Roadside snowmelt: a management target to reduce lake and river contamination

Fournier, Isabelle B.; Galvez‐Cloutier, Rosa; Vincent, Warwick F.

doi:10.1080/20442041.2020.1801312

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The latter ions were 3–50 times lower in Lake Clair compared to Lake Saint-Charles and 20–400 times lower than in the other two lakes. In Lake Clair, Ca was the dominant cation, and Cl concentrations was <1.5 mg L –1 , while in the other lakes, Na was the dominant cation, and Cl concentrations varied between 10 and 183 mg L –1 , reflecting their contamination by road salts ( Mochizuki, 2011 ; Guesdon et al, 2016 ; Fournier et al, 2020 ). As expected, the highest concentrations of TP were found in Lake Saint-Augustin (14–134 μg L –1 ), and the lowest concentrations of TN and TP were found in Lake Clair (respectively, 0.1–0.2 mg L –1 and 4–10 μg L –1 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This salinization effect has been shown to increase with increasing intensity of urbanization of the watershed ( Dugan et al, 2017 ; Bird et al, 2018 ), and is especially apparent in winter and early spring due to the runoff from melting roadside snow ( Novotny et al, 2008 ; Scott et al, 2019 ). Road-contaminated snow has a high salt content, and the subsequent meltwater inflow into lakes can cause a sudden rise in major ion concentrations; for example, salinity rose by a factor of two within a few hours of a snowmelt event in Lake Saint-Charles, Quebec ( Fournier et al, 2020 ). These acute seasonal peaks, as well as chronic long-term salinization, have the potential to affect aquatic communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in the Community Structure of Under-Ice and Open-Water Microbiomes in Urban Lakes Exposed to Road Salts

2021

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Salinization of freshwater is increasingly observed in regions where chloride de-icing salts are applied to the roads in winter, but little is known about the effects on microbial communities. In this study, we analyzed the planktonic microbiomes of four lakes that differed in degree of urbanization, eutrophication and salinization, from an oligotrophic reference lake with no surrounding roads, to a eutrophic, salinized lake receiving runoff from a highway. We tested the hypothesis that an influence of road salts would be superimposed on the effects of season and trophic status. We evaluated the microbial community structure by 16S rRNA sequencing for Bacteria, and by four methods for eukaryotes: 16S rRNA chloroplast analysis, 18S rRNA sequencing, photosynthetic pigment analysis and microscopy. Consistent with our hypothesis, chloride and total nitrogen concentrations were among the most important statistical factors explaining the differences in taxonomic composition. These factors were positively correlated with the abundance of cryptophytes, haptophytes, and cyanobacteria. Ice-cover was also a major structuring factor, with clear differences between the winter communities and those of the open-water period. Nitrifying and methane oxidizing bacteria were more abundant in winter, suggesting the importance of anaerobic sediment processes and release of reduced compounds into the ice-covered water columns. The four methods for eukaryotic analysis provided complementary information. The 18S rRNA observations were strongly influenced by the presence of ribosome-rich ciliates, but revealed a much higher degree of taxonomic richness and greater separation of lakes, seasonal changes and potential salinity effects than the other methods.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the Community Structure of Under-Ice and Open-Water Microbiomes in Urban Lakes Exposed to Road Salts

2021

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“…Ramstack et al 2004). Seasonality in conductivity and salt ions has been noted by multiple studies, reflecting the use of road salt in the winter months (Murphy and Stefan 2006;Novotny et al 2008;Tixier et al 2012;Rogora et al 2015), with winter snowmelt at the end of the season or during thawing events producing a peak in inputs of road salt (Palmer et al 2011;Fournier et al 2022). In North America alone, 14 million tonnes of road salt are applied annually (Environment Canada 2001), and some studies have shown that ∼50% of the road salt applied to roads is present in nearby waterbodies due to surface runoff (Meriano et al 2009;Mueller and Gaechter 2012).…”

