scholarly journals The influence of a lost society, the Sadlermiut, on the environment in the Canadian Arctic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn A. Viehberg ◽  
Andrew S. Medeiros ◽  
Birgit Plessen ◽  
Xiaowa Wang ◽  
Derek Muir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Biological Indicators ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Dietary Shift ◽  
Freshwater Pond ◽  
First Arrival

AbstractHigh latitude freshwater ecosystems are sentinels of human activity and environmental change. The lakes and ponds that characterize Arctic landscapes have a low resilience to buffer variability in climate, especially with increasing global anthropogenic stressors in recent decades. Here, we show that a small freshwater pond in proximity of the archaeological site “Native Point” on Southampton Island (Nunavut, Arctic Canada) is a highly sensitive environmental recorder. The sediment analyses allowed for pinpointing the first arrival of Sadlermiut culture at Native Point to ~ 1250 CE, followed by a dietary shift likely in response to the onset of cooling in the region ~ 1400 CE. The influence of the Sadlermiut on the environment persisted long after the last of their population perished in 1903. Presently, the pond remains a distorted ecosystem that has experienced fundamental shifts in the benthic invertebrate assemblages and accumulated anthropogenic metals in the sediment. Our multi-proxy paleolimnological investigation using geochemical and biological indicators emphasizes that direct and indirect anthropogenic impacts have long-term environmental implications on high latitude ecosystems.

scholarly journals Monitoring spawning migrations of potamodromous fish species via eDNA

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Thalinger ◽  
Elisabeth Wolf ◽  
Michael Traugott ◽  
Josef Wanzenböck
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Environmental Dna ◽  
Signal Strength ◽  
Digital Pcr ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
River Stretch ◽  
Daily Discharge ◽  
Invasive Techniques

Abstract Potamodromous fish are considered important indicators of habitat connectivity in freshwater ecosystems, but they are globally threatened by anthropogenic impacts. Hence, non-invasive techniques are necessary for monitoring during spawning migrations. The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) potentially facilitates these efforts, albeit quantitative examinations of spawning migrations remain so far mostly uncharted. Here, we investigated spawning migrations of Danube bleak, Alburnus mento, and Vimba bream, Vimba vimba, and found a strong correlation between daily visual fish counts and downstream eDNA signals obtained from filtered water samples analysed with digital PCR and end-point PCR coupled with capillary electrophoresis. By accounting for daily discharge fluctuations, it was possible to predict eDNA signal strength from the number of migrating fish: first, the whole spawning reach was taken into account. Second, the model was validated using eDNA signals and fish counts obtained from the upper half of the examined river stretch. Consequently, fish counts and their day-to-day changes could be described via an eDNA-based time series model for the whole migration period. Our findings highlight the capability of eDNA beyond delivering simple presence/absence data towards efficient and informative monitoring of highly dynamic aquatic processes such as spawning migrations of potamodromous fish species.

scholarly journals A Metacommunity Approach to Improve Biological Assessments in Highly Dynamic Freshwater Ecosystems

BioScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 427-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Núria Cid ◽  
Núria Bonada ◽  
Jani Heino ◽  
Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles ◽  
Julie Crabot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Dispersal Limitation ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Metacommunity Ecology ◽  
Intermittent Rivers ◽  
Biological Assessments ◽  
Quality Assessments ◽  
Flow Intermittence

Abstract Rapid shifts in biotic communities due to environmental variability challenge the detection of anthropogenic impacts by current biomonitoring programs. Metacommunity ecology has the potential to inform such programs, because it combines dispersal processes with niche-based approaches and recognizes variability in community composition. Using intermittent rivers—prevalent and highly dynamic ecosystems that sometimes dry—we develop a conceptual model to illustrate how dispersal limitation and flow intermittence influence the performance of biological indices. We produce a methodological framework integrating physical- and organismal-based dispersal measurements into predictive modeling, to inform development of dynamic ecological quality assessments. Such metacommunity-based approaches could be extended to other ecosystems and are required to underpin our capacity to monitor and protect ecosystems threatened under future environmental changes.

