Grant: Idea to Innovation

Growing human populations, increasing urbanization and altered hydrological patterns associated with GCC have lead to water quality impairment in urban watersheds throughout North America. When water quality affects vegetation present in our watersheds, the ecosystem services provided by the vegetation may also suffer. There is currently no rapid field- or laboratory-based assay to assess water quality impacts on emergent wetland vegetation in Canada, and no established criteria to assess water quality effects on beneficial symbionts of wetland vegetation. Consequently, the ability to determine toxicity of water borne contaminants in North American watersheds to wetland and riparian vegetation is minimal and an ability to quantify effects in the field is non-existent. The goal of the proposed research is to conduct a commercial market assessment for field- and lab-based bioassays to quantify water quality effects on wetland vegetation and their associated root symbionts.