An outline of a diagnostic system of criteria to rank chemical threats to aquatic ecosystems
Keywords:
Lakes, Coastal areas, Acidification, Eutrophication, Mercury, Radiocaesium, EOCl, Load, SensitivityAbstract
A key role of environmental management is to direct time and effort towards large environmental problems rather than towards small ones. To do this, it is crucial to have a system of criteria to define, structure, analyse and rank the problems. Subjective viewpoints are, evidently, not sufficient. Fully objective scientific methods and results are generally only applicable for specific substances in specific contexts, generally at finer scales (the cell, specific organs, and the like) but rarely at the ecosystem scale, which is the focus of this approach. The Potential Ecological Risk (PER) approach presented here is generic and could be applied to most types of ecosystems in most regions. The elements of the approach are: (1) definition of ecosystem boundaries, (2) definition of operational effect variables related to a defined chemical threat, (3) ecometric analysis (effect-load-sensitivity analysis), (4) integration (or summation) over impact area, and (5) integration (or summation) over impact time. Effect-load-sensitivity analysis is an important part of the PER approach. Case studies are used to provide examples for the major chemical threats to Swedish lakes and coastal ecosystems, acidification, eutrophication and toxic contamination of mercury, radiocaesium and chlorinated organics. Based on relative values, the ranking gives: Acidification of freshwater ecosystems (700) > eutrophication of coastal ecosystems (560) > eutrophication of lakes (300) > mercury contamination of lakes (240) > contamination of chlorinated organics of Swedish coastal areas in the Baltic (220) > radiocaesium contamination of lakes (70).
References
Ahlgren, G. 1970. Limnological studies of Lake Norrviken, a eutrophicated Swedish lake II. Phytoplankton and its production. Schweiz. Z. Hydrol., 32: 353–396.
Ahlgren, I., Frisk, T. and Kamp-Nielsen, L. 1988. Empirical and theoretical models of phosphorus loading, retention and concentration vs. lake trophic state. Hydrobiologia, 170: 285–303.
Ambio. 1976. Special issue on acid rain, 5: 5–6.
Ambio. 1990. Special issue. Marine Eutrophication, 19: 102–176.
Andersson, T., Forsgren, G., Håkanson, L., Malmgren, L. and Nilsson, Å. 1990. Radioactive caesium in fish in Swedish lakes after Chernobyl (in Swedish), SSI Rapport 90-04 Stockholm
Bailey, R.G., Zoltan, S. and Wiken, E.B. 1985. Ecological regionalization in Canada and the United States. Geoforum, 16: 265–275.
Bengtsson, Å. 1991. Effects of pollutants on vertebrae and spinal columns in the fourhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis L.) in the Gulf of Bothnia, Umeå University. Thesis
Bengtsson, Å. and Hansson, P. 1990. Measures against mercury and caesium in lake fish and wild animals. Project 3. Environmental project Sundsvall-Timrå, in Swedish
Berman, V.J. Jr. 1980. “A comparison of models developed for phosphorus management in the Great Lakes”. In Phosphorus Management Strategies for Lakes, Edited by: Loehr, C., Martin, C.S. and Rast, W. 235–255. Ann Arbor, MI: Ann Arbor Science Publishers. In
Black, V.S. 1957. “Excretion and osmoregulation”. In The Physiology of Fishes, Edited by: Brown, M.E. 163–205. New York: Academic Press. In
Boers, P.C.M., Cappenberg, Th.E. and van Raaphorst, W., eds. Hydrobiologia. Proceeding of the Third International Workshop on Phosphorus in Sediments. pp.17–376. vol. 253
Boudou, A. and Ribeyre, F. 1989. Aquatic Ecotoxicology: Fundamental Concepts and Methodologies, Vol. 1, Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Boudou, A. and Ribeyre, F. 1989. Aquatic Ecotoxicology: Fundamental Concepts and Methodologies, Boca Raton: CRC Press. Vol. 2.
