Journal article
Soil bioretention protects juvenile salmon and their prey from the toxic impacts of urban stormwater runoff
Chemosphere (Oxford), Vol.132, pp.213-219
08/2015
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/107719
PMID: 25576131
Abstract
•Characterized the chemistry and toxicity of highway runoff from six storm events.•Highway runoff caused lethal and sublethal toxicity in juvenile salmon and their prey.•We treated highway runoff via infiltration through a bioretention soil media (BSM).•BSM was 60% sand: 15% compost: 15% shredded bark: 10% water treatment residuals.•Bioretention treatment of runoff prevented all mortality and sublethal toxicity.
Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), or low impact development, encompasses a diverse and expanding portfolio of strategies to reduce the impacts of stormwater runoff on natural systems. Benchmarks for GSI success are usually framed in terms of hydrology and water chemistry, with reduced flow and loadings of toxic chemical contaminants as primary metrics. Despite the central goal of protecting aquatic species abundance and diversity, the effectiveness of GSI treatments in maintaining diverse assemblages of sensitive aquatic taxa has not been widely evaluated. In the present study we characterized the baseline toxicity of untreated urban runoff from a highway in Seattle, WA, across six storm events. For all storms, first flush runoff was toxic to the daphniid Ceriodaphnia dubia, causing up to 100% mortality or impairing reproduction among survivors. We then evaluated whether soil media used in bioretention, a conventional GSI method, could reduce or eliminate toxicity to juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) as well as their macroinvertebrate prey, including cultured C. dubia and wild-collected mayfly nymphs (Baetis spp.). Untreated highway runoff was generally lethal to salmon and invertebrates, and this acute mortality was eliminated when the runoff was filtered through soil media in bioretention columns. Soil treatment also protected against sublethal reproductive toxicity in C. dubia. Thus, a relatively inexpensive GSI technology can be highly effective at reversing the acutely lethal and sublethal effects of urban runoff on multiple aquatic species.
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Details
- Title
- Soil bioretention protects juvenile salmon and their prey from the toxic impacts of urban stormwater runoff
- Creators
- J.K McIntyre - Washington State University, Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Puyallup, WA, USAJ.W Davis - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, Lacey, WA, USAC Hinman - Washington State University, Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Puyallup, WA, USAK.H Macneale - National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA, USAB.F Anulacion - National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA, USAN.L Scholz - National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA, USAJ.D Stark - Washington State University, Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Puyallup, WA, USA
- Publication Details
- Chemosphere (Oxford), Vol.132, pp.213-219
- Academic Unit
- Entomology, Department of; Environment, School of the (CAS)
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Identifiers
- 99900547509501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article