Shifts in riverine biofilms induced by WUI-fires and wastewater effluent
The current age is increasingly being described as the pyrocene, where large biogeographic shifts are induced by more intense and frequent wildfires. Concurrently, due in part to the increasing extent of the wildland-urban interface, where people live in close proximity to wildland vegetation, there have been a number of recent wildfires where wildfire has intersected cities and burned homes and other human infrastructure. While it is expected that WUI-fires may generate a different toxicant profile than wildland-fires, the impact of WUI-fires on aquatic systems has been under characterized. This presentation will detail benchtop experiments to determine the effects of WUI-fire ash and wastewater effluent, a common co-occurring anthropogenic input, on microbial community structure.
Presentation by William Johnson, Graduate Student, Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, CU Boulder
Cresten Mansfeldt, Assistant Professor, Environmental Engineering, CU Boulder