Reports & Presentations

WRI_Report_Template_2023_USGS_Whorley_UPDATED_merged.pdf

Final Report to NYS WRRI

Does this taste salty to you?

One understudied effect of climate change is reduced lake ice cover, which leads to greater lake-effect snow and may in turn cause an increase in road salt use. New York State applied over 900,000 tons of salt during winter 2020-2021, more than any other state. Excess salt in freshwater ecosystems can negatively affect critical organisms living there. Current studies have thus far examined salt effects on water chemistry and a few target organisms. One such study determined that high salinity is increasing the amount of omega-6 fatty acids in algae, which can have negative effects on consumer organisms. These organisms are sentinels of water quality, and elevated salinity is likely to have significant consequences for the fish and aquatic food webs within affected ecosystems. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of winter road salt throughout the year on stream algae and their invertebrate consumers in three regions across the state by investigating streams under various salting regimes.

FRI_N206A_0840AM_S_Whorley.pdf

IAGLR 2025 - Oral Presentation

Hold the salt! Effects of winter road salt felt all year by stream periphyton

After decades of seasonal winter road salt use, salinity levels in freshwater streams are rising, even during non-winter months when no road salt is being used. While several recent studies have documented these increases in salinity in stream water, very little work has been done to examine the effects of this salt on stream biota. To begin to expand what we know of salt’s effects on freshwater habitats, we have conducted a year-long investigation of annual road salt effects on stream water chemistry and biota throughout New York State. Selected streams across Western New York, Central New York, and the Hudson River Valley were surveyed from May 2024 to April 2025. We deployed HOBO conductivity loggers to capture high-resolution salinity measurements. Additionally, we visited each stream monthly to collect in situ water chemistry and periphyton biomass for chlorophyll and stoichiometric analysis. Presented here are the annual trends in periphyton chlorophyll, ash-free dry mass, and phosphorous content as they relate to stream water chemical properties and salinity measurements. Spring and summer months are characterized by mild drought conditions affecting stream flow and water levels. However winter months were heavily influenced by a series of strong winter storms. These findings will be bolstered by future analyses of how these salinity conditions affected biodiversity and fatty acid compounds.

IAGLR 2025.pdf

IAGLR 2025 - Poster Presentation

Detrimental Effects of Road Salt Accumulation on The Light-Nutrient Hypothesis

In Western New York, frigid winter weather and lake effect snow is the cause of approximately 180,000 tons of road salt to be dispensed across roads and highways. Overtime, the runoff of road salt accumulates over years in various local bodies of water. Our goal is to analyze the deficits this brings to the overall health and viability of freshwater periphyton, and to determine the potential relationship with light and nutrient presence. The light-nutrient hypothesis (LNH) states that algal content is determined by the balance between light and nutrients available for consumption as the algae grow. In following the light-nutrient hypothesis, it is presumed that with an increased nutrient abundance and higher irradiances, we will find increased algal biomass and photosynthetic activity. To learn more about this connection, we obtained stream water and periphyton samples across 10 stream sites in Western New York on a monthly basis. We measured periphyton chlorophyll and phosphorus, in addition to canopy coverage and LUX light measurements. Presented here are comparisons of these measurements in conjunction with stream water soluble reactive phosphorus and salinity as recorded from HOBO conductivity loggers.

ESA MidAtlantic 2025.pdf

ESA Mid Atlantic 2025 - Poster Presentation

The Effects of Road Salt on EPT within Western New York

Each year, the New York Department of Transportation spreads 20 million tons of salt onto the roadways. This salt leeches into surrounding waterways, raising the salinity levels within freshwater ecosystems year round. While there are multiple studies examining the changes in salinity concentrations in these freshwater streams, there is a gap in the literature in regard to the effects of road salt runoff on Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT). In order to further examine these effects, we carried out a six month long investigation on the impacts road salt runoff had on stream salinity and EPT in Western New York. Streams residing in both Niagara and Erie county were sampled beginning in May 2024 and ending in October 2024. HOBO loggers were utilized to capture salinity concentrations, along with Surber nets that were used to collect macroinvertebrate samples monthly. Here, we present the trends observed between EPT abundance as it relates to stream location, salinity concentrations, and seasonal changes. The spring and summer months were characterized as having drought like conditions, which affected the water levels and flow rate. However, the winter months brought about severe winter storms, displaying subfreezing temperatures and little precipitation. The findings here will be supported by future analysis carried out by the sister project spanning the remaining six months of the year.

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