PARENT SESSION
OOS 2: Anthropogenic Disturbances to Western Alpine Lakes: Past, Present, and Future .
Organized by: JE Saros and CE Williamson
Monday, August 2, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Meeting Room E 143.

Anthropogenic threats to the national parks of the Canadian Rockies I. Glaciers, lakes and rivers.

Schindler, David ¹, Bayley, Suzanne¹, Parker, Brian¹, Kelly, Erin¹, ¹ University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

ABSTRACT- In the past century, humans have changed the pristine waters of the Canadian national parks in several ways. Proximate insults in the past century have included the stocking of alien fish species, the damming and diversion of lakes and rivers, and eutrophication caused by increasing human communities. Long-range transport in the atmosphere of pesticides, PCBs and mercury have contaminated fishes in high altitude lakes. Climate warming has aggravated aquatic problems in several ways, including increased melting and recession of glaciers, releasing pollutants deposited in ice during earlier decades. Enhanced mercury and nutrient losses from catchments following forest fires have caused increased concentrations of Hg in fishes. As population and industry have increased in the western provinces, nitrogen in precipitation has started to increase.

Key words: freshwater, climate, glaciers, alpine