SFS Special Session: The social and ecological implications of wastewater in freshwater systems

Session title:
The social and ecological implications of wastewater in freshwater systems

Co-chairs

Krista Capps, UGA Odum School of Ecology and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Elizabeth Ottesen, UGA Department of Microbiology
Erin Lipp, UGA Department of Environmental Health Science

Description:

A critical driver of water resource quality and sustainability is the management of human and livestock wastes.  Fecal contamination of lentic and lotic ecosystems has long been recognized as a source of labile nutrients and waterborne pathogens.  However, mismanaged waste, including treated and untreated wastewater, can also serve as a source antimicrobial resistance genes, antimicrobial resistant pathogens, and chemical contaminants including antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, and bioactive compounds.  Fecal- or sewage-associated bacteria introduced to streams are not simply passively transported, but can become integrated in the aquatic ecosystem where they can undergo selection and exchange genes.  In this session, we seek to bring together experts in freshwater ecology, microbial ecology, public health, and water resource management to highlight how treated and untreated wastewater influences the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems, and how passage through aquatic ecosystems impacts the biology of pathogens and the evolution and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance elements.