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Because many pollutants adsorb onto the surfaces of fine sediment particles, sediment transport plays a central role in distributing contaminants throughout river systems. However, current models of sediment and pollutant transfer are complex and complicated by the fact that key processes such as adsorption, erosion and deposition aren’t easily observed. Belgian scientists have responded to […]
July 5, 2018
Comments Off on Worms, midges and the greenhouse effect
Severely impacted aquatic environments such as urban wetlands and wastewater treatment ponds are designed to treat large amounts of carbon and nitrogen, which raises concerns about their potential greenhouse gas emissions. Because pollution-tolerant worms (oligochaetes) and insects (midges) can reach very high densities in such systems, it’s possible that their activities influence the flux of […]
July 5, 2018
There are concerns that human impacts on freshwater systems – particularly temperature increases linked to climate change and nutrient enrichment caused by run-off and pollution – are encouraging the spread of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) capable of generating toxic blooms that threaten human and animal health. One such case is the recent spread of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, […]
September 25, 2017
Comments Off on Ironing out harmful algal blooms
An understanding of how iron affects the supply of nutrients in aquatic systems may open the door to better success in managing harmful algal blooms. In highly productive lakes, the release of phosphorus stored in the bottom sediment can encourage bloom development, but nutrient release is retarded in the presence of iron, which precipitates phosphorus […]
September 25, 2017
Comments Off on Urban trees protect local water bodies
As a result of nutrient transfer from the land, urban waterways often have high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus, which can lead to algal blooms, low water clarity, oxygen depletion and species loss. Nutrient enrichment problems also extend to urban groundwater, where water quality can be compromised. Although nutrients moving from land to groundwater water […]
March 27, 2017
Comments Off on Unravelling trends in stream nitrogen
Oxides of nitrogen derived from agriculture, industry and emissions from the burning of fossil fuels fall out from the atmosphere and enter terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Over the last century the deposition of reactive nitrogen has increased three to five times, and this is reflected in a general global increase in stream nitrogen concentrations. However, at […]
December 13, 2016
The increased use of antidepressants in society means that the pollution of freshwater systems by SSRIs (serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors) is becoming more prevalent. SSRIs persist in the environment, bioaccumulate in animals, influence a wide range of physiological and behavioural processes and are toxic at high concentrations. Although it’s been established that SSRI toxicity is […]
October 8, 2018
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