Boynton, W.R., Kemp, W.M. and Keefe, C.W. 1982. “A comparative analysis of nutrients and other factors influencing estuarine phytoplankton production”. In Estuarine Comparisons, Edited by: Kennedy, V.S. London: Academic Press. In
Broberg, A. and Andersson, E. 1989. Circulation of caesium in limnic ecosystems (in Swedish), Institute of Limnology, Uppsala University.
Bromberg, S. 1990. Identifying ecological indicators: an environmental monitoring and assessment program. J. Air Waste Management. Assoc., 40: 976–987.
Burton, G.A. Jr., ed. 1992. Sediment Toxicity Assessment Lewis Boca Raton
Cairns, J. Jr. and Pratt, J.R. 1987. Ecotoxicological effect indices: a rapidly evolving system. Wat. Sci. Tech., 19: 1–12.
Carlsson, S. 1978. A model for the turnover of Cs-137 and potassium in pike (Esox lucius). Health Phys., 35: 549–554.
Chapra, S.C. 1980. “Application of the phosphorus loading concept to the Great Lakes”. In Phosphorus Management Strategies for Lakes, Edited by: Loehr, C., Martin, C.S. and Rast, W. 135–152. Ann Arbor, MI: Ann Arbor Science Publishers. In
Chapra, S.C. and Reckhow, K. 1979. Expressing the phosphorus loading concept in probabalistic terms. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can., 36: 225–229.
Chapra, S.C. and Reckhow, K. 1983. “Phosphorus Management Strategies for Lakes”. In Mechanistic modelling, Woburn, MA: Butterworth.
Dickson, W. 1986. “Critical loads for nitrogen on surface waters”. In Critical Loads for Nitrogen and Sulphur, Edited by: Nilsson, J. Vol. 11, 201–210. Miljörapport: Nordiska ministerrådet. In
Dillon, P.J. and Riegler, F.H. 1974. A test of a simple nutrient budget model predicting the phosphorus concentration in lake water. J. Fish. Res. Board Can., 31: 1771–1778.
Eliassen, A. and Saltbones, J. 1983. Modelling of long-range transport of sulphur over Europe: A two-year model run and some model experiments. Atm. Env., 17: 1457–1473.
Elmgren, R. 1989. Trophic dynamics in the enclosed brackish Baltic Sea. Rapp. P.-v. Cons. Int. Explor. Mer., 183: 152–169.
Fleishman, D.G. 1963. “Accumulatation of artificial radionuclides in freshwater fish”. In Radioecology, Edited by: Klechkovskii, V.M., Polikarpov, G.G. and Aleksakhin, R.M. 347–370. New York: Wiley. In
Förstner, U. and Wittmann, G.T.W. 1981. Metal Pollution in the Aquatic Environment, Berlin: Springer.
Gottofrey, J. 1990. The disposition of cadmium, nickel, mercury and methylmercury in fish and effects of lipophilic metal chelation, Uppsala: SLU. Thesis
Granath, L. 1980. “Våt deposition av kväveföreningar (Wet deposition of nitrogen)”. In Processer i kvävets kretslopp (Processes in nitrogen circulation), SNV PM 1213 Edited by: Rosswall, T. 47–59. In
Håkanson, L. 1980. The quantitative impact of pH, bioproduction and Hg-contamination on the Hg-content in fish (pike). Environ. Poll., 1: 285–304.
Håkanson, L. 1991. Ecometric and dynamic modelling — exemplified by caesium in lakes after Chernobyl, Berlin: Springer.
Håkanson, L. 1994. A review on effect-dose-sensitivity models for aquatic ecosystems. Int. Rev. ges. Hydrobiol., 79: 661–667.
