Wastewater Treatment Plant Influences On Macroinvertebrate Assemblage, Functional Feeding Groups, And Productivity
- ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Kelli Park (Creator)
- Institution
- Appalachian State University (ASU )
- Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
- Advisor
- Shea Tuberty
Abstract: Organic waste from municipal wastewater treatment plants can alter stream benthic communities by contributing allochthonous energy sources as well as altering stream physicochemical habitat parameters. Nutrients may have a large impact on the primary and secondary production of receiving streams. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impacts of wastewater treatment plant effluents on headwater systems in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. To do this the biological, physical, and chemical aspects along multiple stream continuums were analyzed. Aquatic invertebrates were collected using a modified NCDEQ macroinvertebrate sampling protocol and keyed to the lowest possible taxonomic level. Benthic invertebrate data were used to compute community BI scores, diversity indices and the percentage of trophic feeding guilds. Benthic communities in impacted streams did not follow the RCC predicted feeding group distributions. Overall trends among impacted sites were variable and community structure was likely affected by increased ion concentrations, increased nutrients, and increased levels of primary production at effluent-impacted sites. Principal component analyses using invertebrate metrics and water chemistry parameters revealed distinctions between reference and impacted streams, and non-metric dimensional scaling plots showed that temperature, conductivity, and multiple dissolved ions significantly differentiate these sites.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Influences On Macroinvertebrate Assemblage, Functional Feeding Groups, And Productivity
PDF (Portable Document Format)
1507 KB
Created on 5/17/2018
Views: 1575
Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Park, K. (2018). "Wastewater Treatment Plant Influences On Macroinvertebrate Assemblage, Functional Feeding Groups, And Productivity." Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
- Language: English
- Date: 2018
- Keywords
- Wastewater treatment plant, Macroinvertebrates,
headwater streams, functional feeding group,
productivity