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Scientific Indicators Provide Big Picture of the State of the Great Lakes
TORONTO--November 25, 1999 - The Government of Canada today released the report, The State of the Great Lakes (1999). This third biennial report marks a transition to a more unified reporting method-an on going process that will provide a consistent, understandable overview of the condition of the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem, the stresses on the ecosystem, and the human responses to those stresses. It will also allows for a comprehensive set of environmental indicators needed to get a "big picture" perspective of the state of the Great Lakes. The governments of Canada and the United States are parties to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and worked in partnership on this report.
"By using a set of easily understood indicators it will become easier to assess how far we've come and how much farther we have to go to fully address the complex problems facing the Lakes," said Dr. Harvey Shear, Science Advisor to Environment Canada, Ontario Region.
The new report presents information based on 19 of a set of 80 indicators developed over the past two years by scientific experts-participants of the 1998 State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) held in Buffalo, N.Y. The 19 indicators selected are representative of the 80 indicators that the parties will be reporting on biennially and also are indicators for which information was readily available.
The governments intend to use the indicators as a basis for monitoring and future research. The current set of 80 indicators is a living list that will be phased in and refined over the next 10 years.
Paul Horvatin, of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Program office said, "The SOLEC indicators are expected to greatly influence future monitoring and data gathering efforts. They will allow government and non-government organizations, industry and citizens to share information and resources to better track the health of the huge, complex Great Lakes basin ecosystem."
Overall, the state of the Lakes has not changed significantly from the state reported on in 1997. The following are some of the conclusions and trends that can be drawn from the indicators studied:
- Exotic Species:
- Exotic species, such as the zebra mussel and the round goby continue to stress the ecosystem. They have caused the decline of native clam populations at certain sites and are impacting the cycling of contaminants within the food web. The round goby could pose a threat to the integrity of the biological community in the Great Lakes.
- Nutrients:
- Phosphorus is at or below the targets. Strict loading targets must be maintained as the human population in the basin increases.
- Atmosphere:
- Acid rain continues to be a problem in the basin-mainly to the areas on the Canadian Shield. Sulphur dioxide decreases of 30% and 54% have occurred in the U.S. and Canada respectively. However, rain is acidic throughout most of the region and is likely to remain so for the coming decade.
- Biodiversity and Bird Populations:
- The endangered peregrine falcon appears to be making a comeback. Populations of the giant Canada goose and the double-crested cormorant, two species once near extinction, have exploded.
- Biodiversity and Wetlands:
- Populations of wetland-nesting bird species, such as the Black Tern and American Bittern, are declining. Habitat loss in coastal wetlands is likely the cause.
- Coastal Wetlands:
- While the total coastal wetland area is decreasing, some restoration efforts have been successful. The quality of coastal wetlands is being impacted mainly by human activities.
- Terrestrial:
- Nearshore areas continue to degrade due to stresses caused by human settlement, industry and recreation.
- Human Health:
- Fish advisories still exist in all the Great Lakes due to various contaminants. Infants, the elderly, sports fishers, pregnant women and native people are at potential risk. Air quality causes health threats to susceptible persons. In fact, data show a correlation between an increase in ground level ozone and the number of hospital admissions due to respiratory conditions. Beach closures, due to high bacteria counts, remain an issue throughout the basin. However, concentrations of many contaminants in human tissue have declined over the past few decades.
The report also includes a series of recommendations for the protection and preservation of areas in the Great Lakes basin, known as Biodiversity Investment Areas (BIA). They are terrestrial, coastal wetland or aquatic areas along the shoreline of the Great Lakes basin that sustain rare and diverse plant and animal communities, and landscapes of special quality.
To further the BIA concept, the report recommends:
- to merge the three BIA approaches into a single set of coastal BIAs;
- to carry-out locally-based assessments in order to identify the most important species, communities, physical features and processes supporting biodiversity, stressors affecting biodiversity, and conditions needed to protect the ecosystems, and;
- to determine ways to implement the BIA concept through existing local groups, agencies, government bodies and processes.
Detailed information about the set of indicators and the Biodiversity Investment Areas are available for viewing or downloading from the SOLEC websites at: www.cciw.ca/solec/ or www.epa.gov/glnpo/solec/98/.
The next SOLEC will take place on October 17-19, 2000, in Hamilton, Ontario.
Note to Media:
A media backgrounder is available at www.cciw.ca/solec/ or by request.
Dr. Harvey Shear, Science Advisor Environment Canada (Ontario Region) will be available for media interviews:
(Également disponible en français)
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