Measure Human Bacteroides Gene Counts in Alpine Lakes to Evaluate Visitor Use Impacts on Water Quality in Washington State National Parks
Project ID: P21AC11280
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: University of Washington
Fiscal Year: 2021
Initial Funding: $21,274.12
Total Funding: $85,622.11
National Park: Mount Rainier National Park
National Park: North Cascades National Park
National Park: Olympic National Park
Principal Investigator: Butman, David
Agreement Technical Representative: Lofgren, Rebecca
Performance Goals – Documentation of the improper disposal of human waste is common at high visitor use areas adjacent to surface water in National Parks in Washington State including Mount Rainier National Park (MORA). Nutrients from feces washed into lakes as a result of precipitation and leeching has the potential to impact water quality. However, little is known about the current impact of human feces in alpine lake catchments at MORA and other National Parks in Washington State. Microbial source tracking (MST) of the human-specific gut bacteria Bacteroides spp. provides a tool to address this important data gap. We propose to use MST to detect and measure gene counts of Bacteroides spp. as a cost-effective way to understand human waste impacts on lake water quality. Results will be used to establish a baseline for Bacteroides spp. gene counts in lakes, identify current areas of water quality concern and inform potential mitigation steps to protect water quality and develop human waste management strategies.
Deliverables will include a novel database and summary report on the presence, absence, and abundance of human-specific Bacteroides spp. gene counts in lakes. We will utilize novel modelling approaches to link the presences of these human specific genetic markers to spatially explicit maps of visitation intensity. We aim to create an eDNA library that represents a snapshot of DNA present in sampled lakes that can be used to detect human fecal contamination. This library can be leveraged for inquiries concerning the presence of a myriad of other pathogenic, invasive and protected organisms in the future.
Project Objectives:
- Determine the presence or absence of human-specific Bacteroides spp. gene marker in 10 lakes at MORA and the relative abundance between sites. If additional funding becomes available, an additional project year will be added in 2022 to resample the 10 lakes at MORA, 12 lakes at North Cascades National Park (NOCA) and 9 at Olympic National Park (OLYM).
- Determine the presence or absence of canine Bacteroides spp. gene counts in a subset of sampled lakes.
- Establish baseline gene marker counts over one summer to determine current conditions and provide a baseline for future sampling comparisons.
- Identify locations with high gene counts and evaluate a range of human waste management strategies for those location: blue bags, privy installation, interpretive products.
- Pilot the creation of a long-term genetic database for monitoring of future water quality change.
Student Involvement: Yes, graduate student and undergraduate students.