at each site. All samples will be processed in the lab to isolate and enumerate MPs. It is anticipated that samples taken downstream of the WWTP will contain more MPs than samples taken upstream, due to WWTPs being known as point source inputs of microplastics. This analysis will reveal where and at what concentration MPs are accumulating in the base of the riverine food web in the Yakima River and whether insects, which are a common food source for higher order consumers such as fish, accumulate MPs.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Clay Arango

Department/Program

Biological Sciences

Additional Mentoring Department

https://cwu.studentopportunitycenter.com/longitudinal-patterns-of-microplastic-abundance-and-potential-for-food-web-uptake-in-the-yakima-river/

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May 16th, 12:00 PM May 22nd, 12:00 PM

Longitudinal Patterns of Microplastic Abundance and Potential for Food Web Uptake in the Yakima River

Ellensburg

Microplastic (MP) pollution is ubiquitous worldwide with plastics found even in pristine terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments, but the ecological consequences of widespread MP remain unknown concern is growing because. A growing number of MP studies in marine environments reveal XX and YY, however the impacts of plastic pollution on freshwater ecosystems have received less research attention. While many studies have investigated species-specific ingestion of MPs, very few have investigated the pathways of MPs into a local food web. Therefore, I will examine aquatic insects as a potential food web uptake mechanism and how microplastics are distributed in the insect community of the Yakima River. Because wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a known source of MP to freshwaters through laundering synthetic fabrics, I will focus my investigation upstream and downstream of the City of Yakima Wastewater Treatment Plant. I will sample stream water, biofilm (the algal and microbial layer that naturally grows on rocks in rivers), and aquatic insects at each site. All samples will be processed in the lab to isolate and enumerate MPs. It is anticipated that samples taken downstream of the WWTP will contain more MPs than samples taken upstream, due to WWTPs being known as point source inputs of microplastics. This analysis will reveal where and at what concentration MPs are accumulating in the base of the riverine food web in the Yakima River and whether insects, which are a common food source for higher order consumers such as fish, accumulate MPs.

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2021/COTS/14