Impact Of A Diesel Spill On Macroinvertebrate Communities In Ponds In S.E. Alabama, USA

<p>In this study, macroinvertebrate communities were examined to determine an indication of the water quality in ponds on a wetlands property after a diesel spill. In 2012, a train derailed, and at least 3000 gallons of diesel fuel leached into a small pond of the wetlands. Even after clean-up attempts there remains major concerns that the contamination spread throughout the wetlands. This concern led to the present study. Macroinvertebrates were the chosen focus due to their sensitivity to changes in the environment. Two field trials were conducted in which Hester-Dendy multiplate samplers were placed in ponds to allow macroinvertebrates to colonize on the artificial substrate over the winter months. The macroinvertebrates were classified to family or order to compare taxonomic groups at increasing distances from the affected pond. The results of the study seemed to indicate the presence of pollution, which may be due to the diesel spill. At increasing distances from the spill site, a greater number of moderately pollution tolerant to pollution sensitive macroinvertebrates were found to be present in the samples. However, due to the small sample size collected, further study needs to be conducted to more conclusively evaluate the impact of the diesel fuel spill.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Biology

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• Winkles, Katie E

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Jeffrey Zuiderveen
• Dr. Harlan Hendricks
• Dr. Cindy Ticknor

• Macroinvertebrate
• Pollution
• Diesel Spill
• Norfolk Southern Railway
• Biology
• Environmental Health

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/192

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:csuepress.columbusstate.edu:theses_dissertations-1191