Section: Effects Of Road Salt In Lentic Environments On Water and Sed...mentioning

confidence: 98%

The effects of roadways on lakes and ponds: a systematic review and assessment of knowledge gaps

et al. 2022

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As the global population increases, the expansion of road networks has led to the destruction and disturbance of terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Road-related stressors have significant effects on both lotic and lentic habitats. While there are several systematic reviews that evaluate the effects of roads on lotic environments, there are none that consider their effects on lentic habitats only. We conducted a literature review to achieve two objectives: 1) to summarize the effects of roads on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of lentic environments; and 2) to identify biases and gaps in our current knowledge of the effects of roads on lentic habitats so that we could find promising areas for future research. Our review found 172 papers published between 1970-2020. The most frequently studied stressors associated with roads included road salt and heavy metal contamination (67 and 43 papers respectively), habitat fragmentation, (37 papers) and landscape change (14 papers). These stressors can lead to alterations in conductivity and chloride levels, changes in lake stratification patterns, increases in heavy metal concentrations in water and organisms, and significant mortality as amphibians disperse across roadways. We also identified a variety of other stressors that may be understudied based on their frequency of appearance in our search results, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, road dust, increased accessibility, hydrological changes, noise pollution, dust suppressants, sedimentation, invasive species introductions, and water withdrawal. Our review indicated that there are strong geographic biases in published studies, with 57.0% examining North American sites and 30.2% examining European sites. Furthermore, there were taxonomic biases in the published literature, with most studies focusing on amphibians (41.7%), fish (15.6%), and macroinvertebrates (14.6%), while few considered zooplankton (8.3%), diatoms (7.3%), amoebas (5.2%), water birds (3.1%), reptiles (2.1%) and macrophytes (1.0%). Based on our review, we have identified promising areas for future research for each of the major stressors related to roadways. However, we speculate that rectifying the geographic and taxonomic bias of our current knowledge could significantly advance our understanding of the impacts of roads on lentic environments, thereby better informing environmental management of these important habitats.

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“…Monitoring observations have shown that these salts move rapidly into waterways during snowmelt, and that roadside snow contains a cocktail of inorganic and organic pollutants, in addition to the road salt. This requires the targeted removal of roadside snowmelt, including during warm periods in winter, to protect specific waterways (Fournier et al 2022). In Canada, de-icing protocols based on road salts are mostly restricted to southern roads but may move northwards with the expansion of high-speed roadways into the subarctic.…”

Section: Chemical Impacts and Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additional contaminants have been identified on roadways in the south, for example compounds derived from automobile tires that are highly toxic to certain fish species (Tian et al 2022), and microplastics derived from the vehicle-pavement interactions. All of these pollutants may accumulate in roadside snow, and wash into rivers and lakes during rainfall and melting events (Fournier et al 2022). Heavy metal pollution of adjacent soils is also associated with railway operations (e.g., Jiasheng et al 2020).…”

Section: Chemical Impacts and Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic roads and railways: social and environmental consequences of transport infrastructure in the circumpolar North

et al. 2023

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Land-based transport corridors and their related infrastructure increasingly extend into and across the Arctic in support of resource development and population growth, causing large-scale cumulative changes in northern socio-ecological systems. These changes result from the increased mobility of people, goods and resources, and from environmental impacts on landscapes and ecosystems as the human footprint extends into remote, unindustrialized regions. Arctic climate change is bringing new challenges for construction and maintenance of transport systems, requiring adaptive engineering solutions as well as community resilience to change. In this review article, we consider the complex entanglements between humans, the environment and land transportation infrastructure in the North, and illustrate these aspects by way of seven case studies: Baikal-Amur Mainline, Bovanenkovo Railway, Alaska-Canada Highway, Inuvik-Tuktoyatuk Highway, Alaska Railroad, Hudson Bay Railway and proposed railways on Baffin Island, Canada. As new infrastructure is anticipated and built across the circumpolar North, there is an urgent need for an integrated socio-ecological approach to impact assessment. This would include full consideration of Indigenous knowledge and concerns, collaboration with local communities and user groups in assessment, planning and monitoring, and evaluation of alternative engineering designs to contend with the impacts of climate change in the decades ahead.

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Roadside snowmelt: a management target to reduce lake and river contamination

Cited by 11 publications

References 50 publications

Changes in the Community Structure of Under-Ice and Open-Water Microbiomes in Urban Lakes Exposed to Road Salts

Changes in the Community Structure of Under-Ice and Open-Water Microbiomes in Urban Lakes Exposed to Road Salts

The effects of roadways on lakes and ponds: a systematic review and assessment of knowledge gaps

Arctic roads and railways: social and environmental consequences of transport infrastructure in the circumpolar North

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