Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID LA_2025_Moyo

Freshwater Invertebrates as Sentinels of Mercury Contamination: Assessing Land Use Impacts Across a River-Land Ecotone

Institute: Louisiana
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $8,735 Total Non-Federal Funds: $8,735

Principal Investigators: Sydney Moyo and Lenin Chari

Project Summary: Mercury pollution in freshwater can harm wildlife and people. Most studies focus on fish, but mercury can also build up in aquatic insects and move to land animals like spiders that eat them. This less visible pathway may also threaten ecosystems and health, but it is not well understood. Human activities such as farming and urban development can increase mercury contamination and impact its accumulation. Still, even remote areas can be affected by air pollution and natural processes in wetlands. However, we still do not fully understand how different land uses affect mercury levels in freshwater food webs. This study will investigate mercury contamination across agricultural, urban, and pristine areas in the Spring Creek watershed, Louisiana. We will track how contamination moves through ecosystems by measuring mercury in water, sediment, aquatic insects, and spiders. Our findings will help identify where mercury pollution is most severe and whether spiders can be early warning indicators. This research will provide valuable insights for water quality management, conservation efforts, and policies to reduce mercury pollution and protect ecosystems and human health.