The future of upland water ecosystems of the UK in the 21st century: A synthesis

摘要: Upland waters are located upstream of the areas direct human disturbance and intensive land use through industry, agriculture urbanisation valued particularly as sources potable water biodiverse freshwater habitats. Nonetheless, impact activity can be detected even in some most remote lakes on planet due to effects long-range transport air pollutants global climate change. In UK, upland threatened by a range pressures including not only atmospheric deposition acidic compounds, trace metals organic pollutants, but also change, nutrient enrichment deposited nitrogen changing land-use or management regimes. The threat from acid has declined sharply since 1980s its legacy remains major concern; recovery is taking place assuming complete chemical biological pre-industrial baseline were possible, dynamic models suggest that this could take another 100 years. However, current change projections then, UK will become much warmer, with lower summer streamflows, higher winter streamflows reduced absent influence snowfall lake ice-cover. Hence there no rationale for aspiring return “reference” conditions because likely shift climatic at an unprecedented rate. Meanwhile, expansion forest planting, grazing regimes measures peatland restoration, among other pressure, affect catchments potentially repercussions aquatic ecosystems, both positive negative. challenge scientists, policymakers stakeholders uplands determine trajectory waters, define ecological endpoints needed provide optimum ecosystem services society. Integrated monitoring kind exemplified papers volume fundamental prerequisite regard.