Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID ND_2023_Otte_2

Reconstructing glyphosate use in the Prairie Pothole Region: A paleolimnological approach

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $3,630 Total Non-Federal Funds: $8,217

Principal Investigators: Marinus Otte

Project Summary: Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in the world in agriculture. Due to its extensive use, it is also a common contaminant of aquatic ecosystems, where it can persist in the sediments and have adverse impacts on aquatic organisms. Paleolimnology uses aquatic sediments to provide a historical record of pollution, disturbance, etc. For example, paleolimnology can provide a long-term perspective on glyphosate contamination of wetlands, in addition to the evolutionary response of microorganisms. I will collect two wetland sediment cores, one from an agriculturally-dominant watershed and a second from an agriculturally-undisturbed watershed. These cores will be analyzed for glyphosate residues, environmental DNA of microorganisms, and will be dated using radioisotopes. This research will combine multiple techniques to assess the persistence of glyphosate in sediments, and its potential long-term effects on wetland microbial communities.