948 resultados para Grassland ecosystem
Resumo:
This is the Impact Assessment of ionising Radiation on Wildlife document produced by the Environment Agency in 2001. This report describes the behaviour and transport of radionuclides in the environment, considers the impact of ionising radiation on wildlife, and makes recommendations on an approach for the Impact assessment of ionising radiation on wildlife for England and Wales. The assessment approach focuses on three ecosystems representative of those considered potentially most at risk from the impact of authorised radioactive discharges, namely a coastal grassland (terrestrial ecosystem); estuarine and freshwater ecosystems. The likely scale of the impact on wildlife is also assessed in light of a preliminary analysis based on this assessment approach. The report demonstrates the behaviour and transfer of radionuclides in a number of different ecosystem types. Particular emphasis is placed on exposure pathways in those ecosystems most likely to be impacted by the authorised discharges of radioactivity within England and Wales. The use of biomarker techniques is reviewed in the report, and their application to the study of exposure to multiple contaminants is discussed.
Resumo:
This is the episodic variations in stream water chemistry associated with acid rainfall and run-off and the effect on aquatic ecosystems, with particular reference to fish populations in North West England produced by the North West Water Authority in 1985. This report looks at the biological, physical and chemical information collected over a five year period from over 100 sites on upland streams in the North West Region of which drained rocks of low buffering capacity. In both Lake District and South Pennine sites striking differences were found between the composition of invertebrate communities inhabiting acid-stressed and less acid-stressed streams. Electric fishing surveys showed that acidic streams (geometric mean pH <5.5) generally had abnormally low densities of salmonids ( < 0 .2m2) and that 0+ fish were very few or absent. The latter indicates recruitment failure. Salmon were more sensitive than trout to low pH.