Lake trout otolith chronologies as multidecadal indicators of high-latitude freshwater ecosystems

Polar Biology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Black ◽  
V. R. von Biela ◽  
C. E. Zimmerman ◽  
R. J. Brown
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems

scholarly journals Freshwater conservation planning in the far north of Ontario, Canada: identifying priority watersheds for the conservation of fish biodiversity in an intact boreal landscape

FACETS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-117
Author(s):  
F. Meg Southee ◽  
Brie A. Edwards ◽  
Cheryl-Lesley B. Chetkiewicz ◽  
Constance M. O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Brook Trout ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Individual Species

Freshwater ecosystems show more biodiversity loss than terrestrial or marine systems. We present a systematic conservation planning analysis in the Arctic Ocean drainage basin in Ontario, Canada, to identify key watersheds for the conservation of 30 native freshwater fish, including four focal species: lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, brook trout, and walleye. We created species distribution models for 30 native fish species and accounted for anthropogenic impacts. We used the “prioritizr” package in R to select watersheds that maximize species targets, minimize impacts, and meet area-based targets based on the Convention on Biological Diversity commitment to protect 17% of terrestrial and freshwater areas by 2020 and the proposed target to protect 30% by 2030. We found that, on average, 17.4% and 29.8% of predicted species distributions were represented for each of the 30 species in the 17% and 30% area-based solutions, respectively. The outcomes were more efficient when we prioritized for individual species, particularly brook trout, where 24% and 36% of its predicted distribution was represented in the 17% and 30% solutions, respectively. Future conservation planning should consider climate change, culturally significant species and areas, and the importance of First Nations as guardians and stewards of the land in northern Ontario.

scholarly journals Phosphorus accumulates faster than nitrogen globally in freshwater ecosystems under anthropogenic impacts

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1237-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengbing Yan ◽  
Wenxuan Han ◽  
Josep Peñuelas ◽  
Jordi Sardans ◽  
James J. Elser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems

scholarly journals Do changes in temperature affect EU Water Framework Directive compliant assessment results of central European streams?

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip J. Haubrock ◽  
Francesca Pilotto ◽  
Peter Haase
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Stream Assessment ◽  
Central European ◽  
Invertebrate Communities ◽  
Assessment Metrics ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate Communities ◽  
Assessment Results

Abstract Background Benthic invertebrate communities are an integral and longstanding component of stream biomonitoring. However, multiple stressors driven by global change threaten benthic invertebrate communities. In particular, climate warming is expected to disrupt freshwater ecosystems. While an increasing number of studies have shown changes in benthic invertebrate community composition in response to climate warming, the effect on stream assessments has rarely been investigated. As several community composition metrics are also used in stream assessments, we predicted that climate warming would worsen stream assessment results. Therefore, we used a comprehensive data set of 2865 benthic invertebrate samples taken between 2000 and 2014 from small central European low mountain streams. We examined the effects of changes in temperature on common community and stream assessment metrics. We used 31 metrics covering composition, richness, tolerance and function of communities, of which many are used in various stream assessment schemes. Results Against our expectations, we identified a decreasing air temperature trend of − 0.18 °C over 15 years. This trend was accompanied by significant changes in community composition, for example, increases in species richness and decreases in the community temperature index (CTI). Further, we identified slight concomitant improvements of various globally used stream quality assessment metrics, such as a decreasing saprobic index and an increasing BMWP. Conclusions While temperature increased by + 0.9 °C during the past 30 years (1985–2014), our 15-year study period (2000–2014) showed a decrease by − 0.18 °C. Therefore, we regard the concomitant improvement in several assessment metrics as a recovery from prior increasing temperatures. In turn, we assume that increases in water temperature will lead to opposite effects and therefore cause declining assessment results. Water managers should be aware of this linkage that in turn could provide a chance to mitigate the effects of global warming by, for example, planting trees along the rivers and the removal of artificial barriers to increase current velocity to minimize a warming effect.

ANALYSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACTS AS A RESULT OF SYZRAN SHALE-PROCESSING REFINERY WORK

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
N. G. Chumachenko ◽  
V. V. Turnikov ◽  
E. V. Petrova
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Anthropogenic Impact ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Building Industry ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Primary Processing ◽  
Natural Minerals

Extraction and primary processing of natural minerals have a direct human impact on the lithosphere in the following way: the area of excavation and the area covered by rock dumps of overburden and substandard rocks increase; the landscape also changes. This problem occurs on all operated deposits and exists in out-of-operation deposits. This paper performs a critical analysis of environmental implications of anthropogenic impacts as a result of Syzran shale-processing refinery work Rock dumps parameters № 1 of Mine 3 and № 2 of Mine 5/6 of ZAO "Kashpirskaya Mine" are investigated. Rock dumps depth and surface ares, conservation volume and utilization capacity are considered to be landscape modifying parametres. The research demonstrates rock dumps parameters change in the period from 1950 to 2002. The paper evaluates the degree of anthropogenic impact of dumps territories and burnt rocks burials which were formed during the extraction of oil shale at Syzran shale-processing refinery. Those rock dumps resulted in the following transformation and change of the natural system and landscape: curvature of the slopes altered, soil and vegetation cover was dislocated. The only industry capable of reducing ecological tension in the region is building industry.

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