Abstract
AbstractA myriad of management actions can be applied to reduce anthropogenic pressures on aquatic environments. Appropriate management actions, whether they be mitigations of contaminant transfer to receiving environments or interventions within the receiving environments to alter resilience to a contaminant, are those which are acceptable to stakeholders and cost‐effective and which operate over desired time frames. The stressor–response relationship describes the change in ecological, social, or economic value of a receiving environment when impacted by a specific contaminant. Defining a receiving environment × value × contaminant system and determining a specific stressor–response relationship for that system provide valuable decision support strategy to optimize management actions toward a water quality objective. Here, we outline a potential method for using stressor–response relationships to help identify the most appropriate management actions for aquatic ecosystems. We use the example of a eutrophic lake to show how the method can be applied to any receiving environment × value × contaminant system.
Highlights
Agricultural production, and livestock farming, has been linked to the deterioration of soil and water quality (Steinfield et al 2006)
Information was compiled on mitigations and interventions available in Australia and New Zealand for grazed livestock farming
An example assessment of cost and effectiveness is presented for phosphorus mitigations in Fig. 1, and for nitrogen, sediment, and E. coli in Appendix S2: Fig. S1
Summary
Agricultural production, and livestock farming, has been linked to the deterioration of soil and water quality (Steinfield et al 2006). This paucity of information about the interaction between mitigations and interventions is a major gap in the literature and could result in overly restrictive regulation on land use practices to achieve good water quality outcomes in receiving environments where there exists either a large assimilative capacity or scope to implement cost-effective interventions In this conceptual paper, we (1) summarize and assign scores to the costs, effectiveness, and treatment speeds of each of a range of management actions available for use in countries with large areas of grazed livestock farming, using Australia and New Zealand as examples, (2) outline some of the factors important in minimizing the costs of these management actions and maximizing their effectiveness and treatment speeds, (3) propose a process for assessing environmental impacts of contaminants in different classes of receiving environments based on stressor–response relationships and for scoring the value of a given response variable, the state of a given stressor, and the slope of the corresponding stressor– response curve, and (4) propose a strategy for selecting effective management actions based on the assessment of environmental impact in the preceding step, and whether the objective for a receiving environment is to avoid degradation or initiate recovery. This strategy is intended to help land managers, investors, and regulators to make informed decisions such as applying mitigations to prevent contaminant loads from exceeding load limits, or proceeding with land use developments that are acceptable because current contaminant loads are below the load limit
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
