Impacts of contaminants on aquatic ecosystems

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In Canada, our streams and rivers are impacted by a range of point sources of contaminants, including runoff from small urban centres, agriculture, golf courses and turf farm operations, and discharges of wastewater from domestic and industrial sources. The Kawartha Lakes, Ganaraska and Lake Simcoe watersheds in south-central Ontario near Trent University are a perfect natural laboratory to study the effects of agricultural land use and urban development on the release of chemical contaminants and their effects on stream communities. In this study, a team of researchers from Trent University under the supervision of Prof. Chris Metcalfe will study warm water streams in this region of Ontario to evaluate whether chemical contaminants are impairing the decomposition of organic material and nutrient cycling, and are affecting the health and development of small stream fish (i.e. darter species). If these impacts are occuring, monitoring with passive sampler devices in the streams will allow Dr. Metcalfe and his team of graduate students to identify the sources of contamination that are impacting aquatic organisms. Once the sources have been identified, regulatory agencies can implement best practices to control or mitigate the release of these contaminants, including management of riparian zones, buffer strips and wetlands, ecological restoration and treatment of wastewater. These studies are applicable to other areas of Canada where more intensive agriculture and spreading urbanization are affecting our water resources.