Contemporary and paleolimnological approaches for determining effects of multiple stressors on shallow northern lakes

确定多种压力源对北方浅水湖泊影响的现代和古湖沼学方法 * 加拿大北方湖泊丰富的淡水景观提供了一系列生态系统服务，长期以来一直被野生动物利用其独特的水生生境，并被第一民族社区用于维持传统的生活方式。然而，它们的生态完整性可能受到多种压力的影响。不幸的是，对水生生态系统在空间和时间上的状况了解不足，严重损害了正确关联因果关系、预测这些生态系统未来如何演变以及为资源管理者的管理实践提供信息的能力。这是阿尔伯塔/西北地区伍德布法罗国家公园（WBNP）湖泊丰富的淡水景观的背景。在公园的南部边缘，和平-阿萨巴斯卡三角洲（PAD）的浅水湖泊受到气候驱动的来自和平河和阿萨巴斯卡河的洪水供应减少，和平河上新的水电开发以及阿萨巴斯卡油砂开发带来的污染物负荷的威胁。在公园的北方部分，浅水湖泊为标志性的濒危物种高鸣起重机提供了重要的繁殖地，但最近观察到的低水位阻碍了小鸡的生存，并增加了捕食者的进入。NSERC DG计划将支持几个协调的研究项目，旨在解决多种压力对PAD和WBNP浅湖生态系统水量和水质影响的紧迫知识差距。研究将描述水文条件的现状和趋势，确定PAD湖泊中金属污染物的路径、扩散和沉积历史，并确定控制WBNP的大鸣起重机栖息地区域湖泊水平衡时空（季节至年代）变化的水文过程。所采用的方法将包括证明，广泛使用，并整合水同位素示踪剂和湖泊沉积物岩心的多参数分析，以及新的探索人工基质上收集的周丛藻类中的金属积累。这些有针对性的研究项目将产生一系列水生生态系统组成部分所需的基本环境基线信息。项目将提供特殊的现场和实验室培训6理学士，3硕士，2博士生在不同领域的基础和应用北方环境科学。调查结果将广泛的利益，第一民族，政府机构和行业利益相关者为通知管理。

Contemporary and Paleolimnological Approaches for Determining Effects of Multiple Stressors on Shallow Northern Lakes******Lake-rich freshwater landscapes in northern Canada provide an array of ecosystem services that have long been utilized by wildlife for their unique aquatic habitat and by First Nation communities to sustain traditional ways of life. Their ecological integrity, however, may be affected by multiple stressors. Unfortunately, insufficient knowledge of aquatic ecosystem conditions over space and time severely impairs ability to correctly associate cause and effect, anticipate how these ecosystems will evolve in the future, and inform stewardship practices by resource managers. This is the context for lake-rich freshwater landscapes in Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), Alberta/NWT. At the southern margin of the Park, shallow lakes of the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) are threatened by climate-driven diminishing supply of floodwater from the Peace and Athabasca rivers, new hydroelectric development on the Peace River, and by the potential for contaminant loading from development of the Athabasca oilsands. In the northern sector of the Park, shallow lakes provide critical breeding ground for Whooping Crane, an iconic endangered species, but recently observed low water levels hamper chick survival and increase predator access.******The NSERC DG program will support several coordinated research projects designed to address pressing knowledge gaps on the influence of multiple stressors on the water quantity and water quality of shallow lake ecosystems of the PAD and WBNP. Research will characterize status and trends of hydrological conditions and determine pathways, dispersal, and depositional history of metal contaminants in lakes of the PAD, and identify hydrological processes that control spatial and temporal (seasonal to decadal) variations in lake water balances in the Whooping Crane habitat region of WBNP. Methods employed will include proven, extensive use, and integration of water isotope tracers and multi-parameter analysis of lake sediment cores, as well as novel exploration of metal accumulation in periphytic algae collected on artificial substrates. These targeted research projects will generate fundamental environmental baseline information required for a range of aquatic ecosystem components. Projects will provide exceptional field and laboratory training for 6 BSc, 3 MSc, and 2 PhD students in diverse areas of basic and applied northern environmental science. Findings will be of broad interest to First Nation, government agency, and industry stakeholders for informing stewardship.