Public sector perspectives and policy implications for the Pitons Management Area World Heritage Site,St. Lucia

St. Lucia faces numerous challenges associated with striking a balance between its economic and conservation goals with respect to the Pitons Management Area (PMA) World Heritage Site. Among the various stakeholders, the public sector, which largely constitutes the administrative authorities representing the general public, plays an instrumental role in site management. They are primarily responsible for policy formulation as well as the provision of fiscal incentives and funds to assist in the maintenance of the site. Based on a qualitative inquiry approach, this study explored the perspectives of key persons among pertinent public and non-profit organizations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among local and national representatives from the public sector. Results revealed that the designation of the PMA as a World Heritage Site has presented both opportunities and challenges to the management of the site. Findings strongly indicate that the integrity and sustainability of the site is at stake due to a lack of commitment, coordination and political will in the public sector.     

Targeted Sustainable Development: 15 Years of Government and Community Intervention on the St. Lawrence River

From 1988 to 2003, the St. Lawrence Action Plan, a Canada – Quebec cooperation agreement on the St. Lawrence River, helped to mobilize a still-growing number of stakeholders in the conservation and protection of this great river and generated tangible results in a number of areas of intervention. The successes enjoyed in the area of industrial, agricultural and urban clean-up, in protecting plant and animal species and their habitats, and in acquiring new knowledge on the state and trends of the ecosystem reflect the sustained efforts of government and non-government partners over the course of those 15 years. The committed involvement of local communities provides assurance of the sustainable development of this vast ecosystem.The Canadian Crown reserves the right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty free licence in and to any copyright.     

PRODUCTION PROCESSES UNDER THE ICE IN LAKE ST. CLAIR: 1. IRRADIATION AND TEMPERATURE1

ABSTRACT: Data from three ice-covered stations in Lake St. Clair were collected to evaluate the effect of ice and related variables on phytoplankton production. Primary production, phytoplankton standing crop, irradiation and temperature were measured from January to April, 1973. Mean production values ranged from 0.74 mgC/m³/h at station 1 near Mitchell Bay to 3.4 mgC/m³/h in waters at stations 2 and 3 below the Thames River mouth. A similar pattern was observed in chlorophyll a concentration, the mean values ranged from 0.63 μg/1 at station 1 to 2.1 and 1.3 μg/1 at stations 2 and 3. Temperature stratification occurred at the three stations. However, the temperatures at station 1 were consistently more than a degree warmer than at the other two stations. Irradiation was low, having a mean value at the sampling depth of .075 ly/min. The data is interpreted to indicate that the ice-bound phytoplankton were adapted to the low irradiation. It is suggested that the variation observed between stations is related to the formation of a plume by the Thames River and differences in nutrient loads carried by the St. Clair and Thames Rivers.     

Relating cadmium concentrations in three macrophyte-associated freshwater invertebrates to those in macrophytes,water and sediments

We found that Cd concentrations in three species of macrophyte-associated invertebrates (the gastropods Bithynia tentaculata and Physa gyrina, and the amphipod Gammarus fasciatus) collected at twenty sites along the St. Lawrence River were correlated with Cd concentrations in their main food source, i.e. macrophytes and associated periphyton. Cd in these invertebrates was not significantly correlated with Cd concentrations in the sediments (even when corrections for iron oxide or organic carbon content were applied) or to calculated free-cadmium concentrations in the water. Cd levels in juveniles of B. tentaculata were very tightly linked to Cd concentrations in macrophytes, which is consistent with the close relationship that these organisms have developed with macrophytes. Linear models predicting Cd levels in juveniles of B. tentaculata from Cd levels in different macrophyte species were strong (R2 = 0.69-0.90). Analysis of covariance on these models showed no statistical difference of slope or intercept for any of the macrophyte species, except Vallisneria americana. We suggest that the macrophyte-periphyton complex is a key link in the transfer of cadmium to some aquatic invertebrates in the littoral zone of the St. Lawrence River and that macrophytes and their associated epiphytes should also be used as biomonitors.     

Coupling Socioeconomic and Lake Systems for Sustainability: A Conceptual Analysis Using Lake St. Clair Region as a Case Study

Applying sustainability at an operational level requires understanding the linkages between socioeconomic and natural systems. We identified linkages in a case study of the Lake St. Clair (LSC) region, part of the Laurentian Great Lakes system. Our research phases included: (1) investigating and revising existing coupled human and natural systems frameworks to develop a framework for this case study; (2) testing and refining the framework by hosting a 1-day stakeholder workshop and (3) creating a causal loop diagram (CLD) to illustrate the relationships among the systems’ key components. With stakeholder assistance, we identified four interrelated pathways that include water use and discharge, land use, tourism and shipping that impact the ecological condition of LSC. The interrelationships between the pathways of water use and tourism are further illustrated by a CLD with several feedback loops. We suggest that this holistic approach can be applied to other case studies and inspire the development of dynamic models capable of informing decision making for sustainability.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-013-0432-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Sediment processes and mercury transport in a frozen freshwater fluvial lake (Lake St. Louis, QC, Canada)

An open-bottom and a closed-bottom mesocosm were developed to investigate the release of mercury from sediments to the water column in a frozen freshwater lake. The mesoscosms were deployed in a hole in the ice and particulate mercury (Hg_P) and total dissolved mercury (TDHg) were measured in sediments and in water column vertical profiles. In addition, dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) in water and mercury water/airflux were quantified. Concentrations of TDHg, DGM, and mercury flux were all higher in the open-bottom mesocosm than in the closed-bottom mesocosm. In this paper we focus on the molecular diffusion of mercury from the sediment in comparison with the TDHg accumulation in the water column. We conclude that the molecular diffusion and sediment resuspension play a minor role in mercury release from sediments suggesting that solute release during ebullition is an important transport process for mercury in the lake.     

