Linking Land, Air, and Water Management in the Southern Everglades and Coastal Zone to Water Quality and Ecosystem Restoration

The approaches used will be extensions of previous efforts by the lead investigators, whereby we will enhance our abilities to address land management and ecosystem restoration questions. Major changes implemented in this project will include the use of environmental chambers (controlled enclosures or mesocosums) and isotopic tracers to provide a more definitive means addressing specific management questions, such as "What reductions in toxicity (methylation and bioaccumulation) would be realized if atmospheric mercury emissions were reduced by 75%?" or, "Over what time scales could we expect to see improvements to the ecosystem if nutrient and sulfur loading were reduced by implementation of agricultural best management practices and the storm water treatment areas (STA)?" Results of these geochemical investigations will provide critical elements for building ecosystem models and screening-level risk assessment for contaminants in the ecosystem,

本研究所采用的方法将拓展首席研究员团队的前期研究工作，以此强化我们解决土地管理与生态系统修复相关问题的能力。本项目实施的核心改进举措包括运用环境舱（受控封闭装置或中型生态系统（mesocosms））与同位素示踪剂，为解答特定管理类问题提供更具确定性的研究手段，例如："若大气汞排放削减75%，毒性（甲基化作用与生物富集效应）可实现何种程度的降低？" 或是："若通过落实农业最佳管理实践与雨水处理区（Storm Water Treatment Areas, STA）来削减养分与硫负荷，我们预计生态系统将在多长时间尺度上呈现改善？" 本次地球化学调查的研究成果，将为构建生态系统模型以及开展生态系统内污染物的筛选级风险评估（screening-level risk assessment）提供关键支撑要素。