Håkanson, L. 1995. Fiskodling och miljöeffekter i sjöar-nya resultat motiverar nya bedömningsunderlag. Vatten 51, Bloms Boktryckeri, Lund, 103 sid
Håkanson, L. 1996. “Metals in lakes-field and modelling results on remedial strategies with a focus on mercury and radiocaesium”. In Geochemical Approaches to Environmental Engineering of Metals, Edited by: Reuther, R. 107–152. Berlin: Springer. In
Håkanson, L. 1996. A simple model to predict the duration of the mercury problem in Sweden. Ecol. Modelling, 93: 251–262.
Håkanson, L. and Carlsson, L. 1998. Fish farming in lakes and acceptable total phosphorus loads: Calibrations, simulations and predictions using the LEEDS model in Lake Southern Bullaren, Sweden. Aquat. Ecosyst. Health Management, 1: 9–22.
Håkanson, L. and Peters, R.H. 1995. “Predictive Limnology”. In Methods for Predictive Modelling, Amsterdam: SPB Academic Publishing.
Håkanson, L., Andersson, T. and Nilsson, Å. 1990. Mercury in fish in Swedish lakes—linkages to domestic and European sources of emission. Water, Air Soil Pollut., 50: 171–191.
Håkanson, L., Andersson, T. and Nilsson, Å. 1992. Radioactive caesium in fish in Swedish lakes 1986–1988—general pattern related to fallout and lake characteristics. J. Environ. Radioactivity, 15: 207–229.
Håkanson, L. and Johansson, T. 1995. A critical review of methods to calculate eutrophication effects of emissions from fish farms in lakes (in Swedish). Vatten, 51: 257–285.
Håkanson, L., Jonsson, B., Jonsson, P. and Martinsen, K. 1988. Påverkansområden av klorerat organiskt material från massablekerier. Slutrapport. SNV Rapport 3522, 165 sid
Hansson, S. and Rudstam, L.G. 1990. Eutrophication and the Baltic fish communities. Ambio, 19: 123–125.
Hellner, C., Håkanson, L. and Johansson, K. 1991. Mercury in the Environment—Problems and Remedial Measures in Sweden, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Informs
Henrikson, L. and Brodin, Y.W., eds. 1995. Liming of Acidified Surface Waters, Berlin: A Swedish Synthesis Springer.
Howarth, R.W. 1988. Nutrient limitation of net primary production in marine ecosystems. Ann. Rev. Ecol., 19: 89–110.
Howarth, R.W. and Cole, J.J. 1985. Molybdenum availability, nitrogen limitation, and phypoplankton growth in natural waters. Science, 229: 653–655.
ICME (The International Council on Metals and the Environment). 1995. Persistence,, bioaccumulation and toxicity of metals and metal compounds. Parametrix Inc. ISBN-1-895720-07-9.
Jonsson, P. 1992. Large-scale changes of contaminants in Baltic Sea sediments during the twentieth century, Uppsala University. Thesis
Jonsson, P., ed. 1996. EUCON-Interactions between Eutrophication and Contaminants in the Aquatic Environment. Research Programme for the period 1995–1999. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Report 4690
Jonsson, P., Rappe, C., Kjeller, L-O., Kierdegaard, A., Håkanson, L. and Jonsson, B. 1993. Pulp-mill related polychlorinated organic compounds in Baltic Sea sediments. Ambio, 22: 37–43.
Kansanen, P.H., Jaakola, T., Kulmal, S. and Suutarinen, R. 1991. Sedimentation and distribution of gamma-emitting radionuclides in bottom sediments of southern Lake Päijänne. Finland after the Chernobyl accident. Hydrobiologia, 222: 121–140.
Kautsky, L. 1991. Life in the Baltic Sea, Uppsala University, ISBN, 91-506-0877-0
Kautsky, L. and Kautsky, H. 1989. Algal species diversity and dominance along gradients of stress and disturbance in marine environments. Vegetatio, 83: 259–267.
Landner, L., ed. 1989. Chemicals in the Aquatic Environment, Heidelberg: Advanced Hazard Assessment Springer.
