Vivian Gao (MES)

Vivian is co-supervised by Dr. Homa Kheyrollah Pour ( https://www.reseclab.ca/)

Project description: Gravel roads can be significant sources of dust to surrounding terrestrial and aquatic habitats. A recent study conducted along the Dempster Highway showed that road dust can affect water quality in roadside lakes, leading to higher calcium, magnesium, conductivity, and pH levels (Gunter 2017). These changes in water quality might affect the biota living in those lakes. For example, macroinvertebrates living on the bottom are sensitive to changes in pH conductivity, and calcium levels. Macroinvertebrates are important sources of food for fish, so changes in these small animals could impact fish communities. For this project we have two main objectives: 1) To determine if changes in water chemistry caused by deposition of road dust affects macroinvertebrate communities in roadside lakes; and 2) To examine if the type of roadside vegetation influences the transport of road dust to aquatic habitats. To achieve these objectives, we will collect biological and water quality data from lakes at a range of distances from the road and will measure the transport of dust from the highways to lakes in regions with either boreal or tundra vegetation. Given the large changes in water quality noted in previous studies we hypothesize that macroinvertebrate communities in lakes affected by road dust will show significant differences in community composition and species richness. We also hypothesize that boreal vegetation will provide a better roadside buffer than tundra shrubs, limiting the impacts of road dust to shorter distances in the boreal region. The results from this study will provide valuable information on the effects of road development on aquatic habitats that can be used in assessing the environmental impacts of future road projects.

Associated projects: Impacts of road dust on Arctic lakes