Dragonfly Larvae Testing Sites and U.S. Mercury Emissions

The map above shows sites where dragonfly larvae were collected for the Janssen et al. 2024 paper. Dragonfly larvae were collected at three types of sites including wetlands, lotic systems (flowing water like streams or rivers), and lentic systems (still waters like lakes or ponds). These sampling sites covered different regions of the United States, which can have different amounts of mercury emissions to the atmosphere. The study was designed to understand how mercury enters and travels through these different environments. These sites are only a small subset of the larger Dragonfly Mercury Project.