Likens, G., Wright, R., Galloway, J. and Butler, T. 1979. Acid rain. Sci. Am., 241: 43–51.
Lindeström, L. 1991. Environmental assessments of metals in River Dalälven and the Bothnian Sea (in Swedish). Miljöforskargruppen, MFG F90/088:5
Lindqvist, O., Johansson, K., Aastrup, M., Andersson, A., Bringmark, L., Hovsenius, G., Håkanson, L., Iverfeldt, Å., Meili, M. and Timm, B. 1991. Mercury in the Swedish Environment. Water, Air Soil Pollut., 55: 1–261.
Mackay, D. and Paterson, S. 1982. Fugacity revisited. Environ. Sci. Technol., 16: 654–660.
Meili, M. 1991. In situ assessment of trophic levels and transfer rates in aquatic food webs using chronic (Hg) and pulsed (Chernobyl Cs-137) environmental contaminants. Verh. Int. Verein. Limnol., 24
Meili, M. 1991 b. “Mercury in boreal forest lake ecosystems”. In Acta University Upsaliensis 336, Uppsala university. Thesis
Ministry of Agriculture. 1982. Acidification today and tomorrow, Risbergs Tryckeri AB. Udevalla
Moberg, L. 1991. The Chernobyl Fallout in Sweden, Stockholm: The Swed Rad. Prot Inst..
Monitor. 1981. Acidification of land water (in Swedish), Solna: Swedish EPA, SNV.
Monitor. 1986. Acid and acidified waters (in Swedish), Solna: Swedish EPA, SNV.
Monitor. 1987. Heavy metals—distribution in nature (in Swedish), Stockholm: Swedish EPA,, SNV Informs.
Myers, V.B. and Iverson, R.I. 1981. “Phosphorus and nitrogen limited phytoplankton productivity in Notheastern Gulf of Mexico coastal estuaries”. In Estuaries and Nutrients, Edited by: Neilson, L.E. and Cronin, L.E. 569–582. Clifton, NJ: Humana Press. In
Nicholls, K.H. and Dillon, P.J. 1978. An evaluation of phosphorus-chlorophyll-phytoplankton relationships for lakes. Int. Revue Ges. Hydrobiol., 63: 141–154.
Nilsson, Å., Andersson, T., Håkanson, L. and Andersson, A. 1989. Mercury in lake fish—linkages to mercury and selenium in mor and historical emissions (in Swedish with English summary), SNV Report 3593 Stockholm: Swedish EPA.
Nixon, S.W. 1990. Marine eutrophication: a growing international problem. Ambio, 3: 101–101.
Nixon, S.W. and Pilson, M.E.Q. 1983. “Nitrogen in estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems”. In Nitrogen in the Marine Environment Edited by: Carpenter, E.J. and Capone, D.G. 565–648. In
OECD. 1982. Eutrophication of waters. Monitoring, assessment and control, Paris: OECD.
OECD. 1991. Environmental indicators, Paris: OECD.
O'Neill, R.V., Gardner, R.H., Barnthouse, L.W., Suter, G.W., Hildebrand, S.G. and Gehrs, C.W. 1982. Ecosystem risk analysis: a new methodology. Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 1: 167–177.
Östersjön. 1993. Annual report from the Inst. of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University.
Overrein, L.N., Seip, H.M. and Tollan, A. 1980. Acid precipitation—effect on forest and fish Final report on the SNSF-project 1972–1980. Oslo-Ås.
Persson, C., Rodhe, H. and De Geer, L.E. 1987. The Chernobyl accident—a meteorological analysis of how radionuclides reached and were deposited in Sweden. Ambio, 16: 20–31.
Persson, G. and Jansson, M. 1988. Phosphorus in Freshwater Ecosystems. Hydrobiologia, 170: 1–340.
