Mercury sources to Lake Ozette and Lake Dickey : highly contaminated remote coastal lakes, Washington State, USA

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 208 (2009): 275-286, doi:10.1007/s11270-009-0165-y.Mercury concentrations in largemouth bass and mercury accumulation rates in age-dated sediment cores were examined at Lake Ozette and Lake Dickey in Washington State. Goals of the study were to compare concentrations in fish tissues at the two lakes with lakes in a larger statewide dataset and evaluate factors influencing lake loading at Ozette and Dickey, which may include: catchment disturbances, coastal mercury cycling, and the role of trans-Pacific Asian mercury. Mercury fish tissue concentrations at the lakes were among the highest recorded in Washington State. Wet deposition and historical atmospheric monitoring from the area show no indication of enhanced deposition from Asian sources or coastal atmospheric processes. Sediment core records from the lakes displayed rapidly increasing sedimentation rates coinciding with commercial logging. The unusually high mercury flux rates and mercury tissue concentrations recorded at Lake Ozette and Lake Dickey appear to be associated with logging within the catchments

Harmful Elements in Estuarine and Coastal Systems

Estuaries and coastal zones are dynamic transitional systems which provide many economic and ecological benefits to humans, but also are an ideal habitat for other organisms as well. These areas are becoming contaminated by various anthropogenic activities due to a quick economic growth and urbanization. This chapter explores the sources, chemical speciation, sediment accumulation and removal mechanisms of the harmful elements in estuarine and coastal seawaters. It also describes the effects of toxic elements on aquatic flora and fauna. Finally, the toxic element pollution of the Venice Lagoon, a transitional water body located in the northeastern part of Italy, is discussed as a case study, by presenting the procedures adopted to measure the extent of the pollution, the impacts on organisms and the restoration activities

Limitations to Intellectual Progress in Ecosystem Science

Are ecosystem scientists poised to make great leaps forward in developing understanding, and in applying it to real-world problems? The challenge is to deal simultaneously with the multidimensional complexity of time and space. An intellectual limitation is the false assumption that there will be simple, all-inclusive answers to complex, ecological questions, whereas the elegance of creative, innovative thought and approach is to discover ways to simplify questions or systems being studied to obtain fundamental, inclusive answers. Ecology must be an integrative science and will flourish from creative integration and synthesis. How are vision and creativity enhanced? Is the rate of breakthroughs in ecosystem science appropriate for a healthy, robust scientific field? Teams and team-building are critical components of successful ecosystem science, but efforts should be made to promote inter-disciplinary teams. There is a continuing need to attract the brightest and best into ecosystem science by utilizing the popularity of the ecosystem concept, the challenge of solving complex problems, and the awareness of how such solutions are of value to humanity. More undergraduate courses, textbooks, and scientific journals focused on ecosystem science are needed, however time limitations have become serious problems for scientists. Being busy is good, but if being busy leads to fragmentation of effort, loss of focus, superficial scholarship, and inability to meet commitments, then being busy represents a major intellectual limitation. The weak connection between ecosystem science and policy in the United States is frustrating, primarily because of fragmentation of approach and implementation. However, many opportunities exist for intellectual progress in ecosystem science