Long-term patterns and drivers of trace and ultratrace elements in boreal streams

Human activities and global changes alter the movement of elements from the atmosphere to land and ultimately into streams, particularly in northern latitude regions. However, there is limited understanding of how altered environmental conditions impact trace element movement. Even though some trace elements form essential nutrients, others are toxic to humans and wildlife. Therefore, determining long-term patterns in these elements is important to understand their human and ecosystem health impacts. This project will examine long-term patterns of trace elements in streamwater, quantify trends in their concentration, identify the associated drivers, and predict how the concentrations will vary in the future. The results will inform management and mitigation of trace elements in boreal streams. The project will develop curriculum modules for high school students and incorporate them into a high school summer program, focusing on hands-on experience and connecting basic science to real-world problem-solving. Project personnel will participate in outreach activities involving stakeholders and students, train undergraduate and graduate students, and disseminate key outcomes through articles in the popular press. The overarching goal of the project is to understand how shifting environmental processes impact the fate and transport of contaminants now and in the future. This will be achieved by examining the primary drivers and patterns of sixty trace and ultratrace elements within boreal streamwater across temporal (i.e., decadal) and spatial (i.e., nested catchment) scales. This project will quantify long-term streamwater patterns for a suite of trace elements over several decades (1985-2023). The results will identify primary geochemical and hydrological drivers of spatiotemporal variability in streamwater trace element concentrations and flux. The outcomes will make it possible to predict changes in streamwater trace element concentrations and flux under varying landcover and altered precipitation regime scenarios. This research will combine fieldwork, laboratory work, and computational modeling to improve understanding of hydrological and geochemical drivers of streamwater trace and ultratrace element concentrations. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation's Office of International Science and Engineering. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.