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Assessing impacts of land-applied manure from concentrated animal feeding operations on fish populations and communities
Citation:
Leet, J., L. Lee, H. Gall, R. Goforth, S. Sassman, D. Gordon, Jim Lazorchak, M. Smith, C. Jafvert, AND M. Sepulveda. Assessing impacts of land-applied manure from concentrated animal feeding operations on fish populations and communities. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 46(24):13440-13447, (2012).
Impact/Purpose:
This paper covers work associated with ORD's CAFO efforts. It is a collaboration between a STAR grantee from Purdue University and ORD.
Description:
Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) waste is a cost effective fertilizer. In the Midwest, networks of subsurface tile-drains expedite transport of animal hormones and nutrients from land-applied CAFO waste to adjacent waterways. The objective of this study was to evaluate impacts of land-applied CAFO waste on fish populations and communities. Water chemistry including hormone, pesticide, and nutrient concentrations was characterized from study sites along with fish assemblage structure, growth, and endocrine disruption were assessed in selected fish species. Although most CAFO water samples had hormone concentrations < 1ng/L, equivalent concentrations for 17β-E2 and 17α-TB peaked at > 30 ng/L each during theperiod of spawning, hatching, and development for resident fishes. CAFO sites had lower fish species richness, and fishes exhibited faster somatic growth and lower reproductive condition compared to individuals from the reference site. Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to CAFO ditchwater during early developmental stages exhibited significantly skewed sex ratios towards males. Maximum observed hormone concentrations were well above the lowest observable effect concentrations for these hormones; however, complexities at the field scale make it difficult to directly relate hormone concentration and impacts on fish. Complicating factors include the consistent presence of pesticides and nutrients, and the difference in temperature and stream architecture of the CAFO-impacted ditches compared to the reference site (e.g., channelization, bottom substrate, shallow pools, and riparian cover).
URLs/Downloads:
S1-LN116573995844769-1939656818HWF48306901IDV12937246631165739PDF_HI0001.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 1184.802 KB, about PDF)es302599t
