Clare mcGowan

In the summer of 2024 I designed an experiment that aimed to understand if aqueous chemistry fluctuates based on hydroperiod. Climate change has been recorded to have impacts on the permanence of ponds, further resulting in shifts in their chemical parameters. Aquatic organisms are highly sensitive to shifts in water chemistry. The goal of collecting this data was to develop a general chemical characterization profile for hydrologically diverse ponds, deepening our understanding of the differences between temporary and permanent ponds. I collected pond water from 8 different sites- 4 temporary ponds and 4 permanent ponds in Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in Cheney, Washington. Three 750mL samples were taken from each pond then filtered using polyethersulfone and brought back to lab. The samples that were kept for metal analysis were acidified with nitric acid to pH <2. Alkalinity was measured by auto-titrations and measured within 48 hours of collection. Major and trace metals were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The temporary ponds displayed a pattern of lower averages for every measured parameter.