Boreal Watersheds Ecosystem Management in a Changing Environment

About this book

Boreal Shield Watersheds: Lake Trout Ecosystems in a Changing Environment brings together the work of a renowned international group of scientists who specialize in aquatic science and environmental management. They explore the functioning of Boreal Shield ecosystems, focusing on the lake trout, the classic coldwater species of northern glaciated lakes, using it as an indicator of environmental change and as a model to measure the effectiveness of management actions.

Boreal Watersheds demonstrates how boreal waters have served as a crucible for decades of environmental research into the impacts of nutrient additions, trace contaminants, acid rain, climate change, sport fishing, invasive species, and watershed disturbances.

The text builds on this substantial research legacy and explores our ability to manage human interactions with ecosystems across the vast Boreal Shield ecozone of North America, and with other important ecosystems worldwide. It also provides models and new methods of assessing the risk to and the durability of ecosystems in relation to local, regional, and global human activities. Maps and descriptions of several important long-term monitoring sites and an atlas describing more than 3,000 lake trout lakes in the region are special components of Boreal Watersheds.

Contents

INTRODUCTION
- Lake Trout, the Boreal Shield and the Factors that Shape Lake Trout Ecosystems
- History and Evolution of Lake Trout in Shield Lakes: Past and Future Challenges
- Lake Trout in the Upper Great Lakes: Unique Management Challenges

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOREAL WATERSHED ECOSYSTEMS
- Land, Water and Human Activity on Boreal Watersheds
- Impact of New Reservoirs
- Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) Habitat Volumes and Boundaries in Canadian Shield Lakes
- Effects of Phosphorus and Nitrogen on Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) Production and Habitat
- Dissolved Organic Carbon as a Controlling Variable in Boreal Shield Lakes
- Mercury Contamination
- Acidic Deposition in the Northeastern US: Sources and Inputs, Ecosystem Effects, and Management Strategies

BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND MANAGEMENT REACTIONS
- Control of Harvest on Precambrian Shield Lakes
- Hatchery Stocking in Small Lakes: Factors Affecting Success
- Impacts of Invasive Species on Food Web Dynamics
- Effects of Forestry Roads on Reproductive Habitat and Exploitation of Lake Trout

MODELS AND ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT
- Climate Change and Sustainable Lake Trout Exploitation: Predictions From a Regional Life History Model
- Monitoring the Health of Lake Trout Resource
- Synthesis
- Boreal Waters as Integrative Ecosystem Indicators

Appendix
1) Ecological Monitoring Sites for Boreal Shield Waters
2) Lake Trout Lakes of The Boreal Shield Ecozone of North America

Customer Reviews