The water quality of 13 rivers in the lowland, agricultural county of Suffolk is investigated using routine monitoring data for the period 1981 to 2006 collected by the Environment Agency of England and Wales (EA), and its predecessors, with particular emphasis on phosphorus (as total reactive phosphorus, TRP) and total (dissolved and particulate) oxidised nitrogen (TOxN -predominantly nitrate NO 3 ). Major ion and flow data are used to outline fundamental hydrochemical characteristics related to the groundwater provenance of base-flow waters. Relative load contributions from point and diffuse sources are approximated using Load Apportionment Modelling for both TRP and TOxN where concurrent flow and concentration data are available. Analyses indicate a mixture of point and diffuse sources of TRP, with the former being dominant during low flow periods, while for TOxN diffuse sources dominate.Out of 59 sites considered, 53 (90%) were found to have annual average TRP concentrations greater than 0.05 mg P l -1 , and 36 (61%) had average concentrations over 0.120 mg P l -1 , the upper thresholds for 'High' and 'Good' ecological status, respectively. Correspondingly, for TOxN, most of the rivers are already within 70% of the 11.3 mg N l -1 threshold, with two rivers (Wang and Ore) being consistently greater than this.It is suggested that the major challenge is to characterise and control point-source TRP inputs which, being predominant during the late spring and summer low-flow period, coincide with the peak of primary biological production, thus presenting the major challenge to achieving 'good' ecological status under the Water Framework Directive. Results show that considerable effort is still required to ensure appropriate management and develop tools for decision-support.
Abstract:With the full implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by 2020, surface mining and other industries in the UK will have to embrace the concept of ecosystems and ecosystem services, and be ready to deliver satisfactory schemes with all the necessary elements where important natural vegetation and habitats are involved. It is debatable whether there is sufficient understanding of the ecosystems being considered and clarity in what needs to be achieved leaving practitioners and regulators with little guidance when faced with designing or evaluating a mining proposal or the evaluation of the success of restoration schemes. This paper introduces and examines a measurable and workable methodology based on the Tansley concept of vegetation communities (being the basic unit of ecosystems) and the application of the national monitoring standards (CSM) for the key requisite ecosystem structural elements. These are encompassed in the proposed Canopy-Age-Regeneration-Genetic-Indicator-Exotic design and assessment model. It is argued that the Joint Nature Conservancy Council (JNCC) derived CARGIE Model is applicable to the restoration of ecosystems in the UK. It could enable better design and evaluation of the restoration of ecosystems and their services, and the mining industry to meet the challenges posed by CBD and the new and emerging legislation and policies.
The overwhelming perception of surface mining is that it has significant adverse long term effects on the conservation of flora and fauna, and that there is typically a net loss in biodiversity, particularly those which have been identified as Biodiversity Action species and habitats under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). These are enshrined in UK legislation and policy as to their protection, enhancement and promotion. The mining legacy of the coal and iron industrial revolution in the coalfields of South Wales is thousands of spoil tips scattered across the landscape and dating from the early 1800s. Many of these have vegetation and habitats that are now recognized to be of importance for biodiversity and even have their own action plan for preservation. In particular, it is recognized that the tips in South Wales are important for lower plants (lichens, bryophytes, and fungi) species. Some tips are of such national importance they have been given statutory protection as nationally important Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The issue of their conservation in South Wales became topical in the mid to late 2000s with several studies being commissioned by the regulating authority, the Countryside for Wales. In cases of particularly rich assemblages on old tips, these have the potential for and have actually halted a number of future surface mine prospects. In the case of lichens, these delicate pioneer assemblages are not only under threat from agriculture, forestry, and public pressures, but also from vegetation development and succession. Without intervention many high quality sites are likely to be lost through competition and shading by grasses, bracken, heather, bilberry, scrub, and woodland. As a result of surveys undertaken in 2012 we have found that colonization of new coal mine wastes is relatively rapid resulting in equivalent lichen assemblages (to those found on the 150-year-old tips) establishing within 20 years. It is argued that new surface mines provide a means of sustainably conserving the assemblages by the creation of new lichen heath habitat through the commissioning of new mines.
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