Pearson, T.H. and Rosenberg, R. 1976. A comparative study on the effects on the marine environment of wastes from cellulose industries in Scotland and Sweden. Ambio, 5: 77–79.
Pilesjö, P., Persson, J. and Håkanson, L. 1991. Digital bathymetric information for calculations of coast morphometrical parameters and surface water retention time (in Swedish with English summary), SNV Report 3916 Stockholm: Swedish EPA.
Prairie, Y. 1996. Evaluating the predictive power of regression models. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 53: 490–492.
Redfield, A.C. 1958. The biological control of chemical factors in the environment. Am. Sci., 46: 205–222.
Riise, G., Björnstad, H.E., Oughton, D.H. and Salbu. 1990. A study on radionuclide associations with soil components using sequential extraction procedure. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem., 142: 531–538.
Rosenberg, R. 1985. Eutrophication-the future marine coastal nuisance?. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 16: 227–231.
Ryther, J.H. and Dunstan, W.M. 1971. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and eutrophication in the coastal marine environment. Science, 171: 1008–1013.
Salbu, B., Björnstad, H.E. and Brittain, J.E. 1992. Fractionation of Cs-isotopes and 90-Sr in snow melt, runoff and lake water from contaminated area in Norway. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem., 156: 720–720.
Schindler, D.W. 1977. Evolution of phosphorus limitation in lakes. Science, 195: 260–262.
Schindler, D.W. 1978. Factors regulating phytoplankton production and standing crop in the world's freshwaters. Limnol. Oceanogr., 23: 478–486.
Seip, H.M., ed. 1989. “Acid Precipitation. Literature Review”. In Nord. Council of Ministers, Nord Vol. 37, 1–209.
SNV. 1982. Acidification today, Stockholm: Swedish EPA, SNV.
SNV. 1993 a. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. fish farming: Planning,, permits and control (in Swedish), Stockholm: Swedish EPA, Allmänna råd 93:10.
SNV. 1993 b. Eutrofiering av mark, sötvatten och hav. Swedish EPA, SNV Rapport 4134, Stockholm,
Södergren, A., ed. 1992. “Bleached pulp mill effluents. Composition, fate and effects in the Baltic Sea”. In Swedish EPA, SNV Report 4047, Stockholm
Södergren, A., Jonsson, P., Bengtsson, B.E., Kringstad, K., Lagergren, S., Olsson, M. and Renberg, L. 1988. Biological effects of bleached pulp mill effluents, SNV Report 3558,
Svendsen, L.M. and Kronvang, B. 1991. Phosphorus in Nordic countries (in Scandinavian languages). Nord: 47, Copenhagen,
Sverdrup, H. 1985. Calcite dissolution kinetics and lake neutralization, Sweden: Lund University. Thesis
Voipio, A., ed. 1981. The Baltic Sea, Amsterdam: Elsevier Oceanographic Series Elsevier.
Vollenweider, R.A. 1968. “The scientific basis of lake eutrophication, with particular reference to phosphorus and nitrogen as eutrophication factors”. In Tech. Rep. DAS/DSI/68.27, Paris: OECD.
Vollenweider, R.A. 1976. Advances in defining critical loading levels for phosphorus in lake eutrophication. Mem. Ist. Ital. Idrobiol., 33: 53–83.
Wallin, M. and Håkanson, L. 1991. The importance of inherent and properties of coastal areas. Mar. Poll. Bull., 22: 381–388.
Wallin, M., Håkanson, L. and Persson, J. 1992. Load models for nutrients in coastal areas, especially from fish farms (In Swedish with English summary). Nordiska ministerrådet, 1992: 502–502.
Warfvinge, P. 1988. Modeling acidification mitigation in wateresheds, Sweden: Lund University. Thesis
Wicklund, A. 1990. Metabolism of cadmium and zinc in fish, Sweden: Uppsala Universtiy. Thesis
Wetzel, R.G. 1983. Limnology, London: Saunders.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
