NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: mercury monitoring

Objective(s): To measure mercury in dragonfly larvae from a variety of aquatic ecosystems in the Yellowknife area.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5894. The main objective of this project is to measure mercury in dragonfly larvae from a variety of aquatic ecosystems in the Yellowknife area. This information will be collected as part of a Canada-wide project to evaluate geographic and temporal patterns of mercury bioaccumulation. The first priority will be to investigate a variety of road accessible water bodies (e.g., wetlands, ponds, lakes, streams, rivers) to determine where dragonfly larvae are present in the Yellowknife area, particularly along the Ingraham Trail. At each water body, dragonfly larvae will be collected using standard protocol for benthic invertebrate sampling, specifically by kick-sweeps with a D-framed kick net. Where present, approximately 15 larvae will be collected per site. Site characteristics will be noted. This sampling protocol will have no impact on the environment. Once sites have been found where dragonfly larvae are present, sampling may be repeated on an annual basis to assess inter-year variation. Dragonfly samples will be shipped to the National Wildlife Research Centre in Ottawa for mercury analysis. Results will be reported as part of the broader Canada-wide project on dragonfly mercury monitoring. Data will be made available through the Government of Canada open data portal. Reporting of results specific to water-bodies in the Yellowknife area will be provided upon request. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: May 20 - October 20, 2024