Purchasing a stereomicroscope to study the interactive effects of multiple stressors on the plankton of Ontario lakes

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There is no longer any doubt that environmental degradation is best understood and best managed from a multiple-stressor perspective. The biota of Ontario lakes are now suffering from the interactive effects of physical, chemical and ecological stressors of anthropogenic origin. For example, the animal plankton of many Canadian Shield lakes are still suffering from a legacy of historical acidification, metal pollution and shoreline development, while climate change, calcium decline and the spread of invading species have recently been added to the stressor mix. Yan's collaborative research in York University's FLAMES lab (Field Laboratory for the Assessment of Multiple Ecological Stressors) is rapidly expanding to tackle this emerging multi-stressor reality. With the support of a newly funded NSERC Strategic network, Shelley Arnott and I will quantify the interactive effects on native zooplankton of Ca decline and the spread of the invading, predatory, spiny water flea in central Ontario lakes. With the support of a newly funded NSERC CRD grant, Jim McGeer and I will quantify the interactive effects of road salt, calcium decline, and natural organic carbon supply on the recovery of native freshwater daphniids and amphipods from historical metal pollution in Sudbury-area lakes. Finally, should a new CREATE grant application be successful, I will be enhancing the training of several new students in metal ecotoxicology in a world with a changing background chemistry. All of this work will be conducted in the FLAMES lab which is located in Dorset, Ontario, far from the main York campus. This research and training require access to research-quality stereomicroscopes, of which I have only one, an instrument which will be swamped by the work that is already funded. Therefore, Arnott, McGeer and I are requesting a second research-quality stereomicroscope to enhance the research and training of 5 new graduate students from our labs that will be working in FLAMES, and to enhance the training of additional HQP should the CREATE application be successful. With this new microscope, we will be able to make rapid progress understanding the interactive effects of multiple stressors on our lakes, a necessary precursor to their wiser management.