Air Issues amd Ecosystem Protection, a Canadian National ParksPerspective

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• 作者：Welch ; David
• 关键词：air issues ; air pollution ; Canada ; ecological integrity ; national parks
• 刊名：Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
• 出版年：1998
• 出版时间：1998
• 年：1998
• 卷：49
• 期：2/3
• 页码：251-262
• 全文大小：57 KB
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Environment
  Monitoring, Environmental Analysis and Environmental Ecotoxicology
  Ecology
  Atmospheric Protection, Air Quality Control and Air Pollution
  Environmental Management
  
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-2959

文摘

Several case histories illustrate national park airissues and responses in Canada. These examplesinclude: acidification studies and establishment of amultiparticipant monitoring programme at Kejimkujik;studies of smoke at campgrounds in Jasper, La Mauricieand Forillon, its effect on health, and the managementof visitors and firewood supply to mitigate theserisks; and estimates of emissions from through-trafficin Yoho. From these cases and from reviews of thesecondary literature, we can identify air issues thataffect the maintenance of ecological integrity innational parks. These issues are: forest fires andsmoke management; defining goals for ecosystemrestoration; representation of natural regionalconditions; visitor health and amenity; acidification;pesticides; eutrophication from airborne nitrates;permafrost melting; and UV-B. In June 1995, anInternational Air Issues Workshop brought togetherrepresentatives from Canadian and U.S. national parksand other selected agencies. They ranked the airissues affecting national parks, producing quite aneclectic list. From the most to least serious issue,they are: acidification, toxics, visibilityimpairment, UV-B, smoke management, oil and gasdevelopment, fugitive dust, global warming,overflights, light pollution, noise and odour. Notethat atmospheric change is only one among a group ofstresses affecting national parks. Of 28 stressesrecognized as significant for national parks in 1992,acid precipitation ranked 8th and climate change 23rd. Petrochemicals, 17th, pesticides, 18th and heavymetals, 21st, may be partly airborne.The 1995 workshop made several recommendationsapplicable to Parks Canada, from which those related to research and monitoringneeds have been extracted. The air monitoring needed most by nationalparks is of suspended particulate and visibility. This is in response to human health and amenityconcerns and international treaty obligations. Thelong-term protection of natural sites in nationalparks provides opportunities for other agencies tomonitor ambient air quality and ecosystem responses,for example through the installation of under-canopymonitoring towers. The air research most needed innational parks is the modelling of natural landscapesand vegetation complexes in response to climatechange. This follows from the primary purpose of eachnational park, to maintain the ecological integrity ofan area selected to represent a natural region. Theprincipal air research opportunities for otheragencies in national parks are probably intensiveinstrumentation and sampling over several years toexamine the air-vegetation-soil transfers ofnutrients, pollutants and radiation.