LAKE ONTARIO REGULATION UNDER TRANSPOSED CLIMATES1

ABSTRACT: The implications of Lake Ontario regulation under transposed climates with changed means and variability are presented for seasonal and annual time scales. The current regulation plan is evaluated with climates other than the climate for which it was developed and tested. This provides insight into potential conflicts and management issues, development of regulation criteria for extreme conditions, and potential modification of the regulation plan. Transposed climates from the southeastern and south central continental United States are applied to thermodynamic models of the Great Lakes and hydrologic models of their watersheds; these climates provide four alternative scenarios of water supplies to Lake Ontario. The scenarios are analyzed with reference to the present Great Lakes climate. The responses of the Lake Ontario regulation plan to the transposed climate scenarios illustrate several key issues: (1) historical water supplies should no longer be the sole basis for testing and developing lake regulation plans; (2) during extreme supply conditions, none of the regulation criteria can be met simultaneously, priority of interests may change, and new interests may need to be considered, potentially requiring substantial revision to the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909; (3) revised regulation criteria should be based on ecosystem health and socio-economic benefits for a wider spectrum of interests and not on frequencies and ranges of levels and flows of the historical climate; and (4) operational management of the lake should be improved under the present climate, and under any future climate with more variability, through the use of improved water supply forecasts and monitoring of current hydrologic conditions.     

Combined steam distillation and electrochemical peroxidation (ECP) treatment of river sediment contaminated by PCBs

A combined treatment process utilizing steam distillation followed by electrochemical peroxidation (ECP) has been utilized to remove >90% of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in St. Lawrence River sediment and destroy 95% of the PCBs recovered in the condensate. 2 l of condensate were collected by boiling 500 grams of sediment containing 4.3 mg PCBs. Most of the PCBs (82.3%) were recovered as a small volume (<1 ml) of yellow oil floating on the condensate and coating glassware surfaces. The aqueous phase PCBs (182 μg/l) were destroyed (95%) by three sequential ECP treatments at 16.8°C and pH 5, utilizing 1 ml of H₂O₂ (3%) and periodically reversed current (0.75–1.0 A @ 10 volts). Oxidation is primarily mediated by hydroxyl radicals produced by the reaction of hydrogen peroxide with electrochemically generated ferrous iron (Fenton's reagent). This work suggests steam extraction, in combination with advanced oxidation technologies, provides an effective treatment strategy for contaminated solids.     

SURFACE WATER RESOURCES OF ST. JOHNS RIVER,FLORIDA1

ABSTRACT: The St. Johns River basin is the largest watershed entirely within the State of Florida, and is one of the few northward flowing rivers in the United States. The river basin contains 11,431 square miles, of which 9,430 square miles are drained by the river and its tributaries. The remainder drains into the Atlantic Ocean or the Intracoastal Waterway. Its largest sub-basin is the Oklawaha River basin, which has a drainage area of 2,870 square miles. Ground elevations range from sea level to 200 feet above mean sea level in the main river basin and as high as 300 feet above mean sea level in the Oklawaha River basin. This study was designed to investigate the surface water resources of the St. Johns River and the existing consumptive uses. The analysis revealed that the river is an extremely large and valuable resource which has been under-utilized and could play a much stronger role in serving the needs of the people in the basin.     

Bioaccumulation of the pharmaceutical 17α-ethinylestradiol in shorthead redhorse suckers (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) from the St. Clair River, Canada

17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic estrogen prescribed as a contraceptive, was measured in Shorthead Redhorse Suckers (ShRHSs) (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) collected near a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the St. Clair River (Ontario, Canada). We detected EE2 in 50% of the fish samples caught near the WWTP (Stag Island), which averaged 1.6 ± 0.6 ng/g (wet weight) in males and 1.43 ± 0.96 ng/g in females. No EE2 was detected in the samples from the reference site (Port Lambton) which was 26 km further downstream of the Stag Island site. Only males from Stag Island had VTG induction, suggesting the Corunna WWTP effluent as a likely source of environmental estrogen. EE2 concentrations were correlated with total body lipid content (R² = 0.512, p < 0.01, n = 10). Lipid normalized EE2 concentrations were correlated with δ¹⁵N (R² = 0.436, p < 0.05, n = 10), suggesting higher EE2 exposures in carnivores. Our data support the hypothesis of EE2 bioaccumulation in wild fish.