Helen Woods

Practical application of spatial ecosystem service models to aid decision support

Highlights • A structured protocol for adapting a spatial ecosystem service model to local contexts is proposed.• Decision context, the final users and uses of maps should drive the way the spatial ecosystem service models are structured.• Simply increasing spatial resolution is not sufficient to increase legitimacy and the ultimate utility of maps.• The type and level of stakeholders’ involvement is a determinant of spatial model usefulness.

Phytoplankton community responses in a shallow lake following lanthanum-bentonite application

The release of phosphorus (P) from bed sediments to the overlying water can delay the recovery of lakes for decades following reductions in catchment contributions, preventing water quality targets being met within timeframes set out by environmental legislation (e.g. EU Water Framework Directive: WFD). Therefore supplementary solutions for restoring lakes have been explored, including the capping of sediment P sources using a lanthanum (La)-modified bentonite clay to reduce internal P loading and enhance the recovery process. Here we present results from Loch Flemington where the first long-term field trial documenting responses of phytoplankton community structure and abundance, and the UK WFD phytoplankton metric to a La-bentonite application was performed. A Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) analysis was used to distinguish natural variability from treatment effect and confirmed significant reductions in the magnitude of summer cyanobacterial blooms in Loch Flemington, relative to the control site, following La-bentonite application. However this initial cyanobacterial response was not sustained beyond two years after application, which implied that the reduction in internal P loading was short-lived; several possible explanations for this are discussed. One reason is that this ecological quality indicator is sensitive to inter-annual variability in weather patterns, particularly summer rainfall and water temperature. Over the monitoring period, the phytoplankton community structure of Loch Flemington became less dominated by cyanobacteria and more functionally diverse. This resulted in continual improvements in the phytoplankton compositional and abundance metrics, which were not observed at the control site, and may suggest an ecological response to the sustained reduction in filterable reactive phosphorus (FRP) concentration following La-bentonite application. Overall, phytoplankton classification indicated that the lake moved from poor to moderate ecological status but did not reach the proxy water quality target (i.e. WFD Good Ecological Status) within four years of the application. As for many other shallow lakes, the effective control of internal P loading in Loch Flemington will require further implementation of both in-lake and catchment-based measures. Our work emphasizes the need for appropriate experimental design and long-term monitoring programmes, to ascertain the efficacy of intervention measures in delivering environmental improvements at the field scale.

Ecological resilience in lakes and the conjunction fallacy.

There is a pressing need to apply stability and resilience theory to environmental management to restore degraded ecosystems effectively and to mitigate the effects of impending environmental change. Lakes represent excellent model case studies in this respect and have been used widely to demonstrate theories of ecological stability and resilience that are needed to underpin preventative management approaches. However, we argue that this approach is not yet fully developed because the pursuit of empirical evidence to underpin such theoretically grounded management continues in the absence of an objective probability framework. This has blurred the lines between intuitive logic (based on the elementary principles of probability) and extensional logic (based on assumption and belief) in this field.Lake ecosystems have provided much of the empirical evidence for ecological resilience theory. Here, a more rigorous logical approach is called for when translating this research into management decisions.

Freshwater science for the benefit of society: a perspective from early career researchers

Abstract This research brief summarises the views of a group of early career freshwater researchers on 3 questions: What are the greatest threats to freshwater resources and how will they change over the next century? Is freshwater science effectively utilised to help society adapt to these threats? How will we ensure the benefits of freshwater science are reaped by society into the future? To address these questions we reviewed the current literature and discussed our findings in a series of group meetings. We concluded that freshwater resources will be most threatened by population growth, climate change, and eutrophication in the future. We provide examples of how the utilisation of freshwater science by society is reliant on effective monitoring systems, data sharing, and effective communication of topical scientific evidence to both the public and policy makers. Developments in these fields increase the likelihood of society benefitting from past and future research in freshwater science.